Stupid Mistakes?

i was just wondering what kinda mistakes oraccidents everyone else has done or what bad luck has occured......cus today i made one that p*ssed me off, i had just finished a remote start/ alarm and everything worked great but like an hour later it was still in the shop and i decide to check it again. it didnt start, the battery was drained! so im lookin and lookin and i noticed that the drivers pin switch wasnt there....so im all like 'what the h*ll?'  i also nicticed that all thge interior lights were on and i thoght it was the missing pin switch. so we pulled all the bulbs so the battery wouldnt drain. about 40 mins later i just haooened to see a switch that was turned  to 'on'..................................aboove it it was labeled in big lighted letters  'INTERIOR LIGHTS'!!!!! i da*m near kicked myself in the a*s!!!!...so the motto of that story is to alwas check the most simple things first and then move on to the more complex...but chances are it the easiest answer.

here's a good one.. an accident, but a good one.. was mounting a siren under in the front of a lincoln and had removed the black plastic cover in the front by the hood latch and was really going to hide the siren good.. I was mounting it and had a burr in the screw and when I applied pressurewith my drill, it slipping and went thru the AC condencor core and freon was everywhere.. shop looked like someone turned on a fog machine.. I don't try and go out the way to hide sirens anymore..

Try this one...back in 2000 I was working at this one shop, well...they wnated me to do a Remote Start and keyless on a 2001 Chevy 1500.  Well...I was fresh outta school, and knew almost nothign about alarms, but nknew audio...I figured only one way to learn.  well..thankfully they didn't plan any other installs for me that day.......Took me two hours ro realize it had passlock 2, than another hour to figure out how to by-pass...DEI techline, thank you very much. than it was onto to the keyless....figured it had to be easier than the remote start..well it all went good, except...I forgot to roll down the windows ( hey I alwyas did before, i guess with the rain outside I left them up when I brought it in )..and when I tested the locks...I went WAhoo...They locked..But they didnt' unlock and the key was inside the cab..out of my grasp  and the domelight was on......I called the dealership...and couldn't believe what they told me...they had no spare keys for that truck...so I had to pay $60 for them to make a new one and bring it down, by which time the battery was dead.  And no there were no other installers that day, they called in............That was one of my more funny as hell incidents when i look back.........

Was working on an install once and had a helper put a bunch of tools (drill, 2 tool bags w/hand tools, and a dremel kit) into a  large trashcan to get them "out of the weather"...and kindly not mention it to me....I dont think I have to elaborate more on that one...was pretty painful. 

J Rillia, when did you start doing this? Yesterday? We all have a screw up every now and then.. yours is coming, don't worry about that.. Of course, I've never done something so careless as locking a key in the car.. No offence meant to you Death Jester..

well just the other day i did an amp install and had everything working great and then we tried to start the car and nothing  so i get the jump starter out and jump it ok so we get it running and about 15 mins later we turn it offf try and start later and it wont start so we dont know what happened .the guy comes and calls his tow truck company thinking the starter was gone and wanting a tow,well the tow truck comes but here is the thing after about 5 minutes the car is running the wire right behind the battery came off of the starter solenoid duh what a dumb mistake.

Yeah well....I had a store manager nagging me, no other installers to help me, and was told my job rode on this install...if I messed up I was fired..and I was the next day...and ever since than...I've pursued a different career mostly because I hate how teh store personnel think they can order an installer around, and how some installers think they are a God, but dont' like to admit their little screw-ups...I tried working at another store this year, and quit after 2 months...same game, jsut the names changed...so now I do this stuff on the side when i need a little extra money...a shame really...I used to love doing this stuff...but unless I need the cash..I won't even install anything for a friend...atleast not in Car Audio or Security. I went into installing MDT's ( Laptops in Cars and Trucks..SBC)...got laid off..more times than I can count...so....I'm now a Building Inspector.  This is merely a side gig..

All I think now when I look at the MECP Basic and MECP First Class Certifications on my wall is this.....It was a fun idea to have as a career...but, I really wish i had the money back...oh well they expire next year...actually in 36 days.....meh

DJ, if you look at the MECP Tests as something, don't.. they are a joke.. a saleman can get it.. I took the First Class test in 91.. got it and never took anything again.. I know what I can do.. My installs and referalls speak for themselves.. As far as Mr. 6 Year,  I know I f**ked up a A/C condensor.. Big deal.. that's why we have insurance in the shop, but for you to be as so bold to call us 'Gomers' when we do something.. I know that you are the greatest thing since sliced bread, and NEVER have a mistake, but the AC thing was something that happens.. you can't do this for 17 years and NOT have something like this happen..

DJ, need a job in Louisiana, look me up.. just roll down the windows first thing you do when you pull in a job (LOL)

SnomanF150, I never called you a gomer, I said you pulled a gomer. I'm not into calling names like little children do.  You just need to relax.  Breathe in.... Breath Out....., Breathe in....... Breath Out..... Thats it, nice and easy. Now don't we all feel better.

Oh yeah, and learn to take a joke over the internet, like Securinu must have, he knew I was kidding.

well like i said the amp wasnt me , i know you guys dont believe me but oh well, now that i have had a few days to think about it i will fess up to my dumbest mistake.

now keep in mind this was after 2 weeks of installing , way back when most alarms didnt do things such as locks and start and all those things you youngins take for granted. i was installing an UNGO BOX alarm sometime in the late 80's and i had this dodge shadow roll in the bay, well i could not figure out the locks , well i finally figured them out and figured i had to get them in the driver door but there wasnt enough room for relays in the door so i had to extend just the motor wires into the interior of the car right? so the customer didnt want to see wires and the boot between the dor and body was too tight to get 2 sets of speaker wire thru . so i came up with this brilliant plan to use the wire from home alarms we did , yes otherwise known as telephone wire , hey i figured 4 wires encased in a jacket small , what more could i ask for right, well i am sure you all are laughing so the first time i hit the remote it was like a fuse to a firecracker the whole line melted and burned the pattern into the bottom of the carpet.  So now you now my stupid mistake and i am sure i will get flamed but lets see who else is brave enough to put something here. remember this is all for fun , and now that i have cleansed my install soul i can now installl without a bad conscience.

PS does anyone want to buy a 500 ft box of telephone wire missing about 6 feet ???   cheap cheap cheap.....

I actually do know a guy that (this was before air saws were readily avalible) he cut a hole in a door panel for a 6.5 with tin snips.. When he cut it out the hole was too, by just a little.. now why he did this, I have no Idea.. didn't ask, but if took a round over file and starts filing away... tapping the outer door skin and when he finished, you could see the outline of a perfect 6.5 speaker hole on the outside of the door.. just the dents.. This was at another shop in Baton Rouge.. I was at Mobile One in NOLA when this happend..I know someone that has probably done the MOST embarrassing thing in the world.. ripped a door off.. (actually know two people that did this..) Just forgot to close the door and backed it out of a shop..one was a 911 that got hooked on a competition truck we had in the Bay in NOLA.. and one was a lincoln (brand new)  The lincoln was done by a guy that had been installing for like two weeks.. asked him how he liked working there.. actually that guy went on to build an IASCA Vehical and was points leader in his division for a few years running..

those are really the funniest things I can think of..

I can take a Joke, JR.. You just came off as sounding like someone who thinks he never screws up.. Everybody has a f-up at one time or another.. whether it is one major one, or a bunch of little minor ones,  one things for sure, they will all cost you money, or a job, in the end..

Take a joke...I can...Deal with egos...... I can't...

But it's all good....in the 'hood...Ain't no thing but a chicken wing on a string...we all screw up, we all laugh...

Lock keys in, drill through gas lines, drill through a/c condensors, break panel clips, lose screws, break lights, kill batteries, burn carpets, bend hoods, break panels....yada yada yada.....

Talk smack act all big and bad, eventually we all screw up...if you think you never will, ask any mechanic, they screw up to...they just never tell anyone......

How about this one...'98 Saab 900 doing an FM Modulated changer.  Idiot salesman sells customer changer that doesn't play burnt CDs because "it's the only one in stock." Other salesman corrects that mistake and suggests that the first salesman drive to another store 10 minutes away to get the right product, but he refuses to do it unless given store cash for gas.  The two of them get in a heated argument in front of another customer(the argument later cost one his job.)  This is before I actually touch the car. 

When I went to install the FM Modulator, I shorted the constant power wire, which blew the fuse and caused the radio to ask for an antitheft code.  Not a huge problem, except that I entered the wrong code into it, and locked the radio up entirely.  I went back to the install, and finally got the modulator box behind the climate controls where I thought it would be out of the way, until while sitting in the car with the customer afterwards, I tried to turn the temperature control knob and snapped it off because the cable was stuck on the box.  So now he has a car with a broken temperature control knob and an inoperable radio, and did I mention he was making a 12 hour drive home the next day?  It's totally grace that I didn't get fired over that one.

This is a good one...

Back when I was first learning about car audio/electronics, wait... I take that back... before I knew ANYTHING about car audio electronics I was doing an install in my car with 2 12" Rockford Punch HE2s that were already blown all to hell and a cheap ass Jensen 200w amp... I know, all sh*tty, but you can't be the free price tag and I was broke so in it went.  Since my car is a 98 Taurus it is a pain in the @$$ to install a head unit (all of the console controls are in one big oval unit... replacement with the DIN slot was $100 at Elite audio, and remember, I was pretty broke, so I saved up for a 6 disk OEM changer instead...  Since I didn't have a head unit with a remote wire I had to manually switch the amp on and off... now here's the good part:

I had no clue what amperage was at the time and didn't really know anything about fuses, or what they are for.

I originally had the remote wire ran patched from the constant wire for the amp (a small piece of wire ran from the 12V source on the amp to the remote

The power wire coming from the battery (with around 50A on it) was switched using an everyday interior light switch and a lot of electrical tape

I eventually got tired of replacing the light switches after playing my system for any length of time... I think they actually kept melting the insides of them... pretty cool if ya think about it

I decided I was going to use a remote control to work my amp so I went to Advance and picked up a $30 wiring kit for remote foglights.  I adapted this to my amp and hooked everything up.  As soon as I connected it, the 15A fuse blew... went through a whole box of fuses and couldn't figure out what was wrong... the next day I went back to Advance and got a 60A fuse (this was on maybe 28 ga wire... really stupid, but I didn't know better)

I was sitting in the drivers switch and hit the button... IT WORKED!!!  then three seconds later I smelled smoke.... needless to say, by the time I got back to my trunk to see what was going on (I had already turned it back off) everything was kinda laying in a molten mess in my trunk.  Believe it or not the electronics for the remote control switch survived... still works if used correctly ;) but all of the wires were completely shot....

I guess if nothing else it was a learning experience ;)

oh, TeeRizo, did you see the latest issue of Car Audio and Electonics?  They have one of Juwan Howard's cars in there... don't remember right off what it is... 360 Maybe?  I know there were a couple of those in there....

Aaron

Finished up a install in a F250 super duty, and was ready to back out the truck. Looked under the truck for any tools none. Got in looked in the rear view mirror saw the bay door open, backed up, CRASH. Come to find out one of the salesmen had been smokeing and left the bay door half open. After a trip to the body shop and about a grand later the customer was happy again. Oh well chalk a nother one up for the "Oh s%it rember the time......" conversations.

my cuz works at a dealership in the service dept and when he first started workin there he had to bring in a customers car to get worked on but it was blocked in by another persons car and they didn't have the key to that car, well they didn't feel like takin the time to put the car on dollys to move it, they used one ofthose jacks with wheels to lift it up and pull the car out of the way, well as they moved the car it slipped off the jack and busted up the radiator and fan and whole bunch of stuff... the lesson here folks i beleive is the easy way is not always thebest way

Scenario: Hood open on a standard transmission vehicle inside the shop on a cold day with the overhang door closed. Installer on the floor hanging in the driver's side with the seat out routing wires to mount all security components minus sensors under the seat.

Stupid Mistake: Installer accidental applies ground to the remote start trigger wire with inhibits not properly in place. 

Results: Vehicle drags installer as it crashes through overhang door, bends hood over windshield, takes out overhang door. Installer must replace overhang door, hood, windshield, and shorts :) Absolutely priceless for spectators (other installers) and fortunately no one was hurt.

Holy Crap, I just remember something He did.. using a Router in his lap once doing something on his door panels in the VW he had.. bit grabbed his shorts and almost cut off his... well.. just imagine a router bit wrapping as much of your shorts as it posibably can WITHOUT losing your manhood.. Think he went home early that day!

Here's a good one that I think everyone can learn from or at least laugh at......

I was in my first semester of technical school when a friend show me how to install my first amp.  Not knowing anything I went to Radio Shack and got 12gauge wires for the power and ground (no fuse). I had everything working nicely for around a week when my dad decided to take the family out in my car (2 door)  driving down the road the car starts to smoke and I mean smoke badly.   In short I didn't use a fuse for the power wire and with the amp hidden under the seat the power wire must have gotten stripped  when my dad slid the seat forward to let my brother and sister in the back.  The family got out of the car alright but the car smelled like burnt plastic for at least 6 months.  So the lesson learnt is always use a fuse.

Well here's a little story that looking at now seems stupid as hell.

Was still practicing/learning installations at this shop, so I get an old junky car that had no stereo and most wires missing or messed up so I had to run all new power wires and speaker wires to the new HU. Speaker wires were easy, just run new ones, ground is ground and power and accessory I found with the test light, so after everything was done the stereo worked perfectly, let the customer drive the car out and a minute later he brings it back saying the stereo don't work, I get in to check it and guess what it works perfectly, I show him and he's happy however as soon as he gets into the car he calls me back and shows me look it isn't working anymore, so I open the door and boom! it's ON.... after double and triple checking the wires it turned out that I hooked up the door trigger as a constant to the stereo, so as long as the doors remained open the stereo worked...needless to say I felt extermely staupid that day while my buddies had a good laugh.

The first car I ever wotked on was my 85 trans am. I couldn't afford a professional installation so ifigured i'd install my stuff myself. Well after blowing several fuses by accidentally shorting wires(i had no clue what I was doing)  I decided to disconnect the negative terminal on the battery. Well the install went on with no problem but it got dark so I had to finish it the next day. Next day comes and I finish the install,turn it all on. Sounds good so I decide to ride over to a buds house to show of my workmanship. Half way out the driveway car stalls ( happened every now and  then figured it was my carb) Turn key--nothing--no juice anywhere. Wondering if i really screwed up on the install. Anyways after painstakingly cheking every connection I can't find the source of the problem. Dad comes home and asks why car is halfway in road. Explain situation. He pops  hood fiddles around for 2 seconds and says turn key. Car stars right up. Asked what he hid. Says I didn't retighten battery cable well. Came lose. Felt stupid. Always something stupid. End of story.

back when i didn't have a CLUE about 12 volt electrical systems, i decided i wanted some lights in my car that flashed with the bass... a guy i use to work with had the same kinda thing in his mustang that i was imagining for my car, he just hooked his lights up to his amp. so being the idiot i am , i went to canadian tire and bought some 10 inch  side marker lights, little red rods with about 10 LED's in them. so i have this 760 watt sony amp (before it blew up) and decided i was going to simply hook the light up to my un-used channels, no resistors or anything. wellll let me tell you, plastic sure stinks when it burns. i hit the power, turned up the volume, they flashed once and exploded. i felt like an ass, not realizing the guy i use to work wiht probably had about 10 watts running to his lights, while i was giving them about 380. it was sick lol