Lesson Learned: Pros Don't Always Do It Right.

[Iplayfarmer]

Okay, this is not directly tractor related, but the concept translates to all fields of interest. Don't assume that because it was done by a professional it was done right.

I just spent 3 hours chasing some gremlin in my clothes dryer that wasn't even there. In the end the problem ended up being the outlet that a licensed electrician had just moved for me.

The dryer was acting like it wasn't getting any juice. I started with the assumption that the temporary box was good that the electrician had put in to get us by during our remodel in between tearing out the old wiring and installing the new. After all, it had worked a week ago on the same box.

Everything in the dryer checked out. I mean EVERYTHING. So, I started tackling the outlet. I got 135 volts from one leg to neutral, and 90 volts from the other leg to neutral. I had a solid 240 between the two hots.

In the end I found that the neutral wire of my 125/250 volt outlet was wired to the bare ground wire (the ground isn't hooked up yet. That's part of the remodel). I wired it correctly, and voila! It works now. I think the reason it was working last week was because the ground was shorted to the neutral somewhere along the way. In the process of moving stuff around I must have "unshorted" it.

Anyway, it works now; and I have learned once again that just because I pay someone to do something that I am too lazy to do doesn't mean that it's done right.

 

[mmurphy]

I have been there. I think every profesional gets in a hurry from time to time and flubs there work.:confused3:

 

[Red Beast]

a salient lesson, assume nothing.

 

[Thomas]

The pros which pat themselves on the back are the ones get my feather ruffle w/sloppy workmanship..just be honest and say I can't or not sure I fix it.

 

[Skyco]

I've found over the years to a "pro" sometimes it is just a "job". Often times an "amateur" is passionate about it and does a better job than the so called "pros".
Some years back I told a local Ford dealer about a TSB on my truck. The service writer told me he disliked people telling them "what to do". He had to eat a little crow when he looked up the TSB, which the "pro" service writer had never heard of:ashamed:

 

[20 20]

The only "PRO's" I ever met all said the same thing "Every day I learn or atleast try to learn something new!" A "PRO" that thinks they know it all, are NOT pro's at all!

 

[PILOON]

Tractor related!
A pal who has a front mounted blower installed went thru a costly repair only to find it failing again after a mere 10 hours of operation since the repair.

His first bill was $4000, and the second in the $2000 range.

The ultimate cause was that the PTO shaft had not been correctly adjusted for length when it was replaced following a Ujoint failure.
The 'pro's' simply wrote the failures up to abusive usage and never checked the shaft lengths for interferance.

Not very 'pro' in my point of view.

 

[swines]

There are people with 20 years' experience ....and those with one year's experience 20 times. Unfortunately, most of the time, unless you know the person doing the work - you don't which type of experience you're dealing with.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

All true.

Now that I have a good night's sleep between me and the problem, I guess that I should add that I bear no malice toward the electrician. Like MMurphy said, I think he was just in hurry. My frustration was mostly with myself that I got tunnel vision that the problem had to be internal to the dryer.

I know it's been said a thousand times here on TBN, but many of us still forget it... "Start with the easy stuff first".

 

[charlz]

When I was being trained as an electronics technician the 'Golden Rule' of troubleshooting was to always check 'E applied' (electrical source) first. Has saved me many hours of useless troubleshooting :thumbsup: