Discuss Anyone drive away from a job and then worry about if you’ve forgot to tighten any nuts in the Plumbing Jobs | The Job-board area at PlumbersForums.net

I've filled the heating system up a few times and missed a radiator. When you open a bedroom door and see a jet of water spraying out of the bleed nipple! Quickly get the wet vac out and hope it's not leaked through the ceiling.
The worst one is when a customer wants to chat when I'm fixing or servicing a boiler. Then you go in to auto pilot, and even though you've tightened and checked everything you'll doubt your self when you drive off in the van. Best to ask the customer to let you get on and try not to look at your phone. That's when my mind wanders and I forget if I've tightened everything or not.
 
So how do you connect to appliances as there’s compression fittings on them

Obviously you cant avoid that.

I mean more like compression backplate fittings or where you see compression used on the pipework...

I should have said I always solder where possible
 
All the time, yes.
Tape test plugs to the front of the cover. Last job is normally to refit cover, so obvious if you've forgot to refit them. And never keep any spare plugs in with your analyser! You'll go crazy.
 
My father was a ground engineer in the RAF and 60-odd years ago I heard noises from my parents' room at 0530, earlier than his normal departure time of 0700. Being a teenager I turned over and went back to sleep.

Long, long afterwards my father told me he had dreamt of an aircraft crash. Running towards the vast pall of smoke and flame, all too common in those days, he met an airman running back shouting "Crossed controls, crossed controls!" He woke abruptly and remembered that one of his aircraft was due to return to service after major overhaul and had a terrible premonition.

He left for the airfield at once and found the elevator cables on that aircraft had been misassembled so the control worked in reverse order. The perpetrators had been two of his most reliable airmen. The mistake should have been discovered in pre-flight inspection, but sometimes it wasn't ...

My father never knew what inspired his dream; we put it down to some sixth sense. My moral is that if you're unsure about a job you have done, be it plumbing, gas, or aircraft control systems, go back and put your mind at rest.
 
When I was an apprentice, long before mobile phones existed, when even Corgi was voluntary, it was my responsibility to do the tightness testing. I got back to the office with my fitter only to be told by the boss, that the client had phoned the office, to say we had left something connected to the gas meter, oops. The boss glared at us, and his comment was "at least it proves you're bothering to test your work", and believe me, back then not everyone did. Ever since that day I have been paranoid about testing, so I check and re-check, and always have a last look around for tools.
 
When I was an apprentice, long before mobile phones existed, when even Corgi was voluntary, it was my responsibility to do the tightness testing. I got back to the office with my fitter only to be told by the boss, that the client had phoned the office, to say we had left something connected to the gas meter, oops. The boss glared at us, and his comment was "at least it proves you're bothering to test your work", and believe me, back then not everyone did. Ever since that day I have been paranoid about testing, so I check and re-check, and always have a last look around for tools.
Correct attitude ...Gsr engineers are more responsible for the publics safety than the over paid GP docter who just shift the problems on to someone else but get £100,000
+ every year and a massive pension Rob Foster aka centralheatking
 
Nothing worries me as far as work goes.

More important things to concern the old grey cells.

After all works work.

As my old boss once told me when I was starting out "At the end of the day, they can't shoot you."

I like that one. Gas Engineers are in a bit more of a serious position but even then they still can't actually shoot you if you do something terrible.
 
On one of my first plumbing jobs (fitting a kitchen mixer tap) I tightened up the tap connector to the copper pipe fitting and thought 'have I nipped that up enough?`and the customer phoned the next day describing a puddle on the floor, I returned immediately and nipped it up, moral of the story? Im a ****.
 
On one of my first plumbing jobs (fitting a kitchen mixer tap) I tightened up the tap connector to the copper pipe fitting and thought 'have I nipped that up enough?`and the customer phoned the next day describing a puddle on the floor, I returned immediately and nipped it up, moral of the story? Im a ****.
At least you admit it mate.
 
I have mad OCD like this, when I’m home even if I know I haven’t turned a tap on or opened the fridge I have to go and check before I go out, then when I’m in the car I’ve seen myself going back to see if I’ve locked the door even though I know I have. So you can imagine how I am with fittings and stuff, always better to go back and check if your not 100% imo, it’s not worth a sleepless night then the longest drive to work ever the next morning :D
 
My nephew is a plumber working on gas too, he's very talented but unfortunately suffers terribly with ocd, worrying about jobs he's done immaculately but still worriess terribly, high pressure job hey.
OCD may cost you a little more time but it’s better that than being over confident and just assuming everything will be ok all the time
 

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