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Short Circuits

Dec 1, 2007 12:00 PM

Everyone makes mistakes. Some are just funnier than others

Light on Lamps

A fresh journeyman electrician was assigned his first major project of installing a lighting grid for a new office addition. Because this was his first major task working alone, he went to great lengths to make sure the installation was flawless. When he flipped the circuit breakers, much to his chagrin, the fixtures remained dark. He quickly grabbed a ladder, opening each and every junction box to double check his work. After testing the circuit breakers, he inspected each of the light switches. Everything looked good. Running out of ideas at that point, the painter happened to walk by and asked if he had put the fluorescent lamps in the fixtures. I think we all know the answer to that question.
Michael Luty
West Allis, Wis.

Bug in the Works

I was troubleshooting our Trane Chiller, which provides chilled water to plastic injection-mold machines. The error code indicated a lack of current during Stage 2 Cooling, which caused the chiller to shut down. While inspecting the Stage 2 contactor for burnt contacts, I had to chuckle at what I found. Apparently, one of our local little critters (commonly known as the Earwig) had crawled into the contactor between the contact pads. All that was visible were the pinchers sticking out of the contact. After showing my coworker, I promptly removed the bug to clear the problem and then restarted the machine. I will forever remember the day our chiller actually had a “bug in the works.”
Edward Deaton
Willits, Calif.

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