Things I've learned the hard way . . .

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after a hard rain no matter whether you see water in the yard or not go outside ONLY WITH GALOSHES and not the usual shoes, the surface of the yard floats an amazingly thick layer of ants...

from the house to the mailbox and then return takes over 200 feet of walking, I daresay I've used a tub of anti-itch cream....and its still itches :rant:
 
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Don't short SLAs.

Don't let SLAs short.

Make absolutely sure that you aren't doing anything that could lead to SLAs shorting.

Don't make it at all possible for SLAs to short.

SLAs shorting is bad.

In a nutshell, for the love of God, keep SLAs from shorting.

See all the little bits of red and black goop on the floor? They used to be insulation. See the wires that look all gnarly on the lower right? Those used to look fine.

Got a nice cloud of weird-smelling smoke from the plastic insulation melting. :crazy:

 
Illum_the_nation said:
then what are you doing leaving that dumbbell in such close proximity with your SLAs? never heard of "the tendency to sprout legs":laughing:
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No, it wasn't the steel section of the dumbbell that caused the short. I attached some wires to the terminals and let the ends trail off (to the upper right in the pic). They started out fine, but I must have nudged them with my foot while at the computer, causing the other ends to contact each other.

I won't be doing that again. :p Now I keep all the terminals nice and covered with their plastic caps when they're not being charged.
 
TigerhawkT3 said:
No, it wasn't the steel section of the dumbbell that caused the short. I attached some wires to the terminals and let the ends trail off (to the upper right in the pic). They started out fine, but I must have nudged them with my foot while at the computer, causing the other ends to contact each other.

I won't be doing that again. :p Now I keep all the terminals nice and covered with their plastic caps when they're not being charged.
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it would be a good idea to buy resettable breakers and mount them to something you can hold the battery in. what on earth were you experimenting with this high gauge of wiring?:)

I've been in the high school robotics for 3 years and have seen gel cells short through 22-24 gauge wiring normally used to hook up cooling fans accidentally spliced into the gearbox and shorted [I'm in chassis assembly, not the electrical/logistics, but I was blamed for it because I didn't inform the electronic guys that the transmission drill motors are too close to the bus bars they installed AFTER I completed the transmission assembly:ohgeez:]
the insulation instantly disappeared and the copper wounds lite up like a bright bulb and evaporated. the cell was toast, and I didn't need a multimeter to figure out [it was hot for one thing], the mentor said we were lucky the cell didn't "fart"

wires just evaporated....it was amazing, and terrifying at the same time:ohgeez:
 
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Gee . . . .


Next time, have a video camera recording. :grin2:


That'd be a great Training Video !



Also sounds like something i'd like to see on MythBusters !

:twothumbs

_
 
On a related note....

Take extra caution as you jump a car battery when you are tired, sleepy and late for work. The + and - look similar at 0-dark-thirty.

The auxiliary lesson? When you hook up the battery backwards the arc CAN weld the jumper cable to the lead post. The 8 gauge wires DO heat enough to melt the insulation off the wire in less than a second. Always make that last connection to the car's ground.

Daniel
 
When it rains it tends to pour...

Our approx. 2 year old Cub Kadet 1042 busted the bolt that holds all the pulleys and magnets etc. I have managed to break a back out bit off in it.

At nearly the same time the Craftsman mower busted the blade drive belt.

ARGH!

Buddy thinks he can get the bolt/back out tool out of the crankshaft....

We shall see!
 
Re: Things I've learned the hard way ...

Valolammas said:
230 Volts is not that bad, but once is enough.
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I've learned that once is more than enough.

LuxLuthor said:
If you are stupid enough to buy a toilet plunger that has a hose attachment and ballcock valve where hose screws on, make sure to keep the valve closed.
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... when the hose is not attached?

Diesel_Bomber said:
Eating oatmeal with beef bullion instead of brown sugar because you don't want your wife to find out what you've done and tease you mercilessly for months about it will give you a stomach ache. :sick2:
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But it's worse if she actually does know and is just seeing what you'll do.

Illum_the_nation said:
after a hard rain no matter whether you see water in the yard or not go outside ONLY WITH GALOSHES, the surface of the yard floats an amazingly thick layer of ants...
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No matter how I read that it's not a pretty picture. Put some clothes on next time!

mossyoak said:
when a woman says that her and her boyfriend are in an "open relationship" make sure that the boyfriend is aware of this.
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Perhaps she should also make sure he thinks "open relationship" means the same thing she thinks it means.

I've also learned:

Paper towels in the glovebox are really handy.

Spare spectacles in the glovebox are really handy.

Some toilets are designed to block.

When welding, don't let hot stuff drop into your shoes.

When cutting open a bag of milk don't hold the bag by the bottom.

When opening said bag of milk and holding it by the bottom, move away from the open full cutlery drawer you found the scissors in.

Enough sleep makes a world of difference.
 
Re: Things I've learned the hard way ...

TorchBoy said:
No matter how I read that it's not a pretty picture. Put some clothes on next time!
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dunno why but I found that comment Hilarius :crackup:

TorchBoy said:
Some toilets are designed to block.
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"true-flow" only works when whatever you dump in has a viscosity coefficient lower or equivalent to water:crazy:. and "low-flow" usually means you'll have to flush twice two times more if you put too much @#$% in it....I'm surprised theres no maximum weight standard written on toilets:laughing:

TorchBoy said:
When welding, don't let hot stuff drop into your shoes.
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neither will to do you any good soldering on a narrow bench while standing barefoot...so far it hasn't bothered me as much as the time I was soldering a heater pipe while lying back down under it with no shirt on.....you'd be surprised the difference in solder applied when your looking down on the solder gun and looking up on the solder gun :ohgeez:
 
Re: Things I've learned the hard way ...

Illum_the_nation said:
neither will to do you any good soldering on a narrow bench while standing barefoot...so far it hasn't bothered me as much as the time I was soldering a heater pipe while lying back down under it with no shirt on.....you'd be surprised the difference in solder applied when your looking down on the solder gun and looking up on the solder gun :ohgeez:
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Ouch! That reminds me, when you are painting a ceiling, it's a good idea to wear a cap or something. And not your favorite one.

After chopping and handling some chili peppers (even mild ones), don't pick your nose.
 
Sometimes it's best to keep your big mouth shut, as honesty isn't always appreciated or even welcomed....
 
Re: Things I've learned the hard way ...

Valolammas said:
After chopping and handling some chili peppers (even mild ones), don't pick your nose.
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Reminds me of a friend who had been rubbing linament on his leg, then went to the toilet before washing his hands. :eek:
 
Re: Things I've learned the hard way ...

Alkaline batteries are crap!

Now I've almost lost a Streamlight Twin Task 3C to leaky alkalines, this time my prefered Rayovac Maximum Plus.

Which reminds me to answer a PM about something.
 
Re: Things I've learned the hard way ...

Valolammas said:
After chopping and handling some chili peppers (even mild ones), don't pick your nose.
Click to expand...

Ever seen those really tiny ones? not sure if they are available in other countries...but imagine all the heat of a regular sized one, packed into one 2cm by 5mm

1)anway, never, EVER rub your eye after picking up a few to put in your soup..EVEN if youve washed your hand.

2)Carry eyedrops

3) Pre-perforated for eassy tearing type of packaging NEVER tears along the perforated line

4)the modded light will never work the first time, until you take it apart, and put it back exactly the same way after spending an hour trying to figure out whats wrong.

5) never throw a soldering iron from one hand to another

6) keep some sort of burn treatment near by when soldering.

7) heatsinks don just heat sink the led

8) check if the connection board/heatsink is hot before picking it up

9) use tweezers

10)alluminium cans CAN cut you

Crenshaw
 
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Re: Things I've learned the hard way ...

If you store liquids in little plastic dispenser bottles, make sure they're labelled according to what's currently in the bottle.
 
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