You’ve probably heard of "best practices." The idea is to look at what others have done and apply a similar practice to improve your situation. The flipside is "worst practices." We can look at what others have done wrong and avoid similar practices.
An example of a "worst practice" is tightening motor mounting bolts.
- If you installed the proper locking devices (e.g., lockwashers) and torqued the bolts correctly, it’s unlikely the bolts are actually loose in the first place.
- The correct way to fix loose mounting bolts is to remove the bolts, clean them, lubricate them, and reinstall with new locking hardware to the specified torque.
- If you simply tighten the bolts, you’ll probably warp the motor feet and reduce the ability of the bolts to stay tight.