Everyone makes mistakes, Whats yours ?

[sparkie710]

Everyone will always make mistakes and now we all laugh about them but at the time we just want to go home. So what mistakes have people made here’s just a few of mine loll.

1. When I was an apprentice we was re-wiring houses and that obviously involves lifting single floor boards up. So yea you guessed it not once but twice has my foot fell down and gone throw the ceiling. Least I keep plasterers in their job.

2. Wiring up smoke alarms in a domestic property in the hallway, knocked a massive hole in the ceiling fished a wire across then realized the light didn’t have a permant live.

3. And my favorite, had to replace already wired smokes, and we only saw one in a house. so we replaced that and wired in a new one then realized the smoke originally had a 3 core in it, only realized there was one in the lounge so we replaced that and had to tell the woman that its safer to have 3.

4. Somebody told me a story that they were working in a room doing sockets, and an electrician was in the opposite, then out of the corner of his eye the duvet started moving. Apparently the other guy drilled through the wall, caught the duvet then went to take the drill out and nearly pulled the duvet through as well.

 

[Geordie Spark]

I think my mistake was in thinking I could make a nice living from being a Spark.

 

[sparkie710]

HAHAHA i think everyones with you on that one mate

 

[sparky05084]

Allow me please to add some of mine.

Fitted a smoke alarm as an apprentice on the landing only to realise that the airing cupboard door would not open as it was too close.

Taking a cover off a 3 phase panel in a distribution warehouse and managed to "drop" the cover right down onto the 125A main switch. You guessed it, bump. Knock all the power off and 3 production lines.

Wired a shower up, nice and quick job. Got a call back the next day to say plumber is doing his fruit in can't fit pipe in. I'd only gone and wired the bleedin' 10mm into the bottom of the shower (you know the one that is specifically for the cold water feed entry). Try the top next time mate plenty of space there.

Pulling a feed through a loft to go back down to mains. Drilled down what I thought was the stud wall. Mate shouts up going mad. Get out of loft only to realise I've drilled through the customer’s nice and new coving. Its ok I said, tissue and some caulk will sort it

Working again as an apprentice in some offices retrofitting new lights and breaking into existing circuit. Fitted all the new Tamlite 600 x 600 recessed modular fittings, yeah look nice me thinks. Ok, next job. Boss has gone to do some other job so lets do this quick to impress him. Wire the switch wire, neutral and CPC across the fittings and connect them all up to the PCR's.

Done boss. He says ok and turns them on. Uuuummmmmm why aren't your lights working Tim? I don't know I've connected them all up. He checks in false ceiling. Tim, did you not think to locate the switch wire and interrupt it and connect your new wires?

Ah, that’s why they are not working then

 

[telectrix]

doing a CU change, old "tails" 10mm T/E, 8m from Switch Fuse in garage. switch off isolator, disconnect old CU, cut ols tails at CU, remove CU. then temporarily wire socket in garage to isolator for power tools. threading new CU over cables , OUCH. had forgotten to dis. old tails at isolator. DOH.

 

[Ponty Massive]

Doing a rewire, realised when come to 2nd fix that I had pulled 3-core in for the ring instead of T+E......

 

[SirKit Breaker]

I dont know about mistakes, but at home i have decided it is easier to do nothing than to do something. If you do nothing then you cant get grief off the wife for doing it wrong.

Cheers............Howard

 

[sparky05084]

Go on then I'll add another one for the record. Working again as an apprentice (honestly). Second fixing house and fitting the two way switch up top. Got my cores mixed up and on power up the 2 way did the bathroom light and the landing light was simply a one way. Yes I looked rather red faced when the customer said "I don't think it should do that."

 

[sparkie710]

haha im feeling left out, about a year after i started i had a good idea on electrics. and i had to fit a surface pattress for a light switch, for some reason i decided to use a cooker pattress and you couldnt open the door.

 

[Knobhead]

Dropping 4 tonnes of scrap iron on to the cab of a wagon (driver wasn’t in it). I was balancing the loads out on a main 4.5MW 440V board. I went in to autopilot and switched No.1 feeder to the magnet cranes OFF because we never used that feeder! The wagon driver ran for his life as the crane ground to a halt above his cab and with no power to the magnet it did a good impression of a Lancaster bomber. The cab was a write off!
Did I get blamed for it? I heard the crash and bangs so switched the feeder back on and legged it out of the fire exit!

 

[Kamikaze]

My biggest booboo ever. Test and inspection in a laboratory. Went round and unplugged everything to test the ring mains. Later went round and plugged everything back in again except a couple of fridges next to each other. One of the fridges contained an experimental compound which had to remain refrigerated at all times. The explosion completely wiped out the entire building. Everything turned out alright in the end but believe me, I was proper bricking it for a while.

 

[Knobhead]

Yay! I’m not the only total numpty on the board! good on you Kamikaze!

I worked out over the years I’ve installed over £35M of gear, and probably wrecked about £.25M with the aid of “development” engineers. They are fun to work with and they have to carry the can when things go wrong!


Famous last words, “told you it wouldn’t work!”

 

[Dunc]

Was doing the testing for a minor works not long after getting out of my time. Being the former apprentice i was given the oldest set of test equipment the company had so when it came to loop tests my meter didn't have the 'no trip' setting. To get by this and being in a rush i bypassed the RCD with a couple of bits of 2.5mm. Finished the testing and yanked the bridging wires out the terminals only for the loose end to swing back straight across the live and neutral blowing the main fuse! The customer was a bit worried when they heard the bang and the black streak made by the vapourised copper was nearly as long as the brown streak in my trousers!

 

[Kamikaze]

Yay! I’m not the only total numpty on the board! good on you Kamikaze!

I worked out over the years I’ve installed over £35M of gear, and probably wrecked about £.25M with the aid of “development” engineers. They are fun to work with and they have to carry the can when things go wrong!


Famous last words, “told you it wouldn’t work!”

I may look like an idiot and talk like an idiot but don't let that fool you. I really am an idiot. :6:

Your record of £25 million will take some beating. The lab cost £6.5 million to rebuild. So I guess I will have to accept 2nd place for now.

 

[telectrix]

he said .25 mill, so you're in the lead so far.

and is that why your screen name is Kamikazi?

 

[Kamikaze]

he said .25 mill, so you're in the lead so far.

and is that why your screen name is Kamikazi?

Sorry, didn’t spot the dot in front of the 25. I can’t believe I’m No 1. Wish I could say it was an honour.
Now Kamikaze that’s another story….lol :smile5:

 

[telectrix]

and i've got to be way down the list with a drilled C/H pipe . total cost £300 and that was because the scroat of a customer conned us out of a new carpet saying it was water damaged , but in reality it had been scratched into shreds by his bloody cat. funny how he managed to drive his artic over 2 broken beer bottles a week later.

 

[SimpleSimon]

and i've got to be way down the list with a drilled C/H pipe . total cost £300 and that was because the scroat of a customer conned us out of a new carpet saying it was water damaged , but in reality it had been scratched into shreds by his bloody cat. funny how he managed to drive his artic over 2 broken beer bottles a week later.

Shame for the customer. My one was last week, put a hole through a wall chasing cables. Didn't realise until two days later. Not alot of cost and about 3 hours work for the plasterer after painting and drying. So not alot yet, but room for improvement. 
This was the day I was asked to rewire a kitchen ring, cooker and a fuse board in a day.... Mistakes where bound to happen. There were more but nothing that costs.

 

[Knobhead]

Only £250,999 so far. I'm a novice! :whatchutalkingabout

 

[Kamikaze]

Just remembered another one from a long time ago.
Picture this: Working in a barn conversion. Had to drill a hole through the wall from the inside for the extractor fan in the toilet. Up on the steps using a great big kango and a 4¼ inch core cutter (no SDS drills with clutches in them days). The drill bit jammed and I had to let go of the drill. Unfortunately the little button on the side was pushed in and the drill kept going. Only now it was winding up the 110V lead from the transformer. Quickly jumped down to switch the transformer off. While I was doing that, the drill had wiggled itself free and fell onto the sink smashing it to pieces. From there it bounced onto the toilet also smashing that to pieces. The client learned a few new swear words that day.