I’ve learned my lesson - when I solder near a dial string I put a bit of tin foil over it for protection.
Repair Mistakes & Blunders - what bonehead move have YOU pulled??
- Thread starter onwardjames
- Start date
maxhifi
Addicted Member
Being aware of this fact puts you way ahead of people who are doing the same thing, but don't realize it - sometimes doing stuff is just fun, right?
My uncle's brother did this, except he became the chock. It crushed his ribs. He's got a plate holding him together and he lost an eye from it. If the neighbor hadn't noticed the truck halfway in the road he probably would have died under there.
and thats why cheap meters scare me. The one I have at work is a nice Fluke, and it gets used on 480v circuits regularly. Not interested in a cheapie for that.
waggs098
Super Member
This reminder me of helping my dad build a moveable wench system in the shop. He was on a ladder welding and lost the ground connection. I grabbed ahold of the pipe he was welding on then grabbed the ground clamp for the welder to wiggle it. That gave me a good shock.
waggs098
Super Member
Remindes me of my grandpa. We were in his old 70's green Chevy pickup. I was messing around with the cigarette lighter and he said he thought it didn't work. The lighter didn't turn red so he just stuck his finger in it and what do ya know it was hot. Instantly turned the tip of his finger that nice light brown color.
waggs098
Super Member
As a teen and early 20's I ran hobbystock race car on dirt tracks. The tracks were 3/8 and 1/2 mile mostly. We would change rear end gears between the different tracks (lower gears for the smaller track). Well Sunday night we ran a 1/2 mile track. Let the car set for the week the the next Friday night ran a 3/8 mile track. All night I couldn't figure out we the car didn't have the power it should have. About 10 minutes after the last race it finally hit me. I DIDN'T CHANGE THE GEARS BACK FOR THE SMALL TRACK. my dad and I got a good kick out of that.
Another racing story. Got in a wreck and popped the radiator, of course got fluid all over everything. Replaced the radiator and finished out the night. Got second that night and was happy. The next race we had power issues car wouldn't go fast. Acted like a bad ignition module. Changed it and didn't make a difference. Went through that night. Went to a race the next day and decided to change the whole distributer. Ran hot laps and the heat race and still not right. Then my dad had an idea. He pulled the intake filter and it was still sticky and wet. Changed it and holly cow it was a new car. Filter was so plugged up from the antifreeze it couldn't breath. Won the feature race that night.
Another racing story. Got in a wreck and popped the radiator, of course got fluid all over everything. Replaced the radiator and finished out the night. Got second that night and was happy. The next race we had power issues car wouldn't go fast. Acted like a bad ignition module. Changed it and didn't make a difference. Went through that night. Went to a race the next day and decided to change the whole distributer. Ran hot laps and the heat race and still not right. Then my dad had an idea. He pulled the intake filter and it was still sticky and wet. Changed it and holly cow it was a new car. Filter was so plugged up from the antifreeze it couldn't breath. Won the feature race that night.
This is a PC board I made for an amplifier. It took me a while to figure out why it did not sound right. There was a little bit of copper that did not get etched away. I did the layout on the computer, that is a little bit of the box I drew around the layout which got transferred to the copper.
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waggs098
Super Member
I dont know about anybody else, but it took me forever to see the problem. Definitely hard to find.
Not audio related, but I'll never forget installing CV joints backwards on my old VW bus. I was an impatient teenager and the job was a pain in the ass. I finally got it done though and was super excited to give it a test drive. The joints practically exploded! I was amazed that the ball bearings were pushed into the metal casing outside the races.
SimplerTimes
Super Member
I was installing an amp in the trunk of my Dodge Intrepid and accidentally drilled into the gas tank.
Luckily it was a plastic tank so thankfully no sparks and the repair was a (not so) simple task of dropping said tank and using a patching compound to repair.
Luckily it was a plastic tank so thankfully no sparks and the repair was a (not so) simple task of dropping said tank and using a patching compound to repair.
OMGCat!
Super Member
I was installing an amp in the trunk of my Dodge Intrepid and accidentally drilled into the gas tank.
I've seen this so many times. Cars will come in from an installers shop or from a customer with the car either not running or doing something weird that just so happened to start after a stereo installation.
So far I've seen sheet metal or sheet rock screws in the fuel tank, ECM (DME in German speak), Immobilizer control unit, through the Evap canister, through the main wiring harness and a few others that I can't remember right now. All I can say is it's generally costly to repair.
How about this one, "why do I need a fuse at the battery, the amp already has one in line with it?" Proceed to run the power wire from the battery through the fire wall to the amp inside the car.
Car is later found on the side of the road burned to the ground lol.
Friend of mine paid someone to install an air compressor rig in the trunk of his car for a train horn. Same thing, screws into the tank. Car got a new fuel tank, the compressor got re-located, and the installer got the bill to fix it.
On a set of biwire speaker cables, marked red,black,blue, and white, I got mixed up on the connection. All of a sudden my Pass Labs amp wasn’t working with my speakers. 2 hours later and after a long phone call to Pass, I figured out what I did. Such a MORON!
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Bill Ferris
Lunatic Member
HUMBLING, it can be ! Yes !
donprice
Wound up workin' at a gas station....
Was working with my brother to fix something on my mother's garage door. Disconnected the arm on the opener and watched gravity close the door at a rather high rate of speed...on to a ladder that happened to be in the way. An hour or so of banging away on the smashed door panel got it back into shape except for some extra wrinkles.
Crang
Well-Known Member
Recently plugged an amp in thinking it was the soldering iron cord as I was getting ready to work on it. Whats worse is the power switch had broken, and it was now permanently wired to on. Went to short the big filter caps as a safety measure with a screwdriver on the now live amp. Jumped out of my skin with the flash and pop of that discharge I wasnt expecting. New policy- anything I work on- the plug is on the bench next to the device. Just glad I at least take the safety step to short the caps every time even though it had previously been unplugged for a day. 
danrclem
Super Member
When I was in high school I saved up my nickels and saved up my dimes and bought a 1967 Mustang 289. Well it didn't take long before the transmission was toast. Can't figure out how that happened. 
Anyway I put another transmission and torque converter in it by myself. In those days I could do it by myself. I had changed manuals before but never an automatic. The torque converter cover wouldn't go all the way back to the engine block so I just put the bolts in it and forced it back. I started it up and the transmission wouldn't work. I didn't realize that the torque converter had to line up with the transmission. Live and learn.
Anyway I put another transmission and torque converter in it by myself. In those days I could do it by myself. I had changed manuals before but never an automatic. The torque converter cover wouldn't go all the way back to the engine block so I just put the bolts in it and forced it back. I started it up and the transmission wouldn't work. I didn't realize that the torque converter had to line up with the transmission. Live and learn.my legendary diy repair .
How do you know if a tweeter needs ferrofluid.
My mistake was also a success as the midranges works fine .
https://audiokarma.org/forums/index...r-midrange-repair.871036/page-3#post-12992803
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