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amusing quotes (from work)

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LAN_403

Avalanche

Fri Aug 21 2009, 09:08PM

Registered Member #103 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 08:16PM
Location: Derby, UK
Posts: 845

Feel free to add your own quotes to this thread, I'm sure lots of people have some amusing ones to add from working with electronics and high voltage stuff, at work or otherwise...

"why do we want to optoisolate the RS232?" ..... "it stops the cable getting warm!"

"Is the water off? I need to cut this hose" .... "that's not a hose you idiot, that's the 3-phase!"

(during a load test) "I've lost track of where all the different burning smells are coming from"

(5 hrs after trying to find an intermittant phase to phase short circuit) "is there anything else we can do to find it?" ... "yes, let's try switching it on"

"my head is basically stuck in the busbars - that's why I'm worried about the power coming back on"

one of the above quotes is made up

Hazmatt_(The Underdog)

Fri Aug 21 2009, 09:16PM

Registered Member #135 Joined: Sat Feb 11 2006, 12:06AM
Location: Anywhere is fine
Posts: 1735

When looking at two male circular connectors and prepairing to mate them together "No bent pins on this one, no bent pins on the other one."

"Time to smoke-test the _______"

"This test-set is the biggest piece of shit ever invented!"

"Goddamit.. we need to check the status of the Bit Bucket! See what bits are in there"

"Where is the bit bucket!"

"Where does the telemetry go after we send it?"

aonomus

Fri Aug 21 2009, 10:16PM

Registered Member #1497 Joined: Thu May 22 2008, 05:24AM
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 801

"S--t, run!"

Hon1nbo

Fri Aug 21 2009, 11:08PM

Registered Member #902 Joined: Sun Jul 15 2007, 08:17PM
Location: Pacific Northwest USA
Posts: 1042

(when destroying a hard drive as commissioned by a customer): "Crap... I used too much Thermite, better move the butane canister farther back"

"we designed the supports for the homecoming decorations to be hung with the basketball hoops raised away from the wall"--> "the basketball hoops go the other way"

(when photographing firecrackers exploding and the fuse goes out on one): "five bucks says it still goes off" (it did BTW)

(someone knocks on the door to the darkroom while I am inside exposing color prints): "DARK!!!" --> "hope you don't mind we let ourselves in, what'cha working on?"

(while I am organizing my work room supplies): "mom, why is the radiation warning graphic I just bought attached to the wire box" --> "I thought it was cute that you would have that" --> "then what am I supposed to put on my Uranium Container?"

Mads Barnkob

Sun Aug 23 2009, 07:36AM

Registered Member #1403 Joined: Tue Mar 18 2008, 06:05PM
Location: Denmark, Odense C
Posts: 1968

"Lets see if it goes BANG!"

Said just before powering up a machine I accidently gave 3x400V instead of 3x208V. New VFDs all around :)

Steve Conner

Sun Aug 23 2009, 08:36AM

Registered Member #30 Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 10:52AM
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 6706

A while ago, I was in a switchroom at a semiconductor plant testing a prototype of our RF sniffer. We were poking around a bank of 11kV SF6 breakers with it, and the instrument was registering discharge activity inside one of them. We opened the front door of the suspect breaker, and sure enough there was RF coming out with the tell-tale signature of sparking.

At this point my colleague turned to me and said "Hey Steve, have you seen those exploding circuit breaker movies on Youtube?"

I actually had seen one where two guys got blown up in an 11kV switchroom.

Mads' comment reminded me that this same plant had a crazy assortment of fabrication tools from all different countries. They actually had separate substations for 415, 380, and 208V.

Bored Chemist

Sun Aug 23 2009, 08:43AM

Registered Member #193 Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 07:04AM
Location: sheffield
Posts: 1022

I guess I work in a different field. My favourite quotes are things like "Oh? was it concentrated?- Opops"

And, from long ago at school.
"Sir, Mark has PCl3'd himself." from someone informing the teacher that a fellow pupil had splilled phosphorus trichloride on his hand.

Incidentally, we had someone take a hacksaw to a 3 phase line that wasn't isolated. He was sitting on the plug/ socket at the time. The current took a lump out of the saw blade before the breaker tripped.

aonomus

Sun Aug 23 2009, 02:53PM

Registered Member #1497 Joined: Thu May 22 2008, 05:24AM
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 801

Speaking of PCl3, I did see someone smoke out a fume hood by spilling about 5mL of SbCl5.....

I haven't made any mistakes in chem (yet, knock on wood), but probably the worst thing I've seen is someone running past me with a test tube fuming with NO2, only to go to the lab TA and go 'what does this smell like?'.

Chris Russell

Sun Aug 23 2009, 05:05PM

... not Russel!
Registered Member #1 Joined: Thu Jan 26 2006, 12:18AM
Location: Tempe, Arizona
Posts: 1052

While someone is waiting for a fluke meter to check if a 400v 3 phase line is hot, a helpful passerby know-it-all: "Oh, you don't need that, just short two phases with a screwdriver. If it sparks, it's hot. Watch, like this...."

He ended up in the ER getting bits of exploded molten metal picked out of his arm and face.

Coronafix

Sun Aug 23 2009, 09:32PM

Registered Member #160 Joined: Mon Feb 13 2006, 02:07AM
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 938

More of a motto for a business card.
"We f... up less than the other guys."

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