If only one contact it was only 120V, and if you were shocked then you were grounded. Unless a load is in line 120V won't usually kill a healthy person.
Repair Mistakes & Blunders - what bonehead move have YOU pulled??
- Thread starter onwardjames
- Start date
nj pheonix
Lunatic Member
The truth is you rarely get killed getting shocked.
The other truth is once is bad enough
The other truth is once is bad enough
TomBig58
Super Member
Was your foot in the boot at the time? I'm glad that kid next door heard you or we wouldn't know about this story.
My foot WAS in the boot. I jammed the sole under the tire sideways to "chock" the wheel. I was quick enough before it built momentum although it crossed my mind it could roll over my foot. Good thing I wasn't into tennis shoes back then.
Your comment brings to mind another incident. I once tested for 240V on a rooftop air handler with a super cheapie VOM. Ooops, I didn't read the name plate it was 480! That little meter blew up in my hand like a firecracker.
Weird, was the meter only rated to 240V?
dwaller131
Well-Known Member
I worked for 12 years as the service manager at an antique car dealer. We would mostly sell cars, but would take on service work for cars we didn't own on occasion. One such car was a 1960's Jaguar Mark X sedan (or saloon, as they say). Would turn over but wouldn't start. I'm in the car, turning the key, while our tech is under the hood. He decides it's not getting fuel, so grabs some starting fluid and gives it a squirt.
"try it"
-turns but doesn't start
Another squirt
"Try it"
-turns but doesn't start, again.
This goes on for about 8-12 rounds, with the car not starting. Tech has an "oh yeah" moment and realizes that the coil wire was loose. Pushed it on, says
"try it"
"BOOM------Screeeeeeeeeeeeeech crash!"
The starting fluid had evidently built up in the muffler, and ignited somehow, blowing the muffler and tailpipe off the car, skidding across the shop floor, and crashing into our overhead door.
"try it"
-turns but doesn't start
Another squirt
"Try it"
-turns but doesn't start, again.
This goes on for about 8-12 rounds, with the car not starting. Tech has an "oh yeah" moment and realizes that the coil wire was loose. Pushed it on, says
"try it"
"BOOM------Screeeeeeeeeeeeeech crash!"
The starting fluid had evidently built up in the muffler, and ignited somehow, blowing the muffler and tailpipe off the car, skidding across the shop floor, and crashing into our overhead door.
Bwaaaaa ha ha ha ha ha, now thats funny.
Reminds me of the last three words from a redneck, "Hey, watch this".
Always wanted to see one of those big mothers being powered by the legendary XK engine. Bigger than a Cadillac Fleetwood with only a straight six able to cruise all day at 125 MPH plus, remarkable. I've read the back seat was 6' wide in these cars, a lovers lane dream car lol.
loopstick
Lunatic Member
When I was 18 I hung out sometimes at this gas station where my buddy worked alone on his shift. Before gas stations sold grocery stuff. One time I was filling this guy's tank and went inside for a moment. The pressure shutoff didn't click and gas was pumping out on the parking lot. Another time this guy with a big Chrysler wanted new tires. So up on the hoist it goes and I forget what side but I sheared all the lug bolts off cuz the threads were reversed on that side. I showed it to the customer and he kinda shrugged cuz he was as ignorant as me. My buddy was killing himself trying to keep a straight face.
orsen
Jukebox Hero
i was about 18 yrs
had a late 70's thunder bird with a leaky gas tank
also had a little arc welder
dropped the tank, leak was on the seam.
flushed the tank for hours with a water hose, just stuck it in and let it run
finally drained the water, touched the stick to the tank
BOOM!!!!!
it went straight up! i dont know how high
all neighbors on both sides of the lane came out to look ... sounded like a bomb went off.
thankfully the yard is behind a tree line.
when that tank landed it was like 45 gallon drum, no folds or strength creases left
guess the baffles in the tank didn't allow the water to flush it
i was filthy and covered in rust and crud...... yet white as a ghost
had a late 70's thunder bird with a leaky gas tank
also had a little arc welder
dropped the tank, leak was on the seam.
flushed the tank for hours with a water hose, just stuck it in and let it run
finally drained the water, touched the stick to the tank
BOOM!!!!!
it went straight up! i dont know how high
all neighbors on both sides of the lane came out to look ... sounded like a bomb went off.
thankfully the yard is behind a tree line.
when that tank landed it was like 45 gallon drum, no folds or strength creases left
guess the baffles in the tank didn't allow the water to flush it
i was filthy and covered in rust and crud...... yet white as a ghost
Not my blunder but it was still funny "after" my truck wasn't totalled.
Watched as the shop lifted my work truck with a generator and a ton of electrical supplies in the back up on the hoist. Truck was more than 6' off the ground when the front lifted off the lift, the tech noticed and jumped up and grabbed the front bumper hanging in mid air feet dangling lol. The truck settled back onto the lift while another tech lowered it back down.
Another funny one back in the 70's I drove a 1970 Opel GT, needed an alignment and wheel balancing. Now for you younger guys this won't make much sense never having seen the right way to balance a tire and wheel "to the car".
The tech chocked the one rear wheel with a tire rim so they could balance the other, I warned them this wasn't a good idea as the Opel has a limited slip rear end. They told me they had done this before and knew what they were doing. One tech got in the car, started the engine and started to rev the engine with the transmission engaged so the other tech could balance the spinning wheel. Well about 2000RPM's the car started to shudder, then the rim holding the other wheel shot out like being fired from a Canon lol. Was hilarious watching the techs dance around trying to avoid being Canon fodder as the rim bounced around the shop at 30mph lol.
Watched as the shop lifted my work truck with a generator and a ton of electrical supplies in the back up on the hoist. Truck was more than 6' off the ground when the front lifted off the lift, the tech noticed and jumped up and grabbed the front bumper hanging in mid air feet dangling lol. The truck settled back onto the lift while another tech lowered it back down.
Another funny one back in the 70's I drove a 1970 Opel GT, needed an alignment and wheel balancing. Now for you younger guys this won't make much sense never having seen the right way to balance a tire and wheel "to the car".
The tech chocked the one rear wheel with a tire rim so they could balance the other, I warned them this wasn't a good idea as the Opel has a limited slip rear end. They told me they had done this before and knew what they were doing. One tech got in the car, started the engine and started to rev the engine with the transmission engaged so the other tech could balance the spinning wheel. Well about 2000RPM's the car started to shudder, then the rim holding the other wheel shot out like being fired from a Canon lol. Was hilarious watching the techs dance around trying to avoid being Canon fodder as the rim bounced around the shop at 30mph lol.
The very first piece of audio equipment i purchased on my own was a Harman Kardon T-403 tuner back in 1979. not the best tuner in the world, but it was wonderful for a teenager within earshot of New York City. that tuner was stolen a couple of years later. I never had luck finding a replacement for it, until one day i noticed the matching H/K A-402 integrated amp on ebay. the posting indicated that the amp did not work, and additionally, there was another item that the seller did not know what it was. no identification in the posting, but i could see it was a picture of the T-403. $57 later, i was the winner of a broken amp and unidentified tuner.
When I received the items, i discovered that the amp actually worked, but it had definitely seen better days. at a minimum the amp needed to be bathed in deoxit, and there was a channel imbalance. it was obvious people had been in this amp before me. the four screws holding the case on were badly stripped.
skip forward a few years, and i got out some deoxit and see what i could do with the amp while being snowed in during a major storm. i was snowed in for several days, so the pots got a nice long doxit bath, which improved the volume and bass/treble controls. i was at the point of saying it was "good enough".
After the snow melted and i was able to get out, i found some replacement screw for the cover. i was ready to button things up. however, the replacement screws were just a bit longer than the originals. i was worried that they might short things out. in order to make sure there was no possibility of a short, i stood the amp up on its side so i could look inside with a flashlight as i screwed the replacement screw in. i should mention that the treble/bass pots are attached to a PCB running horizontally behind the pots. while looking inside, the amp tipped over and landed with a big "bang" on the counter. on the way down, the treble/bass PCB board hit my wrist and cracked diagonally across the PCB. You can imagine the thought that went through my head at that moment, and that thought was not "lets call H/K in Plainview to get a replacement PCB"
fortunately, it was just a crack, so the PCB was still intact. but several traces were broken. after carefully reflowing solder and touching up some traces with rear window defogger touch up paint, i was able to get the unit working as good as before the crash.
at that point, i put the top on and the screws in and decided not to touch it again.
When I received the items, i discovered that the amp actually worked, but it had definitely seen better days. at a minimum the amp needed to be bathed in deoxit, and there was a channel imbalance. it was obvious people had been in this amp before me. the four screws holding the case on were badly stripped.
skip forward a few years, and i got out some deoxit and see what i could do with the amp while being snowed in during a major storm. i was snowed in for several days, so the pots got a nice long doxit bath, which improved the volume and bass/treble controls. i was at the point of saying it was "good enough".
After the snow melted and i was able to get out, i found some replacement screw for the cover. i was ready to button things up. however, the replacement screws were just a bit longer than the originals. i was worried that they might short things out. in order to make sure there was no possibility of a short, i stood the amp up on its side so i could look inside with a flashlight as i screwed the replacement screw in. i should mention that the treble/bass pots are attached to a PCB running horizontally behind the pots. while looking inside, the amp tipped over and landed with a big "bang" on the counter. on the way down, the treble/bass PCB board hit my wrist and cracked diagonally across the PCB. You can imagine the thought that went through my head at that moment, and that thought was not "lets call H/K in Plainview to get a replacement PCB"
fortunately, it was just a crack, so the PCB was still intact. but several traces were broken. after carefully reflowing solder and touching up some traces with rear window defogger touch up paint, i was able to get the unit working as good as before the crash.
at that point, i put the top on and the screws in and decided not to touch it again.
OMGCat!
Super Member
Car stuff, damn, after 20 years in the business I’ve got a million examples.
How about pulling the engine out of a Porsche 930 to rebuild it, get it back in the car, fire it up only to realize I timed one bank 180 out so it was now a 3 cylinder. Get it fixed after pulling the motor back out to retime it.
Then, apparently forgetting that they changed the timing procedure pretty much every year, doing the same thing to a 997 Turbo (it’s a lot more involved dropping the engine for a stupid in this car).
The Mezgar engine and I have a bit of a love/hate relationship.
How about scraping the nose of a 918 while pulling into the dealership driveway and then pushing the front lift button. Thankfully it was a press car so I didn’t get yelled at for scratching up a $10k carbon fiber panel.
Fixing hi-if, hmm. One that still bugs me was when I was finishing up a resto and only needed to install the multiturn bias pots.
After desoldering I realized I’d ordered the wrong parts so I soldered the old one back. For some reason I didn’t bother bringing it up on the DBT because it was fine before messing with the pots, no reason it still wouldn’t be right? Pure laziness I guess.
Cut to me torching one channel because I forgot I’d desoldered both pots at the same time and had only resoldered one.
It bummed me out to kill a bunch of NLA high gain, high speed transistors but I will never fire up anything after a repair without the DBT again.
How about pulling the engine out of a Porsche 930 to rebuild it, get it back in the car, fire it up only to realize I timed one bank 180 out so it was now a 3 cylinder. Get it fixed after pulling the motor back out to retime it.
Then, apparently forgetting that they changed the timing procedure pretty much every year, doing the same thing to a 997 Turbo (it’s a lot more involved dropping the engine for a stupid in this car).
The Mezgar engine and I have a bit of a love/hate relationship.
How about scraping the nose of a 918 while pulling into the dealership driveway and then pushing the front lift button. Thankfully it was a press car so I didn’t get yelled at for scratching up a $10k carbon fiber panel.
Fixing hi-if, hmm. One that still bugs me was when I was finishing up a resto and only needed to install the multiturn bias pots.
After desoldering I realized I’d ordered the wrong parts so I soldered the old one back. For some reason I didn’t bother bringing it up on the DBT because it was fine before messing with the pots, no reason it still wouldn’t be right? Pure laziness I guess.
Cut to me torching one channel because I forgot I’d desoldered both pots at the same time and had only resoldered one.
It bummed me out to kill a bunch of NLA high gain, high speed transistors but I will never fire up anything after a repair without the DBT again.
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ironcoder
Active Member
We have all done stupid things. We just hate admitting to ourselves or others. Actually I find it easier to admit it to someone else. I hate admitting really dumb mistakes to myself. My favourite mistake is really stupid and I seem to make it about once a year. I am trying to find a bad part somewhere in an amplifier and am using a scope to find the offending part. I sometimes get to a transistor and find the voltages out of line and automatically calculate the power dissipation that must be going on. I then immediately put my finger on the transistor to verify that this little TO92 is actually using 2 watts of power. I come away with the shape of the top of the transistor burned into my finger. It is something I do on automatic mode while troubleshooting. I don't seem to be able to stop myself in time.
ironcoder
Active Member
Yes we all have to stand a receiver or amp on its side at times. This is a very risky maneuver. I just did that several times yesterday and almost tipped the receiver over. It would have fallen off the workbench onto the floor. I have some very powerful rare earth magnets. I could maybe make a little string with one of these magnets attached and fasten it to the first shelf above my workbench. That would be a very good safety line. When I do stand a receiver on its side, the chassis is always exposed. It would be easy to attach the rare earth magnet. It would be a very good improvement to my work bench.
faber12
Addicted Member
sturgus
Well-Known Member
I was swapping out a bad connector on my Maggie MG3a's. I had removed the socks since I had order new ones. I made the repair and as I was moving the hot soldering iron I dropped it right through the mid-range panel. Put a 2 inch long hole in the diaphragm. That was 25 years ago and It still hurts when I think about it.
twiiii
Lunatic Member
Once upon way back when I use to service telephone communication switching equipment. Now I was known for not having come backs but one time I got double crossed by my Triplett VOM meter. There fore the repair I preformed failed less than 90 days later and I had to make a 500 mile round trip to preform a 15 minute repair on some Webster equipment tone generator circuits for a in house telephone system for free. As I worked on commission I lost a lot money. . Moral to the story always make sure your test equipment is always up to the challenges.
NH-MAN
Addicted Member
My dad rest in peace did that for Ma Bell in Massachusetts. He retired, he would go to different offices fixing problems in the switching equipment others couldn't figure out. It was New England telephone when he retired.
