Can you say IDIOT?

Greetings Forum Chums,
I share this with you cause maybe it will save you some money and embarrassment.....My Dear departed Dad.....a Taciturn Scott from the Highlands...and the most brilliant mechanic the world ever knew....plying his trade for over 65 years used to drum into my head......don't work on a car or tractor when you are tired .....or angry!.....it can spell "muckle grand" disaster!
well....today his sound advice...and my failure to heed.... did just that.....no injury to my person....but to my pride and pocketbook.....The setup....the 231 would not start yesterday in 2 degree weather....so...the trouble shooting begins....As our esteemed colleague Bruce (VA) has often said...start with all the connections.....for clean and secure!....I did...lots of poor looking connections were polished to a shine with the wheel...and the battery was removed for charge and a test....some corrosive build up was observed on the positive cable...and the clamps showed their age....cut the cables back and cleaned said cables...new clamps....got dark...off to bed...this morning I got a call that infuriated me....I shan't bore you with details....I storm out to the 231...put the battery on the floor next to the tractor....phone rang again for round two....came back out 20 mins later....bordering on rage....grabbed the battery...mind NOT on the task at hand....battery went flying into the tray.....wrong orientation as I was continuing to seethe with anger.....slap on the clamps.....as the "negative" was attached...heard a loud click and knew immediately what I had done....pulled it off in just a second.....too late....Alternator billowing smoke......dead short....FRIED.....170 dollars later....all is well!....learn from this idiot....do the things you always do.....check...recheck...slow down!!!....you have my personal permission to rub it in!!
Cheers!
 
Very true, its one thing when you are cornered with a break down in the midst of doing work, more so with a deadline or weather, but when you can repair at your leisure and walk away, take a break or do something else it pays in dividends every time. Also nice to work with a clear head, once a person gets aggravated the clarity dissipates rapidlym which applies most things in life anyways.

Even then, mistakes can happen. Just be glad you did not get hurt except in the wallet and that this short did not erupt into something much worse. I've done that at least once, thinking way back after installing a new engine in my old K10 chevy, some darned hard to find wiring issue at a Y in the harness for alternator circuit down by the starter, the connection was faulty, and the delco=remy alternator was not expensive. Funny, the engine job went smoothly, took me 19 hours straight in/out.

It took another set of eyes from a high school friend who was a professional mechanic to find that faulty connection. Sometimes its just another set of eyes or help that makes a difference. In this case I was just stuck on it, so tired from that all night job as I never stopped. I drove on battery power and got it home, then the next day to his house and what a relief once it was solved. I went and got a new alternator, it was then repaired within an hour, same one on there still and that was '91 or so.
 
14 HR days do that to me. When it gets to the point I lay chit down and can not find it, its time to call it a day...

Another sign is I can not play back in my mind if I tighten something up...
 

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