What was your biggest oopsy on a call??

[agudmove]

Biggest fowlup. That would be, walking into a new premises with new carpets, with a new machine. Looking behind me after 30 feet, and seeing 2 wheel lines and footprints, from the newly laid tarmacadam path outside!!!!!!!

[D_L_P]

One of the tech's I worked with had a call for a squeak, we were friends so he admitted the true story to me. He couldn't find the noise after a while and was getting frustrated. So while the back cover was off he got out the WD40 and just started spraying. He got it back together and started running copies. You guessed it, it caught on fire. He saw the smoke and popped out a flaming filter and took it outside. Then the copier really started burning with flames shooting out the back. When he came back he grabbed a fire extinguisher and was able to put it out. Funniest part was the customer thought he saved the day by putting out the fire!! Apparently, they came in while he was outside with the partially burning filter and saw the copier on fire and went to get help. When they got back there the tech was with the fire extinguisher.

[KenB]

One of the tech's I worked with had a call for a squeak, we were friends so he admitted the true story to me. He couldn't find the noise after a while and was getting frustrated. So while the back cover was off he got out the WD40 and just started spraying. He got it back together and started running copies. You guessed it, it caught on fire. He saw the smoke and popped out a flaming filter and took it outside. Then the copier really started burning with flames shooting out the back. When he came back he grabbed a fire extinguisher and was able to put it out. Funniest part was the customer thought he saved the day by putting out the fire!! Apparently, they came in while he was outside with the partially burning filter and saw the copier on fire and went to get help. When they got back there the tech was with the fire extinguisher.

I actually did the very same thing, myself when i was a newb.

Trying to find a squeak, and started spraying WD40.

No fire, but the machine did emit a loud "crack" and a green spark about half a foot long. (No damage, either, somehow...)

I was waiting for "oohs" and "ahhs", but they never came - just a bunch of icy stares.

[fixthecopier]

Sitting in the shop yesterday, I overhear the service manager talking to a tech who is out on the coast.
shop--what is the problem?
shop--You change the drum and developer and the letters are fuzzy?
shop-- Did you clear the counters?
shop-- You ran the adjustments?
shop--What was that? What did you say?
shop--You put a bag of 110 developer in?
shop-- what are you working on?
shop-- A lanier LD325.
Shop-- You put 110 developer in a Lanier?
shop-- What does 110 developer go in?
shop-- That's right, a Konica 2510.
shop-- What's that? You don't see a problem?
shop--Now think about what you are saying.


It kind of went on like that, but you get the picture.

[mrwho]

Shop-- You put 110 developer in a Lanier?
shop-- What does 110 developer go in?
shop-- That's right, a Konica 2510.
shop-- What's that? You don't see a problem?
shop--Now think about what you are saying.

That's it - from now on I'll put diesel on my gasoline car - heck, it's cheap and fuel is fuel, right?

[RRodgers]

Broke a fuser lamp right right in front of a customer, also broke a platen glass right in front of one.

[20YRSEXP]

Man I've been laughing my ass off and lately I've needed that. I know I won't top most of you but I have had a few bad times that I can laugh about now. One that comes to mind has to do with cutting corners just sto save a few minutes. I needed to adjust the hinge on a Mita copier due to a skew. Well right next to the hinge is the ADF PCB with this capacitor looking thing about the size of a quarter. Now the first thing that comes to mind is "shut the machine down and make the adjustment". Yeah right, I'll save some time and just tweek the screw and run some test copies.... I'm a pro, been doin' this close to three years now LOL. Well needless to say that capacitor was a little closer than I thought. Ooooops I slipped ... POW after my vision came back and squinting thru the blue spots I saw my screwdriver had a black melty spot ooops. Then I thought I hope the machine still works as sweat starts to break on my forehead. OOoohh look at the capacitor, half of it was missing. The good side was nobody was anywhere around at the time and the machine still worked. Did I fix the skew, I'm not sure I wrapped it up and left

[Akhenaten]

Boom!

Had a customers Minolta printer they had brought with them from America. Without thinking i just plugged it into the wall socket. BOOM!!! Power supply and the mainboard fried. Customer was given a brand new machine for FREE.

Boss's not very happy at all.

[Jules Winfield]

I once dropped a screw behind the power source board on a Mita DC-2055 while I was replacing the drive chain and sprockets. Loud cracking sound, white smoke, the whole 9... Luckily the customer was only down the street from our shop and we had a power source board in stock. I guess my dumb ass should have unplugged the machine first...

[rosaro75]

my senior engineer gave demo on canon NP-270 machine. the customers came from a village side speaking different language 'Telugu'. my senior explain very well in 'Telugu' language and take very good copy in a machine. they didn't compromise on copies for more then 2 hours. they talk themselves not to us. we confused what was their problem. finally one person told my senior don't mistake me we are form interior village. in this machine you made copy in Tamil and English only. you didn't show a copy in Telugu. are you conform that your people put Telugu language in the machine. our area printing pressman told to conform first to print in telugu. then only we understand what is the real problem. they confusing with typing machine and a manual printing press.

[D_L_P]

Well since I told on my friend who set the copier on fire and I live in another state now, I'll tell my oopsy.
I was working as a shop tech/wharehouse person for a dealer downtown..... well I won't mention the city. Our office was right downtown and the doors into it were recessed a bit. Well a couple times a year or so I was told some people used our doorways as, well as a bathroom. One day some woman was squatting in the doorway, stood up and got on a bus. Being the new guy it was my unfortunate job that day to clean it up. Well being young and not thinking too far ahead I got a bucket of water and tried washing it down to the street and into the gutter. Well stuff didn't roll as well as I expected and I had to use more than one bucket to get it all. Well when I came out with the 3rd bucket of water the last peice was gone. So I just figured someone kicked it into the gutter and went back to work. A couple weeks later I was at lunch with about 7 service techs, 2 of them were watching me that day and filled me in as well as the others what happened. Of all the people in the city, down the street came the sales manager (son of the owner also) and a few others. When I went in for the 3rd bucket, sure enough he stepped right on it. But apparently he did not even notice and they came right into the building. We were all laughing so hard I thought we were going to get kicked out of the reataraunt. After lunch I thought if this ever gets back to him I'm out of a job for sure. Thankfully it never did.

[banginbishop]

Well a couple times a year or so I was told some people used our doorways as, well as a bathroom. One day some woman was squatting in the doorway, stood up and got on a bus. Well stuff didn't roll as well as I expected and I had to use more than one bucket to get it all. Well when I came out with the 3rd bucket of water the last peice was gone. So I just figured someone kicked it into the gutter and went back to work.

that is just so wrong - ok most people have had a p**s outside against the wall but not a turd in a doorway and a female at that - wow what a classy lady

[ARTHUR1975]

DON'T EAT TONER

The months of July are the coldest. It is when nature tries seriously to kill us and its no good to stand on the edge of the cliff.

The toner on the machines sometimes becomes lumpy. "What can we do?".
"We can warm it on a pan", I said, "Do you have one?"

I emptied half a kilo on the pan to demoisturize. Oh boy what a discovery! If you had asked me before how they make tarmac I wouldn't have known but on this day I recognized. The lady's pan, the melted toner and the spoon for stirring job were all in one tight lump. I was lucky that the toner hopper was still on the machine. Bought new toner and left one inch shorter though I knew how to make tar though foolish enough to think that someone's gona eat it with spoon.

[Keoke]

When I first started as a tech, didn't know how to open it up, so I'm standing there and the customer walks up and opens it for me, lol, quick recovery, I told him it was a board problem, and I was actually going to take off the back panel to check his flux capacitor, lol, and I din't need to get into the front of it just yet, wheeew!!

[fixthecopier]

The guy I wrote about on page 14 who put Konica toner in a Lanier, left the shop this morning, drove 3 hours to the job site and remembered he left his parts back at the shop. Boss lady yelled at him, docked his travel time and made him put a tank in the company car.