Apprentices

[Steve]

I once had a second year apprentice that cleaned an expansion valve in a bucket of water....!

I week later he was caught cutting copper tube with a hacksaw...!

His punishment was stripped to his shreds and taped (masking tape) to the back of the flatbed and driven down the centre of the town where I used to live.....what a laugh....untill his dad came down the next morning..!!!

Steve

[Simon]

As an improver I did an incredibly stupid thing when on a service call working on my own.
I can't remember what I thought was wrong with the system which was running a coldstore for a distributer, but at some point I decided that I needed to adjust a pressure regulating valve on the discharge. So I got my spanners out and set about removing the cover to the adjusting screw, it was'nt tight and came loose without a problem, the valve was at low level so I was working over the top of it, when without warning BANG... the cap flew off closley followed by the brass insert of what I quickly realised after was actually a 1 5/8 90 degree NRV. The insert ricocheted off my forehead leaving me with a bloody but not to serious fleshwound. I was so embarresed by what I had done I mopped up my wound and put a sweater on over my bloody t-shirt so that no one would ask me what had happened. I eventully found the guts of the valve, (after having a sit down to stop shaking) which after bouncing off my head had shot through a hatch in the roof and landed on top of the coldstore some 30 feet up.

I will never forget that incident as I am well aware that if my head had been an inch further forward I would have got more than a glancing blow and would probably not be here today.

Learning on the job can sometimes be a difficult and dangerous thing

[Paulka26]

A bucket of water!!!!! bloody hell, id have no job after that, it must be down to the training (or lack of) he has had!!!.

Ive been in air conditioning a short time and i think i worked out that water is a major enemy after 2 or 3 days, so i guess i have good engineers around me.
That is the most important thing for us apprentices, sod college good expierenced engineers willing to pass on there knowledge is the way forward, then college for the certificates!!

Thanks

[suctionheader]

I remember when I first stated as an improver engineer 20 years ago without much training.
I was sent to fix a coldroom in a dairy after trying
for 4 hours to fix a condensing unit without succeeding, adjusted the dial thermometer to read
0 degrees even though the room temperature was at 7 degrees. Three days later I was sent back to dairy
where the same coldroom was running at - 5 degrees
according to the dial thermometer !

[YoungBoy]

Its all well and good sayin sod college, but i just dont seem to come across any engineers that are willing to help you out!! All i ever hear is "im not giving away what ive learnt in 25 years...." well fine then, just dont ask me how to pass f gas wen u fail yours! good luck to all the engineers who have treated me like this in the past, you're gonna need it!!

[Colin G]

i can remember an apprentice asking me about cruise control on a car as he was confused how the car knew how to turn corners!
i laughed at him a bit but did take the time out to explain how it worked as you should as we are all dumb as **** at some point!

[monkey spanners]

Its all well and good sayin sod college, but i just dont seem to come across any engineers that are willing to help you out!! All i ever hear is "im not giving away what ive learnt in 25 years...." well fine then, just dont ask me how to pass f gas wen u fail yours! good luck to all the engineers who have treated me like this in the past, you're gonna need it!!

I've worked with people who wouldn't teach you anything, i've come to the conclusion that it was because they didn't know much to start with and didn't like to show themselves up

I told the couple of guys i helped train up that they should always be trying to catch me out or find something i had done wrong.
Both of them have left me behind in a way, one is now a very good ac install guy and the other works on big chillers and control panels that i'd be lost on, but i've lost nothing in their gaining skills