ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Confessionals...

Alright, there has been lots of talk about bashing, and bagging on other trades. May be it's time for some of us to come clean...

I'll start....

Once went through a 1" gas line with a 2" hole saw, after checking under the floor apparentley not well enough.

Drilled into the building next door with a 6' flexible bit.

Knicked walls with ladders, and tools.

Scratched floors.

Broken mirrors by over tightening fixtures to them.

Missed outlets and switches.

Out-right lied to inspectors...

Anyone else....

Oh yeah, sent tip of spade bit up thru formica countertop. Once my crew was using our coring drill to core a 6" hole in a paved area behind Aloha Air Cargo, so we could put in barrier posts around our equipment. They drilled thru a rigid conduit feeder to the meat storage locker. It was Friday afternoon. I got the call from the field around 3:30 pm- quiting time. I had to go out and fix myself after hours so the 60 k worth of frozen meat stayed frozen.

More - I once drilled for toggle bolts thru a ceiling to hang a 4' ft flourescent fixture. The owner had told me only minutes before which direction to orientate it. I spaced out and started hanging the fixture perpendicular to that. Had to patch 2 holes in textured ceiling. I found ceiling paint downstairs. Nobody ever noticed the patch. Once pushed my foot thru a canek ceiling tile. Caught myself hooking up the hot wire on the neutral side of a receptacle outlet. Have cracked many glass covers of customer provided light fixtures by moving my screwdrivers too fast, setting the glass down too hard, dropping the glass from my ladder, I could go on all night but I will leave this post now.

I too could add:

Stood on stone countertop to hang fixture, end up on floor with said stone countertop.

I could go on, and on... Over fifeteen years worth.

On crew ^%&*up's:
No concept of level, square or straight.
Dropping light fixtures, cracks large picture window in process.
Drill through finished floors.
Lost neutrals setting computers a blazin'!
Service side short, knocks out whole neighbor hood.

And thats just one guy.... (No longer employed)

I laid a clamp light on a berber carpet and forgot it. It melted & burned a spot about the size of a half-dollar. (I negotiated with the homeowner for $200 & she was happy...it was in an out-of-the-way spot).

I was driving a fork truck & ran into a machine with a cast iron handle. The boss screamed at his sons loud enough to hear over the machines, so I thought I was really going to catch it. All he said was..."Can you fix it?". I was a welder for 7 years, so I took it home & fixed it.

That's been my attitude ever since. If I break it, I fix it.

Dave

Anyone ever rip down a section of hvac duct with a scissor lift ??? I am hanging supports for cable tray and go up pretty close to the duct and had to manuever about a foot closer to the trusses to reach them and forgot to bAck up that foot before lowering the lift and crash there falls a 30' section of duct.
Luckily the HVAC guys were the most laid back bunch and say "Whatever don't worry we will fix it." I am expecting my boss to call screaming about the back-charge from them but that never happened.
Another time I am installing a phone line in someone's house and I cut my hole for my box and am drilling down with my Diversa-bit and I punch thru, I go downstairs into the basement to attach my wires but can't find the bit, Finally I go outside to have a smoke and right there on the outside there is my bit hanging out from behind the siding. Those are some unpredictable bits.
Another one that was great that a helper of mine did was when we were wiring a bank and I tell him to start numbering the cables from 1 on. Well he finished numbering the cables and we tape them up and do the run and when I am in the telecom clostet and start sorting the bundle I realize every cable is numbered with a 1, and out comes the tone generator. I am sure there are more that are conveniently slipping my mind now so I might have to get back to this one when my memory catches up.

Don't know where I picked up this bad habit, but my "regular" faults are in tightening connectors & couplings, and strapping down conduits. I always have to do a quick once-over to make sure I've screwed down ther setscrews.

IIRC, the strapping thing comes fom one of th efirst shops I worked for. We'd mark box & HR locations, mount boxes, run pipes, then, as the last thing, we'd strap the pipe down... my foreman said he'd had to re-locate pipes too often to strap it right away, so he'd wait until all the runs to the room were done before nailing them down.

I have to make sure that I finish strapping before I call the run done.

Did one like that the other day: Starting the day after only three hours of sleep, I caught myself putting the equipment ground on the hot side of the receptacle.
That was one of those "Holy &*!%, what else have I done wrong??" moments.

-John

All must pay penance with 4 hail Tesla's and ask Edison or Westinghouse for forgiveness and guidance. (Depending on your particular denomination.)

Oh, forgot... Some reading of the big book. (The NEC.)