Spent a whole job with a crimper that kept slipping

I was doing a new build in Austin last week and had to pick between a cheap crimper from the truck or driving 20 minutes back for my good one. I gambled on the cheap tool and it messed up three connectors before I just used a twist-on instead. Anyone else ever take a shortcut on gear and regret it right away?

3 comments

3 Comments

jamie_adams4d ago

Oh man, that's the worst. Always seems to fail at the worst time too.

the_brian4d ago

I used to think people just didn't take care of their stuff, like if you did basic maintenance things wouldn't break down that often. But last month my AC unit went out on the hottest day of the year, and I had been keeping up with filters and everything. It was just a bad capacitor that went without warning, nothing I could've done different. So yeah, now I get it, sometimes stuff just picks the worst moment to die.

dixon.james4d ago

I read somewhere that like 90% of AC failures happen in July and August, which makes sense because that's when you're actually using them the most. But still, it sucks when you're doing everything right and a little $20 part just decides to die. I saw this thing from a utility company too that said most people don't realize capacitors can just go bad from heat cycling over time, even if the unit is only a few years old. So yeah, it's not always about neglect, sometimes it's just bad luck with the timing of it all.