What Mistakes Have You Done?

[Ponty Massive]

I think my worst was wiring a ring main in a house in 3-core (1.5) thinking it was T+E. A complete ball ache !!

 

[Paul.M]

It's almost as bad as an X Arms member from this forum that went to the Elex show in Manchester this year. "Im off to get my new (2nd hand) PAT tester calibrated FOC."

Watching him plug it in like a kid with a new toy i/we (Phil D) noticed he was going to press the full test button dumping the full load onto earth. "Dont push that......... button," too late. He only burnt out the rcd for 6 stalls so they couldn't display their expensive goods or show demos on their lap tops.

Phil D and myself did what any good friend would do and walked away laughing. The look on the stall owners could have turned coal into diamonds, it was that intense.

 

[sparks1973]

It's almost as bad as an X Arms member from this forum that went to the Elex show in Manchester this year. "Im off to get my new (2nd hand) PAT tester calibrated FOC."

Watching him plug it in like a kid with a new toy i/we (Phil D) noticed he was going to press the full test button dumping the full load onto earth. "Dont push that......... button," too late. He only burnt out the rcd for 6 stalls so they couldn't display their expensive goods or show demos on their lap tops.

Phil D and myself did what any good friend would do and walked away laughing. The look on the stall owners could have turned coal into diamonds, it was that intense.

yep it was special wasn`t it....:stuart:

 

[sparks1973]

dont know about `burning the RCD out` though Paul....more like it disconnected......

 

[mickys86]

done that last month, wasn't thinking straight...dont want to relive that feeling...

How do you go about fixing that????

Edit**
Apart from just telling the plasterer you f***ed up

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Paul.M]

dont know about `burning the RCD out` though Paul....more like it disconnected......

Ok so why did it take the on site sparky 45 mins, after ripping the board to bits, to reset it?

I still don't know because I was too embarrassed to ask him lol. Funny, just funny.

 

[Geordie Spark]

The biggest mistake I ever made was marrying the Sunday School teaching daughter of a bunch of po-faced religious maniacs who had no sense of adventure & even less sense of humour !!!!

 

[timbobelfast]

While doing a nightshift in a large super market chain I was menovering the scissor lift round a tight corner on the shop floor. Turned out I slightly mis-judged the length of the lift and managed to crumple the bottom shelf with the rear wheel. Good news was it was only cheap lemonade. Bad news was that the store manager wasn't too happy

 

[1shortcircuit]

Before I even started training in this field I was experiencing issues with my shower. It kept tripping out, anyway I did some investigation work and found that the 6mm shower cable had been trapped between a floor board and noggin. Whoever installed the cable had obviously completed everything before putting boards back down so just refitted the board over the top.

Anyway, after realising this I just thought that I would chisel out some of the noggin so that the cable wouldn't be pinched anymore... Cool, Job done. Refit boards and go back downstairs to find a massive crack in the ceiling!. It would have appeared that the nogging didn't only touch the floor boards but also the ceiling.


When I started working on a rewire I put my foot right through it.... yep, the ceiling lol I have pictures somewhere The floor boards had been left up on the landing stairs and when I was asked to bring the ladder up I was concentrating more on not damaging the decor on the wall (which also had lots of picture frames etc). Must have caught the very edge of the last board and my ankle turned over.... Should have seen that hole lol. I will find the pictures and post them up lol

 

[i=p/u]

drilled through a 4 inc pipe in sisters house when done my first downlights . cud of cried .. doing swa and forgetting shrouds, list could go on as i nearly trained myself

 

[Brightspark2]

me and the spark out of that boiler room at such a speed that Usain Bolt would have come third if there was a race between the three of us.
.

ha ha brilliant

When I started working on a rewire I put my foot right through it.... yep, the ceiling lol I have pictures somewhere The floor boards had been left up on the landing stairs and when I was asked to bring the ladder up I was concentrating more on not damaging the decor on the wall (which also had lots of picture frames etc). Must have caught the very edge of the last board and my ankle turned over.... Should have seen that hole lol. I will find the pictures and post them up lol

I know people who have done this, on freshly plastered cielings to...funny...not an electrician though, a joiner...

Same joiner told me a story that I was in tears at laughing...They had just done an extension and fitted a new bathroom suite but the waste pipe wasnt connected, so word was spread not to use the toilet and a sign put up too, joiner and builders leave for the day and theres only 2 people left on site...Next day my mate turns up first to find poo splatered all down the back of the new extension, someone had only used the toilet, site managers going mad becuase of the stains left in the dry toilet and the stains all down the back of the house...but neither of the lads wouldnt own up to it...so good morning for him having to jet wash it all off...classic...

 

[ian.settle1]

The biggest mistake I ever made was marrying the Sunday School teaching daughter of a bunch of po-faced religious maniacs who had no sense of adventure & even less sense of humour !!!!

Was going to make a comment but then realised it was in the main forum and not the arms.

 

[axel132132]

Remembered a few more

One was working in a hospital again as an apprentice this time i was working with the builders taking down a wall, we smashed through it with sledge hammers going crazy at the ******* thing (Was on a saturday) next thing you know.. Dust set of smoke alarm

FULL HOSPITAL evacuated.. People going crazy it was absolutely mental! Luckily we didnt get into too much trouble as the caretaker was supposed to have turned them off.


Another being not me an apprentice i worked with for old company, i said to her (Yes a female apprentice).. Dont step on that board there as its plasterboard you will go straight through.. Bearing in mind the was a commerical unit not a house the drop to the floor below was about 3 meters maybe more.. I turn around go downstairs to check something CRASH BANG WALLOP.. i think OMG No way, walk around the corner there she is lying on the floor!! Luckily she was ok and stood back up, i said what happened she said ''i forgot that you told me not to step on the board so i stepped on it by accident".. She was sent home lol! The only saving grace for her stupidity WAS that there was fibreglass ontop of the board that she stood on lol!

 

[Geordie Spark]

Remembered a few more

One was working in a hospital again as an apprentice this time i was working with the builders taking down a wall, we smashed through it with sledge hammers going crazy at the ******* thing (Was on a saturday) next thing you know.. Dust set of smoke alarm

FULL HOSPITAL evacuated.. People going crazy it was absolutely mental! Luckily we didnt get into too much trouble as the caretaker was supposed to have turned them off.


Another being not me an apprentice i worked with for old company, i said to her (Yes a female apprentice).. Dont step on that board there as its plasterboard you will go straight through.. Bearing in mind the was a commerical unit not a house the drop to the floor below was about 3 meters maybe more.. I turn around go downstairs to check something CRASH BANG WALLOP.. i think OMG No way, walk around the corner there she is lying on the floor!! Luckily she was ok and stood back up, i said what happened she said ''i forgot that you told me not to step on the board so i stepped on it by accident".. She was sent home lol! The only saving grace for her stupidity WAS that there was fibreglass ontop of the board that she stood on lol!

Blonde by any chance ???

 

[axel132132]

Yep and was born German

 

[Guest123]

Marrying my ex wife.......biggest mistake I EVER made!!!!

Sent from my BlackBerry 9800 using Tapatalk

 

[mickys86]

My sisters house has hollow walls. I've no idea what they are but I'll post a pic, someone will know. I was an apprentice and Was doing her dining room under supervision of my boss who came in and instructed me what to do. "put a bigger box in for the switch in case they want a dimmer." he goes. I get the scutch chisel out and ever so gently taping the wall to try and make it bigger. Next thing ya know a hole appears and I can put my whole arm through her wall. Luckily she laughed about it and they also stopped taking the p about it now

 

[ayjay]

ive got many cock-ops
i was wiring a lighting point for a linen cupboard in a hotel from the loft above, and a carpenter was fitting a new lock to the cupboard door at the same time
i slipped off the joist that i was knelt on, onto the plasterboard ceiling-the complete sheet of plasterboard came away with me on top of it, he had just closed the cupboard door to test the lock
he nearly crapped himself when he opened it to find me sat on the floor inside on the unbroken sheet of p/board

 

[ayjay]

another-but worse than the other post about the soil pipe--
was working in an old office building , the plumber removed the 4 inch soil pipe bend to re-route it, this left the existing pipe sticking out of the wall at abt a metre above the floor
he was fitting a new toilet and was sitting on the floor by the pipe outlet
someone decided to have a dump in the toileton the floor above- above even though it had 2 lenghths of batten blocking the door
next thing it a VERY irate crap covererd plumber,shouting and cursing, he even had bits of pink toilet roll on his boiler suite
and turds all over the floor

 

[sparks1973]

My sisters house has hollow walls. I've no idea what they are but I'll post a pic, someone will know. I was an apprentice and Was doing her dining room under supervision of my boss who came in and instructed me what to do. "put a bigger box in for the switch in case they want a dimmer." he goes. I get the scutch chisel out and ever so gently taping the wall to try and make it bigger. Next thing ya know a hole appears and I can put my whole arm through her wall. Luckily she laughed about it and they also stopped taking the p about it now
View attachment 13970

some kind of seismic brick maybe?