OK so I'm a plonker!

[Dodge]

We all have those moments we would rather forget but I thought you lot might like this!

Busy in the workshop thicknessing some oak through my Axminster TH410 when suddenly it just died, grinding to a halt.

I lowered the bed to release the plank that was half way through and tried the green switch again - Nothing

As its connected through my 16A ring went and checked the trip and ran another machine on the same ring to make sure there was power.

Lifted the hood cutter block was free so started to suspect something a bit more serious so took off the side casing to reveal back of NVR etc and went in with the electrical tester - no live!

Anyway as electrics really ar'nt my thingphoned a mate who lives just down the road who is an electrical engineer - anyway standing talking to him on the phone explaining the problem noticed that the euro plus was laying on the floor and not plugged into the machine! #-o #-o #-o the spring clips were slack so duly bent to tighten the hold.

Plugged it back in and guess what - bloody thing worked fine - must have vibrated out but trust me not to check the basics first, well I did check the other end of the lead!!

So I accept total plonker of the day award - well that is unless you can better it! :mrgreen:

 

[Digit]

So we won't talk about the time I had electronic/electrical parts all over the floor before I discovered a blown fuse then!
We've all done it at some time.

Roy.

 

[mailee]

:lol: :lol: :lol: Great one Rog! Now I will fess up and tell you that I almost did the same thing with mine. The lead is a little short to mine and it hangs in a shallow loop, Yes I caught it with my foot and unplugged it. I will have to extend it when I get time. :roll:

 

[Dodge]

I'm not sure whether I pulled it out or it physically vibrated out because the machine is taking quite a hammering with the burr oak - but is handling it perfectly and I must admit I am actually surprised at how well the blades are holding up - havnt had to change them yet!

I did bend the little spingly clip in fingies a bit so will see if it does it again! :roll:

 

[Benchwayze]

Me too. I haven't had my SC/Mitre saw long, and I'm still getting used to it. It seemed to be a bit stiff in its travel back and forth, and I have had a real struggle. My arm was beginning to drop out the first day. It was especially bad today, and I wondered if the shafts and bearings were in need of lubrication. I gave it a shot of WD40. Not much difference.

Then I noticed the bearing adjuster. I had a Eureka moment, maybe the bearings were tight? Like used to happen with my old lathe.
So, I tweaked a ;'highly visible' star-knob that was on the bearing housing, thinking I was putting a little slack into the bearings. It worked.
Great!
No problem.
It now moves so well I can virtually blow it along the bars. Then I realised. I hadn't fiddled with a bearing adjuster at all! I'd loosened the 'In-Transit' locking device. Since I had owned the saw, I had been using it with the locking device partially on. This, the seller must have tightened when he put the saw into my car boot for me! No wonder it was hard going getting the saw to slide! Duuuhhhh! Plonkerrrrr!

Now all I need to do is sort out this electrical tripping problem and get a new CB fitted in the Consumer Unit. I'm leaving that to a Sparkie. :mrgreen:

 

[Hitch]

I did a similar thing on a machine at work the other day, guards off, checking all the limit switches, right through every fuse in the box, scrabbling about ontop of it in a half inch thick mix of metal dust and hydraulic oil......

Was only a wire come off the back of a button!

 

[matthewwh]

The reset switch is another favourite - you check the supply, take the plug apart and change the fuse, phone a mate and the split second he walks through the door you spot the little red button under the power switch..... DAMHIKT!!!

 

[nanscombe]

Not woodwork related but ..

Where I used to work I was called to someone's computer because the monitor wasn't working.

Computer powered on ... check.

Flicked the big switch on the side of the (Apricot) monitor and it sprang into life.

Not a major problem. Easily fixed.

Trouble is, the user of the computer was an Electrical Engineer .

 

[dickm]

OK, I'll admit mine - the Elu flipover appeared to be losing power and would hardly cut through 1" softwood. Asked the 9-fingers oracle for advice, and he suggested new capacitor. Fortunately, ones of the correct size and rating proved difficult to obtain, so I left it temporarily. Went back to try and sort it out, and...........

.......

........discovered that the central bolt on the blade was slightly loose, so the blade was slippiing

Still, it's a tribute to the normal silence of the Elu motor that I couldn't detect it was actually running full speed.

 

[Blister]

I remember many years ago

I the days of the John player Sunday league cricket

In the days of black and white TV

Dad and I were watching the match and all of a sudden PING ? no cricket :shock:

Up comes the sign saying " we are sorry for the loss of this program .. out engineers are trying to trace the fault "

About 10 minutes later it came back on

The commentates were having a laugh and anounced

" the fault was traced to the groundsman who pulled out the plug to make a cup of tea "

Classic :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[Eric The Viking]

On a similar note, all BBC radio studios have the master breaker next to the door of the control room (for safety reasons). We had a boss, who shall be nameless, getting all shirty about the amount of electricity "wasted" by people leaving studios powered up when they weren't in use. We even got a memo about it.

A couple of weeks later, somehow missing the four or so large red lights in the corridor, he reached in round a door...

... and turned off Radio 4 (temporarily!).

The funniest thing of all wasn't the incident itself. Shortly afterwards maintenance came round and fitted guards to all the master breaker switches. We took somewhat cruel delight in getting the safety rep. to point out these were a safety hazard.

Happy days

 

[Steve Blackdog]

I have too many of these incidents to recount within the 70,000 character limit!

First prize goes to paying and engineer to come out to fix my built in microwave oven. I forgot that they are basically computers with an over attached. He switched it off at the plug, waited a bit then switched it back on. Bingo. We were charged the standard call out fee of £100.

The good news for Dodge is that he didn't pay anyone to plug it back in

 

[DonJohnson]

For a moment I thought that your self-awarder plonker status was because you plugged it back in whilst disassembled having overridden the NVR, and still had a spanner or something inside !!!

The are many stories about computer servicing plonkers but the one I like best was where a woman 'phoned support to say her monitor wasn't working.
Checked switched on - Yes!. Is it still plugged in at the back - yes.
Was it plugged into the PC OK ? - Answer: Difficult to see !
Can't you move the PC to get a better view? Answer: That's not the problem - I can't see because the power is off at the moment and the lights are out!

 

[Digit]

I was called out once by an indignant customer telling me that the washing machine I had sold her no good. I arrived,turned it on, nothing. Turned the kitchen light on for a better look, nothing!
'Have you had your power cut off love?'
'Yes!'
Roy exits, fuming!

Roy.

 

[dickm]

... and turned off Radio 4 (temporarily!).

Years ago, when the Open University was young, a student from Dounreay told me she had turned on her tele for the early morning OU programme for her course, and got nothing. She managed to find a number to ring, and somehow got a very sleepy BBC person who confessed that he had forgotten to switch on the relevant repeater for NW Scotland "but nobody else has complained"

 

[PMK54]

On a scale of 1 to 10, is your mistake as bad as or worse than me wondering why pressing the red button on my drill press wouldn't turn off the vacuum cleaner I was using to remove the sawdust from around the hole I'd just drilled?

What is it they say, the only person who's never made a mistake is the one that's never done anything?!

 

[tomatwark]

Rog

I guess it is a fault with that machine I thought it was just mine.

I have knocked the cable with my foot and the plug has come out.

I think it is because the plug is in front of the the in feed end and I guess that you knock the cable without realising it until if falls out.

I taped mine to the machine and it seems to have solved the problem.


Tom

 

[DonJohnson]

What is it they say, the only person who's never made a mistake is the one that's never done anything?!

Well, the person who used to quote the above aphorism all the time, was my proverbial 'best friend' who ran off with my first wife.

She had previously treated me like a god - i.e. served me burnt offerings - so I certainly know he made a mistake there! :lol:

 

[Benchwayze]

What is it they say, the only person who's never made a mistake is the one that's never done anything?!

Well, the person who used to quote the above aphorism all the time, was my proverbial 'best friend' who ran off with my first wife.

She had previously treated me like a god - i.e. served me burnt offerings - so I certainly know he made a mistake there! :lol:

Well Don,

Sounds like he was done to a turn! :lol: :mrgreen:

 

[PMK54]

What is it they say, the only person who's never made a mistake is the one that's never done anything?!

Well, the person who used to quote the above aphorism all the time, was my proverbial 'best friend' who ran off with my first wife.

She had previously treated me like a god - i.e. served me burnt offerings - so I certainly know he made a mistake there! :lol:

I thought you were going to say "I don't half miss him" :?