Never be so stupid as I was - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Trymon
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2021, 11:11:18 am
content: I'd like to share my stupidity and with sharing this maybe I could prevent that somebody does the same mistake by just not thinking.Basically I can't do anything right now as I've sent all my DMMs to a calibration lab. Now I started to do some experiments with voltage references and have noting to measure except my el cheapo 2,5 digit hardware store DMM.Never ever send every device of a kind you have for calibration (I don't see the available DMM as serious lab device.). Now I have to wait until I get them back.Well there is nothing more to say and feel free to tell me that I should think before I act.

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2021, 11:15:01 am
content: Ebay is your friend.Some might commiserate here..https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/102400/

author: Trymon
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2021, 11:25:00 am
content: Well I have test gear, it's just at a calibration lab.At the other hand, you can't have enough DMMs i guess.edit: oh now I fully understood your posting entirely. There is already a thread for poor souls like mine that need therapy.

author: Zeyneb
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2021, 03:48:33 pm
content: Hmm, there still might be something useful to do. Some ideas:1. DIY oil change on your car. Or any other car maintenance thing.2. Doing the dishes.3. vacuum the house.4. create shelf space by trowing away stuff you never going to need again.5. clean gutters.6. anything on the ToDo list regarding friends, family and acquaintances.

author: bob91343
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2021, 05:36:03 pm
content: DIY oil change is another possibly stupid thing. What if you kick the oil plug and can't find it? You can't drive to your auto supply store, or anywhere else.

author: daqq
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2021, 06:10:37 pm
content: It's as I've always said: If you have N DMMs, you will soon find out that the proper number is N+1.

author: Rick Law
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2021, 06:12:17 pm
content: Only the mistakes that you didn't learn from are stupid mistakes.I am confident what you've just learn from this "lesson" will gain more for you in the future than what you've just paid for this "lesson".

author: Cubdriver
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 20, 2021, 06:32:28 pm
content: Quote from: Trymon on September 20, 2021, 11:25:00 amBe forewarned, the therapy we provide there is of the retail variety, and WILL cause your credit card to cry.(And regardless of the particular reason, if you don't have enough meters, you need more. Period, full stop.)-Pat

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2021, 07:28:47 pm
content: R A Pease, rest his soul, had a complaint about the calibration police at a workplace who would take equipment from a test benchon their scheduleto send out for calibration, without checking if the equipment were needed that week.

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2021, 09:16:01 pm
content: Quote from: bob91343 on September 20, 2021, 05:36:03 pmDrain the oil. Phone rings. Distracted. Come back to car. Fill engine with new oil. Why is it not showing on the dipstick yet? Why do my feet feel wet?Yep. I wouldn't have thought it could happen. But it did.

author: Rick Law
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2021, 11:32:57 pm
content: Quote from: Ed.Kloonk on September 20, 2021, 09:16:01 pmThis is not nearly as bad as another real-life nutty DIY oil change mistake. Before you think the guy is really dumb - a qualifier: We were both full time college students and working full time plus as much over-time as possible to pay for college. So we both were sleep-deprived almost every day. I did my fair share of dumb things while sleep-deprived.Amazing how brainless one can be when doing things while heavily in need of sleep.The guy has a Pinto (remember that car? it was designed to be sold at below $1 per pound when purchased new). He got it used. He did hisfirst-time DIY oil change. Seeing how dirty the oil looks,he use the garden hose to rise the inside first... He did got his car running again, after it was in the shop for weeks...Not his first mistake with that car. One time, I heard him grunting upon arrival at work. He had driven to work hand-brakes ON (> 20 miles on the highway) and only realized he did that when he arrived the parking lot at work!Good news is, he was majoring in Business and not anything engineering, so it is not likely that he was the designer of the bridge you are about to drive on.

author: CatalinaWOW
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2021, 11:34:48 pm
content: Perhaps doing dumb things is something that should be required of any Turing Test. If the machine isn't making stupid mistakes it isn.t intelligent in the same way humans are. We all have done them and continue to do them. At least your dumb thing doesn't involve injury or permanent loss of equipment. Many of us can vouch for much worse outcomes.

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2021, 11:54:57 pm
content: Quote from: bob91343 on September 20, 2021, 05:36:03 pmThen we get on a bicycle and go to the nearest car shop, which is probably 2-4 km away.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 20, 2021, 11:55:54 pm
content: Quote from: Ed.Kloonk on September 20, 2021, 09:16:01 pmI did exactly that once. Except I don't think my feet got wet, I heard the sound of liquid dribbling just about the time I'd finished pouring in the first quart of new oil. It was fun trying to fumble the plug in while avoiding the rapidly expanding lake of oil on my garage floor.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 21, 2021, 08:29:49 am
content: Quote from: tszaboo on September 20, 2021, 11:54:57 pmI dumb thing I did a couple of years ago was bodge a repair to the front mudgaurd. I fixed it with cheap cable ties, rather than buying a new one. It got caught between the front wheel and frame, causing me to flip over the handlebars, headbutt the pavement and break my thumb. I went to hospital, as I had mild concussion, got a CT scan, but didn't realise my thumb was broken, until a couple of weeks later. This meant it never fully recovered and my left thumb is still weaker than my right, which is annoying being left handed.

author: HighVoltage
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 21, 2021, 08:47:13 am
content: A student friend working at a truck repair shop here in Germany was told to fill new oil in to a big 10 Cylinder truck engine after an oil drain.They had a supply hose with electric pump for the new oil. And he had the nozzle in the engine and waited until the engine was literally filled up to the top of the valve cover and had overfloated the engine.He was surprised the engine did not start!

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 21, 2021, 09:56:30 am
content: Quote from: tszaboo on September 20, 2021, 11:54:57 pmIndeed. I once got a new car battery using my bike. I had a flat battery AND there was a power outage so I couldn't charge it. Only option was to get a new battery in order to get going in time for an appointment.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 21, 2021, 09:59:04 am
content: Don't feel to stupid, I have blown up 4x 440mA fluke fuses in the last 2 weeks.Prior to that I think I blew up one in the last 5 years.

author: rstofer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 21, 2021, 02:57:36 pm
content: What's the problem? Amazon Prime delivers here every day! I could have a Fluke 101 here later this afternoon if I order in the next 3 hours. There are several other models that could be here tomorrow.That's here in the US, I have no idea what it's like in Germany...

author: Zeyneb
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 21, 2021, 03:18:27 pm
content: Quote from: rstofer on September 21, 2021, 02:57:36 pmDon't know for Germany exactly. But an order from Amazon.com can take 15 days to get here in the Netherlands. But how about money? You act as if money can never be an issue. If you don't care about it why not paypal some of yours to Trymon to solve the problem?

author: rstofer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 21, 2021, 04:14:45 pm
content: Quote from: Zeyneb on September 21, 2021, 03:18:27 pmThat's why I picked an inexpensive model, the Fluke 101 sells for $47 (plus 10% sales tax) and can arrive todayhttps://www.amazon.com/Fluke-101-Multimeter-Equipment-Industrial/dp/B01IB9S6WKIn the next hour or so, same day delivery will disappear and it will be a 'Get It Tomorrow' item.In any event, if I absolutely had to have a meter today, as unlikely as that seems, I would spend the money. You need to look at the big picture. When you're old and retired, perhaps immediacy is more important than money. The time horizon is closing in...

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 21, 2021, 11:51:10 pm
content: Quote from: HighVoltage on September 21, 2021, 08:47:13 amYears back, the Boss sent a Trainee to top up the oil in the station standby Diesel.He seemed to have been gone a long time, so we checked, only to find him slowly & painfully "topping it up" through the dipstick hole.At another place, the EPP diesel was situated in an underground bunker (a legacy of WW2).Inside the bunker was what we called, for some reason "the top tank".This was about the size of the oil heater tanks common in homes in some countries.As it was relatively small, rather primitive provision was made for refilling, with a wooden ramp to roll 44gal (55 US, or 200l) drums up so the fuel could be poured down a tube into the tank.One day, I went with a Trainee to do this,.All went well for a while, then I asked him to check the gauge to see how full the tank was.He came back to say it was about half full, so we continued, but after a while, I got a bit "antsy" & went to double check.Fuel was pouring out of the top of the tank!Diesel fuel was everywhere, including the floor ducts, so I spent most of the rest of the day with cleaning waste rags, sopping it up & wiping everything off.The Trainee, of course, finished his shift & went home!That experience has left me with an ongoing distaste for Diesel fuel.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2021, 01:40:54 am
content: Quote from: nctnico on September 21, 2021, 09:56:30 amThis is another thing I like about having a proper manual gearbox. I've had batteries go flat a couple of times and I just parked on a hill so I could get rolling downhill and let out the clutch to start it.

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2021, 05:42:20 am
content: Quote from: james_s on September 22, 2021, 01:40:54 amComing home from work a few years ago, I realised my car's alternator had died. Different things on the dash were turning off one by one yet the engine kept running. I figured most of the life of the battery was used up on the morning commute by using the headlights and I still had 90+ mins travel to get home. I didn't have any jumper leads but I did have a few spanners and a shifter.I sat at a few consecutive sets of traffic lights pondering whether to pull over and wait an hour for road service guy to come out and tell my alternator is stuffed and would I like to be towed...I snap-decisioned and pulled into a service station and bought a new car battery, fitted it myself and got home on the new battery with no air conditioning and shock horror, no radio.Whilst this is indeed a mishap thread.. today I was soldering a wire for someone and using a cheap soldering iron with no cradle resting on a makeshift table cum bench, I turned away and the hot iron shifted and leant against the full roll of solder.Now 4" long bits of solder come off the reel.edit: spelling

author: bsfeechannel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2021, 01:44:28 pm
content: Quote from: Ed.Kloonk on September 20, 2021, 09:16:01 pmMarry a woman that doesn't admit a single drop of oil on the floor, even in the garage, and you'll never get distracted again.

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2021, 03:07:48 pm
content: Quote from: Ed.Kloonk on September 22, 2021, 05:42:20 amMore importantly, likely no airbag as well

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2021, 04:34:29 pm
content: Quote from: bsfeechannel on September 22, 2021, 01:44:28 pmThe mechanical servicing is more than tolerated since everyone benefits. However, motorcycle parts on the coffee table is apparently where the line is drawn.

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2021, 04:41:31 pm
content: Quote from: Bud on September 22, 2021, 03:07:48 pmVehicle too old to know what an airbag is. That commute in those days had an average speed of 28kph. The top speed was just over 50.

author: richnormand
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 22, 2021, 05:10:41 pm
content: Quote from: bob91343 on September 20, 2021, 05:36:03 pmYou twist a wine cork in the hole. Fill it a bit, and then, go to the store.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 22, 2021, 05:52:04 pm
content: Quote from: Bud on September 22, 2021, 03:07:48 pmMeh, the only car I've ever owned that was new enough to have come with the optional airbag I removed it to use the more comfortable steering wheel from the car it replaced. I'm really not a fan of driving around with an electrically triggered explosive charge pointed at my face. I always wear a seatbelt and drive carefully.

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 23, 2021, 06:11:12 am
content: Quote from: Bud on September 22, 2021, 03:07:48 pmI doubt that the airbag has any situation where it isn't prioritised, so it would probably have been OK.Aircond & radio are not priorities.I had a similar thing happen just North of the Billabong Roadhouse, 248km from Carnarvon in West Oz.One moment we were sailing along serenely, with the aircond keeping us nice & cool, the next, we were coasting to a stop.The temperature on the road was 49C (around 120F), so we didn't want to stay stuck there for long.Luckily, we flagged down a young couple in a Toyota Hilux, who towed us back to Billabong, where I played around under the bonnet, whilst sending my wife & daughter inside the roadhouse.The battery was "dead as a doornail", so I decided to buy a new one, on the offchance it was what was faulty.A charged one from Billabong started the engine okay, but, shading the dash with a towel, I could see the charge warning light was on-------Bummer!The helpful couple suggested that, if we wanted to try for Denham in Shark Bay, they would escort us & charge our battery with jumper leads from their car, as required.As the aircond used current for its magnetic clutch & fan, as well as the more esoteric matter of whether a greater mechanical load on the engine could cause the ignition, or Engine Control Unit to use more current, we opted to leave it off & wind all the windows down ----the old "4-80" system!Off we went, stopping whenever the battery ran out, got a charge, & continued on.Everything worked well, at least after I got my "hot weather mojo" back------so well, in fact that at the Denham turnoff, our helpful friends suggested we go on to Carnarvon, which we did, although the "duty cycle" of moving to stationary got somewhat worse towards the end.That day was a Public holiday, but the next day, we organised for the local auto-electrician to pick the car up .About four hours later, he had reconditioned our alternator & we had the car back.Try getting service like that in the City!

author: eti
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 23, 2021, 07:06:25 am
content: We all make mistakes, it’s how we learn. Bless you my friend, don’t lose focus.

author: Trymon
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 23, 2021, 05:37:47 pm
content: wow I was not able to look into the Forum for a few days and now there is a metric ton of replies.Have still to read everything but can't resist to say that I fix a lot myself regarding my Car. Just oil change is a complicated topic. No really good possibility as I don't have access to a lift and I know that it would be possible to do it also on street level but if some neighbor sees this and thinks this should be reported or the police I would be in trouble. Changing Car fluids somewhere on the street is highly illegal in Germany, even if you don't spoil anything.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 23, 2021, 06:05:36 pm
content: When I was a teenager I used to change the oil in my truck in the parking lot of the apartment complex I lived in. It was against the rules I'm sure, but I was quick and never left a mess so nobody ever stopped me. It had enough ground clearance that I could crawl under it without lifting it though.

author: Zeyneb
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 23, 2021, 08:59:09 pm
content: I do live in an apartment complex in the Netherlands. Before I was member of a DIY car repair shop I also did my oil changes in the parking lot. I did get a complaint from the woman who thinks she is boss of the entire apartment complex. Very awful person. But I learned in those cases it's very important to stand up for yourself. As these people use all kinds of bullshit arguments to get their way. After that they didn't bother me to work on my car in the parking lot.As for doing some stupid thing, today I was at the DIY car repair shop. The objective there was to clean the throttle body. I successfully unmounted the throttle body and removed deposit from it with carburetor cleaner. I'm using these foam swabs (like a deluxe Q-tip) for this. But when using solvent like carburetor cleaner eventually the foam separates from the stick. That happened just when I thought I was a good idea to put the swab in the opening of the intake manifold. So, the foam portion dropped down in the first intake runner after the throttle body. That sucked! Eventually I was able to get it out luckily. So, I was able to drive back home and type this sentence right now.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 23, 2021, 09:24:56 pm
content: I would have just put it back together and started the engine. While I don't make a habit of putting random junk into the intake of an engine, any kind of foam or cotton ball would almost instantly burn up and/or blow out the exhaust. It's not going to jam anything up or cause damage.

author: CatalinaWOW
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 23, 2021, 10:21:00 pm
content: Quote from: james_s on September 23, 2021, 09:24:56 pmI'm not so sure of this. I agree that foam or cotton swabs are likely to make it through the engine without damaging anything (except possibly getting caught on a valve seat and causing a leak for a while, until it wore or burned off). But a modern car with catalytic converter has sensitive devices and mesh like screens in the exhaust path. Odds seem high against doing major damage, but the possibility of a significant life reduction for some expensive parts seems too high to ignore. Even vaporized foam might poison something.I would work pretty hard at recovering the debris before I drove off.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 24, 2021, 04:45:44 am
content: I suppose that could be a concern, although catalytic converters run very hot by design and I expect would incinerate just about any organic matter or plastic substance. My cars are old enough that I wouldn't worry about it, but YMMV when it comes to newer stuff.