Found out my switch testing routine was way off after 8 years

I was reading through the new ASME A17.1 updates last night and discovered I've been testing door lock switches in the wrong sequence since I started. Turns out the timing spec changed back in 2016 and nobody told me. Any other older mechanics find out they've been doing a test wrong for years?

2 comments

2 Comments

taragrant2d ago

Man that stings bad. Eight years is a long time to be doing something the wrong way without knowing it. You would think the training programs would flag big changes like that timing spec. But nah, they just wait for you to figure it out on your own. I bet half the guys on my crew are still using the old method too. Did you notice any close calls or weird failures during that time that now make total sense?

troy_murray81d ago

Funny you mention catching stuff late, my buddy Dave realized he’d been greasing the guide rails with the wrong type of lube for like six years. He always wondered why the car felt a little rough on the way down but figured it was just wear. Turned out he was using a lithium-based grease when the manual said silicone only. No close calls, but the rails had this weird gummy buildup he had to scrape off for a whole weekend. Sometimes you just gotta laugh at how long you can miss the obvious.