I decided to start a new post as an update.

I am waiting for a call from the electrician to trouble shoot my problem with the door bell light going out every two months or so.

Someone suggested that I call the company that makes the doorbell kit. I did, and they told me that they have never had a problem where the diode takes out a push button light. Their guess is that I have too large of a transformer powering my chime and push button, just as many have mentioned on this site.

I am now sitting here and wondering why my back door bell button light has never burned out, and yet the front door one has been replaced a lot.

Can anyone tell me if this still sounds like a transformer problem? I wish I would have thought of this earlier and asked the guy who helped me on the phone.

Sorry to be such a pest.

Thanks everyone!

Kate

On 01/20/2016 12:39 AM, Kate wrote:
I am now sitting here and wondering why my back door bell button light has never burned out, and yet the front door one has been replaced a lot.

Can anyone tell me if this still sounds like a transformer problem? I wish I would have thought of this earlier and asked the guy who helped me on the phone.

Check the output voltage of the door bell transformer and then you'll know.

If I didn't have access to a volt meter, I'd prolly just replace the transformer. If that didn't fix it, I'd replace the doorbell.

On Wednesday, January 20, 2016 at 1:45:40 AM UTC-8, ethyl wrote:
On 01/20/2016 12:39 AM, Kate wrote:
I am now sitting here and wondering why my back door bell button light has never burned out, and yet the front door one has been replaced a lot.

Can anyone tell me if this still sounds like a transformer problem? I wish I would have thought of this earlier and asked the guy who helped me on the phone.

Check the output voltage of the door bell transformer and then you'll know.

If I didn't have access to a volt meter, I'd prolly just replace the transformer. If that didn't fix it, I'd replace the doorbell.

Thank you!

On Tue, 19 Jan 2016 21:39:45 -0800 (PST), Kate wrote:

I am waiting for a call from the electrician to trouble shoot
my problem with the door bell light going out every two months or so.

Good Grief.... I've read some of this thread and the amount of money you
must be spending for this is insane. Who cares if it lights. As long as
the chime works. Buy a 25W equivalant LED bulb and put it in your porch
light and leave it on all night. It uses 3W. Better yet, buy a Solar
powered wall light for about $20. Mount it on the wall near the
doorbell. It'll not use any electricity and should stay on most nights
all night long, unless the prior day was very cloudy. Or buy a string of
clear LED holiday lights and put them around the door. If people still
cant see the doorbell, send them to an eye doctor.

On Tue, 19 Jan 2016 21:39:45 -0800 (PST), Kate
wrote:

I decided to start a new post as an update.

I am waiting for a call from the electrician to trouble shoot my problem with the door bell light going out every two months or so.

Someone suggested that I call the company that makes the doorbell kit. I did, and they told me that they have never had a problem where the diode takes out a push button light. Their guess is that I have too large of a transformer powering my chime and push button, just as many have mentioned on this site.

I am now sitting here and wondering why my back door bell button light has never burned out, and yet the front door one has been replaced a lot.

Can anyone tell me if this still sounds like a transformer problem? I wish I would have thought of this earlier and asked the guy who helped me on the phone.

Sorry to be such a pest.

Thanks everyone!

Kate
Is the back button one that came with the original kit??
If so,my "guess" is the original setup was a non-standard voltage
(like 24) and the buttons that came with it were right for that
voltage - and the replacements are "standard" 16 volt units. Either
that or you are getting a lot of cheap substandard replacement
buttons.

Key to the whole thin is "what voltage do you have on the circuit NOW?

On Wed, 20 Jan 2016 04:45:40 -0500, ethyl wrote:

On 01/20/2016 12:39 AM, Kate wrote:
I am now sitting here and wondering why my back door bell button light has never burned out, and yet the front door one has been replaced a lot.

Can anyone tell me if this still sounds like a transformer problem? I wish I would have thought of this earlier and asked the guy who helped me on the phone.

Check the output voltage of the door bell transformer and then you'll know.

If I didn't have access to a volt meter, I'd prolly just replace the transformer. If that didn't fix it, I'd replace the doorbell.
A cheap meter is less expensive than the transformer - and the meter
will be usefull to have around for a lot of other uses. Get the meter
first. Then, if the voltage is too high, get a transformer If not,
it's not the end of the world if the button doesn't light

wrote in message
...
Check the output voltage of the door bell transformer and then you'll
know.

If I didn't have access to a volt meter, I'd prolly just replace the
transformer. If that didn't fix it, I'd replace the doorbell.
A cheap meter is less expensive than the transformer - and the meter
will be usefull to have around for a lot of other uses. Get the meter
first. Then, if the voltage is too high, get a transformer If not,
it's not the end of the world if the button doesn't light

Right on getting a meter. For home use they are less than $ 20. Even the
free one from Harbor Freight should be ok to use. It might even be beter
for the casual user for several reasons. They seem to have a 1 meg instead
of 10 meg inpedance for the DC , did not check the AC, but think it would be
either the same or less. They are inexpensive enough if you burn one up, no
big loss.

I have received 3 of them in the last 6 months. They all seem to check out
to be good enough for general home trouble shooting as compaired to my Fluke
other meters.

Ralph Mowery wrote:
wrote in message
...
Check the output voltage of the door bell transformer and then you'll
know.

If I didn't have access to a volt meter, I'd prolly just replace the
transformer. If that didn't fix it, I'd replace the doorbell.
A cheap meter is less expensive than the transformer - and the meter
will be usefull to have around for a lot of other uses. Get the meter
first. Then, if the voltage is too high, get a transformer If not,
it's not the end of the world if the button doesn't light

Right on getting a meter. For home use they are less than $ 20. Even the
free one from Harbor Freight should be ok to use. It might even be beter
for the casual user for several reasons. They seem to have a 1 meg instead
of 10 meg inpedance for the DC , did not check the AC, but think it would be
either the same or less. They are inexpensive enough if you burn one up, no
big loss.

I have received 3 of them in the last 6 months. They all seem to check out
to be good enough for general home trouble shooting as compaired to my Fluke
other meters.


Think anyone, everyone can use multimeter properly? And has logical
trouble-hooting experience? Life is never ending learning process.

On Wednesday, January 20, 2016 at 10:08:54 AM UTC-6, Tony Hwang wrote:

And has logical
trouble-hooting experience?

....age related owl problem? •®(”€–½”€)•*

On Wed, 20 Jan 2016 10:50:14 -0500, "Ralph Mowery"
wrote:

Right on getting a meter. For home use they are less than $ 20. Even the
free one from Harbor Freight should be ok to use. It might even be beter
for the casual user for several reasons. They seem to have a 1 meg instead
of 10 meg inpedance for the DC , did not check the AC, but think it would be
either the same or less. They are inexpensive enough if you burn one up, no
big loss.

I have received 3 of them in the last 6 months. They all seem to check out
to be good enough for general home trouble shooting as compaired to my Fluke
other meters.


The first lesson a person should learn about using an electrical meter
is to get a reliable meter. It does NOT need to be costly, but it MUST
NOT be from Harbor Fright. Those meters from HF, which you can get for
free or pay about $7 for, should be thrown in the trash BEFORE they are
ever connected to electricity. If they do work at all, they are
inaccurate, and they will suddenly stop working just from sitting on a
shelf.

Of course that begins a lesson in buying any and all tools. Anyone who
does home repair dont need to be a professional, but no professional
would even consider buying the garbage sold at HF.

Learn from the pros....
Dont even enter a HF store. Spend your money on reliable and quality
tools, or if you're just shopping for a "one time use" tool, there are
other lower cost brands that are far better than the garbage sold at HF.

"Kate" wrote in message
...

I decided to start a new post as an update.

I am waiting for a call from the electrician to trouble shoot my problem
with the door bell light going out every two months or so.

Someone suggested that I call the company that makes the doorbell kit. I
did, and they told me that they have never had a problem where the diode
takes out a push button light. Their guess is that I have too large of a
transformer powering my chime and push button, just as many have mentioned
on this site.

I am now sitting here and wondering why my back door bell button light has
never burned out, and yet the front door one has been replaced a lot.

Can anyone tell me if this still sounds like a transformer problem? I wish
I would have thought of this earlier and asked the guy who helped me on the
phone.

Sorry to be such a pest.

Thanks everyone!

Kate

Ok Kate you have stated that you was told that push button may have diode
with in
Normally Diode is use in rectifier circuit, it means that it changes AC
voltage to DC
voltage, now if you have diode there originally it is possible that is use
to drop voltage
however it would be use to drop voltage power only, on the pilot light, it
would
operate "like this" when button is press light button/switch light will go
out, and
when switch/button would let go it would come back on. this is only thing I
could think.
I am not there without being there with instruments to diagnosed
problem????????

wrote in message
news

The first lesson a person should learn about using an electrical meter
is to get a reliable meter. It does NOT need to be costly, but it MUST
NOT be from Harbor Fright. Those meters from HF, which you can get for
free or pay about $7 for, should be thrown in the trash BEFORE they are
ever connected to electricity. If they do work at all, they are
inaccurate, and they will suddenly stop working just from sitting on a
shelf.

Part of my job when working was the calibration of instruments. I have 2
Fluke meters that were checked by even more percision instruments and they
met the spec. Out of 4 of the free HF meters I have, they are accurate
enough for the average home owner. They seem to meet the spec of the paper
that comes with them. The oldest one is only about 5 months old, so I will
have to give them a while to see if they do go bad.

I will agree if a tool is to be used very much or needs to be a good quality
HF is not the place to go to, but for a tool that is seldom used the HF may
be good enough.

On Wed, 20 Jan 2016 18:12:28 -0500, "Ralph Mowery"
wrote:


wrote in message
news

The first lesson a person should learn about using an electrical meter
is to get a reliable meter. It does NOT need to be costly, but it MUST
NOT be from Harbor Fright. Those meters from HF, which you can get for
free or pay about $7 for, should be thrown in the trash BEFORE they are
ever connected to electricity. If they do work at all, they are
inaccurate, and they will suddenly stop working just from sitting on a
shelf.

Part of my job when working was the calibration of instruments. I have 2
Fluke meters that were checked by even more percision instruments and they
met the spec. Out of 4 of the free HF meters I have, they are accurate
enough for the average home owner. They seem to meet the spec of the paper
that comes with them. The oldest one is only about 5 months old, so I will
have to give them a while to see if they do go bad.

I will agree if a tool is to be used very much or needs to be a good quality
HF is not the place to go to, but for a tool that is seldom used the HF may
be good enough.


I dont get their free meters because I never shopped there much and I
refused to get on their mailing list. (which I do everywhere). But I
bought one of these meters for $7, intended to be used for auto repair,
because I hate using a quality meter when my hands are greasy. The first
time I got that meter out to a car, I put it to a wire and was reaching
with the black lead to get a ground, and the test lead tip pulled right
off. (Molded and unrepairable). I had to go borrow the leads off one of
my good meters, but I ordered some decent test leads from ebay a week
later. which cost around the same price as the HF meter.

I took care of this meter like I would with any of them, kept it indoors
and didnt drop or abuse it. I used it about 2 more times in a car, and
used it in the house about 3 or 4 times to check the resistance on some
LED christmas lights and tested some flashlight batteries.

It sat on a shelf most of the time. About 1 1/2 or 2 years later I
grabbed it to test another set of christmas lights, and I could not get
any reading. I put in new batteries, it still did not work. I switched
it to DC and put the leads across a 12VDC power supply. No reading. I
switched to AC, stuck the leads in a 120V outlet. No reading, or just a
slight reading (I cant quite remember anymore). I might have this
confused with another meter, but I think there's a fuse inside. I
checked that, and it was fine.

This meter just died from sitting on a shelf and turned OFF.
I dont think I even got $7 worth of use from it, and that dont include
the replacment test leads (which I can use elsewhere).

I bought a solar charger from HF. That worked at first, then just quit
working for no reason. HF refused to return it or exchange it, but told
me I should have gotten their extended warranty (which is almost the
same price as the device itself). I raised hell, asked to speak ot the
manager, who gave me the same robotic speech. I told him to shove it up
his ass, and left the store. That was the last time I have ever gone to
HF and the last time I ever will.

I also bought some hand tools from HF and all of them were cheap junk. A
channel locks that broke in half, vice grips that bent, plyers would not
grip, wrenches that stripped or cracked, and so on.

I should have just taken that money and burned it. -OR- spent about 20%
more and bought some OTHER BRAND of low-end tools, and I'd probably
still have the stuff. Instead all I did was add to the landfill.

There are quality tools, and there are cheap tools, and then there's HF
garbage, which does not qualify to even be called a "tool". I will never
step foot in their stores again!

In ,
Kate typed:
I decided to start a new post as an update.

I am waiting for a call from the electrician to trouble shoot my
problem with the door bell light going out every two months or so.

Someone suggested that I call the company that makes the doorbell
kit. I did, and they told me that they have never had a problem
where the diode takes out a push button light. Their guess is that I
have too large of a transformer powering my chime and push button,
just as many have mentioned on this site.

I am now sitting here and wondering why my back door bell button
light has never burned out, and yet the front door one has been
replaced a lot.

Can anyone tell me if this still sounds like a transformer problem?
I wish I would have thought of this earlier and asked the guy who
helped me on the phone.

Sorry to be such a pest.

Thanks everyone!

Kate

I have been following the original thread and this new one about the door
bell saga.

My thinking is that it probably isn't worth trying to solve the puzzle and
especially if it involves paying an a electrician again. You already did a
lot, including changing the switch a number of times, trying to figure out
what a transformer looks like and where it may be, calling the manufacturer,
etc.

I think that trying to now buy a multimeter or any other diagnostic device,
and then trying to figure out how and where to use it to hopefully diagnose
the problem, and possibly paying an electrician again is not worth the time
and money.

My suggestion is to just buy a whole new hardwired door bell kit --
including the transformer etc. -- that is the type and style that you want
to have. Then, have a handyman/woman-type person install the new one and
completely remove and replace the old one -- including the transformer and
all.

Who knows what's wrong with the system that you have now, but unless you
want to become an expert in diagnosing and solving the mystery of the door
bell button light problem, it would make more sense to just replace the
whole system.

Good luck.

On Thursday, January 21, 2016 at 11:26:19 AM UTC-8, TomR wrote:
In ,
Kate typed:
I decided to start a new post as an update.

I am waiting for a call from the electrician to trouble shoot my
problem with the door bell light going out every two months or so.

Someone suggested that I call the company that makes the doorbell
kit. I did, and they told me that they have never had a problem
where the diode takes out a push button light. Their guess is that I
have too large of a transformer powering my chime and push button,
just as many have mentioned on this site.

I am now sitting here and wondering why my back door bell button
light has never burned out, and yet the front door one has been
replaced a lot.

Can anyone tell me if this still sounds like a transformer problem?
I wish I would have thought of this earlier and asked the guy who
helped me on the phone.

Sorry to be such a pest.

Thanks everyone!

Kate

I have been following the original thread and this new one about the door
bell saga.

My thinking is that it probably isn't worth trying to solve the puzzle and
especially if it involves paying an a electrician again. You already did a
lot, including changing the switch a number of times, trying to figure out
what a transformer looks like and where it may be, calling the manufacturer,
etc.

I think that trying to now buy a multimeter or any other diagnostic device,
and then trying to figure out how and where to use it to hopefully diagnose
the problem, and possibly paying an electrician again is not worth the time
and money.

My suggestion is to just buy a whole new hardwired door bell kit --
including the transformer etc. -- that is the type and style that you want
to have. Then, have a handyman/woman-type person install the new one and
completely remove and replace the old one -- including the transformer and
all.

Who knows what's wrong with the system that you have now, but unless you
want to become an expert in diagnosing and solving the mystery of the door
bell button light problem, it would make more sense to just replace the
whole system.

Good luck.

Thank you Tom R and all the others who have helped. This group has always been very helpful, which is why I come back.

I have not spent much money on this doorbell problem. I had the electrician out once, and he gave me a year warranty on the work. That year is not up yet. The other doorbell buttons I have replaced myself. Yes, they were cheap, but the only kind Home Depot had. Another reason I need to just get a new kit and be done with it. I know I could do without a light, but I just like things to work like they should.

While I am quite handy, I know nothing about electrical things, and am a wimp when it comes to messing with it, let alone using a meter which I know nothing about.

My plan is just as you suggested: getting an entire new doorbell kit, along with the right transformer. Right now, I am not sure where the old transformer is but I have a hunch it is behind my electrical fuse box cover. I don't even know if that is code. If it is not there, I don't think I can safely install a second transformer somewhere else, but I am not sure about this. If we can't find the transformer, I will have someone wire nut the ends of the wires and be done with it. I can install a battery operated doorbell myself, but I think they sound cheesy.

Thanks for all of the help, and I apologize that I ruffled some feathers.

Kate

:

I own the following style button: http://www.1800doorbell.com/rc3301-w...ush-button.htm

And some visitors to my house actually press the SMALL
BEIGE button above the big black one to ring the door
bell! I am not making it up.

"I have stopped your deurbell frem the rangang, theahh
eeez nieo charjj"
-Insp Closueau

On Thu, 21 Jan 2016 20:47:10 -0800 (PST), wrote:

:

I own the following style button: http://www.1800doorbell.com/rc3301-w...ush-button.htm

And some visitors to my house actually press the SMALL
BEIGE button above the big black one to ring the door
bell! I am not making it up.


You got some stupid people coming to your door!!!

Sorry, I dont know how else to answer this.....

On Thu, 21 Jan 2016 20:30:15 -0800 (PST), Kate
wrote:


Good luck.

Thank you Tom R and all the others who have helped. This group has always been very helpful, which is why I come back.

I have not spent much money on this doorbell problem. I had the electrician out once, and he gave me a year warranty on the work. That year is not up yet. The other doorbell buttons I have replaced myself. Yes, they were cheap, but the only kind Home Depot had.

Another reason I need to just get a new kit and be done with it. I know I could do without a light, but I just like things to work like they should.

Mabee that's the problem One more try - get a REAL doorbell button
from an electrical supplier. A genuine Nutone, for instance, and see
what happens. It'll likely cost twice what the Home Fespot button
cost, but MIGHT outlast it 5 or more to 1/
While I am quite handy, I know nothing about electrical things, and am a wimp when it comes to messing with it, let alone using a meter which I know nothing about.

My plan is just as you suggested: getting an entire new doorbell kit, along with the right transformer. Right now, I am not sure where the old transformer is but I have a hunch it is behind my electrical fuse box cover. I don't even know if that is code. If it is not there, I don't think I can safely install a second transformer somewhere else, but I am not sure about this. If we can't find the transformer, I will have someone wire nut the ends of the wires and be done with it. I can install a battery operated doorbell myself, but I think they sound cheesy.

Thanks for all of the help, and I apologize that I ruffled some feathers.

Kate

On 1/22/2016 8:11 AM, wrote:

Thanks for all of the help, and I apologize that I ruffled some feathers.

Kate


No worries, Clare Kate. Been known to happen.

--
..
Christopher A. Young
learn more about Jesus
.. www.lds.org
..
..

On 01/21/2016 11:30 PM, Kate wrote:
I am waiting for a call from the electrician to trouble shoot my
problem with the door bell light going out every two months or so.


Assuming you're not buying lighted doorbell buttons from
McLowesDepotBigBoxChinaMartSuperstore and all wiring connections are
tight, it sounds like your transformer voltage is too high.

Also, make certain the electrician is a real licensed electrician.
There are a lot of hacks out there calling themselves electricians.

On Fri, 22 Jan 2016 08:26:14 -0500, Stormin Mormon
wrote:

On 1/22/2016 8:11 AM, wrote:

Thanks for all of the help, and I apologize that I ruffled some feathers.

Kate


No worries, Clare Kate. Been known to happen.
I didn't write that ----

On Fri, 22 Jan 2016 11:19:17 -0500, Ricky wrote:

On 01/21/2016 11:30 PM, Kate wrote:
I am waiting for a call from the electrician to trouble shoot my
problem with the door bell light going out every two months or so.


Assuming you're not buying lighted doorbell buttons from
McLowesDepotBigBoxChinaMartSuperstore and all wiring connections are
tight, it sounds like your transformer voltage is too high.

Also, make certain the electrician is a real licensed electrician.
There are a lot of hacks out there calling themselves electricians.
And some of them even have a licence saying they are one!

On Friday, January 22, 2016 at 12:18:15 PM UTC-6, wrote:
On Fri, 22 Jan 2016 11:19:17 -0500, Ricky wrote:

Also, make certain the electrician is a real licensed electrician.
There are a lot of hacks out there calling themselves electricians.
And some of them even have a licence saying they are one!

The contractor here in town has apprentices that may be called in to a job. They don't have to be under direct supervision either. As long as they work under a certified electrician. I have gotten my share of hacks...and have complained (when I had to call in electricians for institutional work).

wrote in message
...
Also, make certain the electrician is a real licensed electrician.
There are a lot of hacks out there calling themselves electricians.
And some of them even have a licence saying they are one!

Those licenses don't mean much around here. We did not need to be licensed
at work, but some got their license to do outside work. There was one that
had to take the test 3 times. I would not hire him to change a battery in
a one cell flashlight.

Kate wrote:
I decided to start a new post as an update.

I am waiting for a call from the electrician to trouble shoot my
problem with the door bell light going out every two months or so.

Someone suggested that I call the company that makes the doorbell
kit. I did, and they told me that they have never had a problem
where the diode takes out a push button light. Their guess is that I
have too large of a transformer powering my chime and push button,
just as many have mentioned on this site.

I am now sitting here and wondering why my back door bell button
light has never burned out, and yet the front door one has been
replaced a lot.

Can anyone tell me if this still sounds like a transformer problem?
I wish I would have thought of this earlier and asked the guy who
helped me on the phone.

Sorry to be such a pest.

Thanks everyone!


Just make sure that the switch light is rated for the voltage of your system.

On Fri, 22 Jan 2016 13:51:53 -0500, "Ralph Mowery"
wrote:


wrote in message
.. .
Also, make certain the electrician is a real licensed electrician.
There are a lot of hacks out there calling themselves electricians.
And some of them even have a licence saying they are one!

Those licenses don't mean much around here. We did not need to be licensed
at work, but some got their license to do outside work. There was one that
had to take the test 3 times. I would not hire him to change a battery in
a one cell flashlight.

A bit like one mechanic I hired years back.

I said he wasn't a fast mechanic, but he wasn't a slow mechanic either
- he was just a half fast mechanic.

Kate,

If you can trace a wire with two actual copper conductors from either the bell itself or from the doorbell pushbutton back to the vicinity of the fuse/circuit breaker box, that would lead you to the transformer. The transformer may be mounted on the top/bottom/sides of the fuse box, or may be mounted on a 4 inch square electrical box. The transformer is about 2 inches square, and the wire with the two conductors from the doorbell or pushbutton most likely will terminate on 2 screws that are part of the transformer itself.

On Fri, 22 Jan 2016 17:24:35 -0500, wrote:

A bit like one mechanic I hired years back.

I said he wasn't a fast mechanic, but he wasn't a slow mechanic either
- he was just a half fast mechanic.

Told a boss once: "You hired me for being good, not fast."

On Fri, 22 Jan 2016 15:47:04 -0800, Oren wrote:

On Fri, 22 Jan 2016 17:24:35 -0500, wrote:

A bit like one mechanic I hired years back.

I said he wasn't a fast mechanic, but he wasn't a slow mechanic either
- he was just a half fast mechanic.

Told a boss once: "You hired me for being good, not fast."
The problem was he wasn't "good"
"Half Fast" = "Half-Assed"

posted for all of us...



On Fri, 22 Jan 2016 13:51:53 -0500, "Ralph Mowery"
wrote:


wrote in message
.. .
Also, make certain the electrician is a real licensed electrician.
There are a lot of hacks out there calling themselves electricians.
And some of them even have a licence saying they are one!

Those licenses don't mean much around here. We did not need to be licensed
at work, but some got their license to do outside work. There was one that
had to take the test 3 times. I would not hire him to change a battery in
a one cell flashlight.

A bit like one mechanic I hired years back.

I said he wasn't a fast mechanic, but he wasn't a slow mechanic either
- he was just a half fast mechanic.

A nut turner-after you told him which nut...

--
Tekkie

Oren posted for all of us...



On Fri, 22 Jan 2016 17:24:35 -0500, wrote:

A bit like one mechanic I hired years back.

I said he wasn't a fast mechanic, but he wasn't a slow mechanic either
- he was just a half fast mechanic.

Told a boss once: "You hired me for being good, not fast."

Good Fast Cheap Pick two...

--
Tekkie

On Sat, 23 Jan 2016 16:04:00 -0500, Tekkie®
wrote:

posted for all of us...



On Fri, 22 Jan 2016 13:51:53 -0500, "Ralph Mowery"
wrote:


wrote in message
.. .
Also, make certain the electrician is a real licensed electrician.
There are a lot of hacks out there calling themselves electricians.
And some of them even have a licence saying they are one!

Those licenses don't mean much around here. We did not need to be licensed
at work, but some got their license to do outside work. There was one that
had to take the test 3 times. I would not hire him to change a battery in
a one cell flashlight.

A bit like one mechanic I hired years back.

I said he wasn't a fast mechanic, but he wasn't a slow mechanic either
- he was just a half fast mechanic.

A nut turner-after you told him which nut...
even worse than that.
A nut stripper after you showed him which nut.

On Sat, 23 Jan 2016 16:05:01 -0500, Tekkie®
wrote:

Oren posted for all of us...



On Fri, 22 Jan 2016 17:24:35 -0500, wrote:

A bit like one mechanic I hired years back.

I said he wasn't a fast mechanic, but he wasn't a slow mechanic either
- he was just a half fast mechanic.

Told a boss once: "You hired me for being good, not fast."

Good Fast Cheap Pick two...
Slow, useless and expensive - you can have all 3 at once.

After I let him go he used me as a reference (give you a ckue how
clueless he was?) and I told the prospective employer "I can in all
honestly say, you can consider yourself lucky if you can get the man
to work for you"

He didn't get the job.

"Tekkie®" wrote in message
...
posted for all of us...
A bit like one mechanic I hired years back.

I said he wasn't a fast mechanic, but he wasn't a slow mechanic either
- he was just a half fast mechanic.

A nut turner-after you told him which nut...


I worked at a plant that ran 24/7 as an electrician with a mechanic as
trouble shooters at night and week ends. The mechanic was not too good at
finding a problem , but could strip down and rebuild almost anything. He
had been there much longer than I had. Not too many wanted to work with
him. It took me about a year to learn how to tell the problem with his
equipment. After that I enjoyed working with him. Many times we would work
together on problems. I would tell him what I thought the problem was and he
would take out the bad parts and replace them at a fast pace. Repaired a
lot that the day crew would leave for us and the two of us got a good
reputation of the ones to call for problems.

On 1/23/2016 4:17 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:

Repaired a
lot that the day crew would leave for us and the two of us got a good
reputation of the ones to call for problems.

No good deed goes unpunished! :

I was project manager for a subcontracted defense dept project at
one of my first jobs: Get the production line up and running,
then move on to REAL engineering.

I would get a panicked call from Manufacturing every 8-12 weeks.
"We seem to have a quality problem! We can't get ANY of the systems
we've built, working!"

(WTF??)

Didn't take long to realize that the guy responsible for testing
them would simply swap boards until he had a system that passed
all the tests. Then ship the completed unit.

Leaving any "bad" boards in his "collection".

Until the only boards that remained were ALL bad boards (regardless
of how severe/insignificant the particular problems may have been).

"No, you don't have a MANUFACTURING problem. Failure rates are
exactly what they should be! You have a TEST problem! And, HIS
NAME is..."

Of course, they never wanted to deal with that "problem" and would
just cajole me into getting the remaining systems up and running
(so they wouldn't incur performance penalties).

Then, the problem would repeat a couple of months later.

I wonder what they did after I left the firm? :

"Don Y" wrote in message

stuff snipped

I would get a panicked call from Manufacturing every 8-12 weeks.
"We seem to have a quality problem! We can't get ANY of the systems
we've built, working!"

Worked as a QC chief for a major photofinisher (remember them?) fresh out of
college. We ran start up and shut down tests each day to determine whether
we needed to tweak the color developer or color bleach based on the test.
One machine on the line baffled us. It would seem to go out of whack at
night when the line was shut down. Turns out that to be helpful, the tech
running that machine did the start up and shut down tests at the same time
each morning to save effort and turned in the night test as if she had just
done it. She didn't have any clue as to WHY we tested and so didn't even
understand why what she did was wrong!

--
Bobby G.

On Sat, 23 Jan 2016 17:22:08 -0500, wrote:

After I let him go he used me as a reference (give you a ckue how
clueless he was?) and I told the prospective employer "I can in all
honestly say, you can consider yourself lucky if you can get the man
to work for you"

He didn't get the job.

Fair enough. After 911 and the TSA was created, there was a immediate
need for employees to fill the vacuum. It was common for agencies to
change employee evaluations to get rid of them and pawn them off to
the TSA. (raises hand). Now you know why TSA has dumb people working
there, at least early on. And they still do.

....just sayin'

On Saturday, January 23, 2016 at 8:36:36 PM UTC-6, Oren wrote:
On Sat, 23 Jan 2016 17:22:08 -0500, wrote:

After I let him go he used me as a reference (give you a ckue how
clueless he was?) and I told the prospective employer "I can in all
honestly say, you can consider yourself lucky if you can get the man
to work for you"

He didn't get the job.

Fair enough. After 911 and the TSA was created, there was a immediate
need for employees to fill the vacuum. It was common for agencies to
change employee evaluations to get rid of them and pawn them off to
the TSA. (raises hand). Now you know why TSA has dumb people working
there, at least early on. And they still do.

...just sayin'

When you hire someone, promote them or vote them into a position of power and responsibility for reasons other than the content of their character, quality of their intellect, expertise and education, you have created an Affirmative Action Moron. The British are more truthful about it, they call it "Positive Discrimination" because it positively discriminates against Caucasians. o_O

[8~{} Uncle Truth Monster

posted for all of us...



On Sat, 23 Jan 2016 16:04:00 -0500, Tekkie®
wrote:

posted for all of us...



On Fri, 22 Jan 2016 13:51:53 -0500, "Ralph Mowery"
wrote:


wrote in message
.. .
Also, make certain the electrician is a real licensed electrician.
There are a lot of hacks out there calling themselves electricians.
And some of them even have a licence saying they are one!

Those licenses don't mean much around here. We did not need to be licensed
at work, but some got their license to do outside work. There was one that
had to take the test 3 times. I would not hire him to change a battery in
a one cell flashlight.

A bit like one mechanic I hired years back.

I said he wasn't a fast mechanic, but he wasn't a slow mechanic either
- he was just a half fast mechanic.

A nut turner-after you told him which nut...
even worse than that.
A nut stripper after you showed him which nut.

You got me there!

--
Tekkie

Ralph Mowery wrote:
wrote in message
...
Also, make certain the electrician is a real licensed electrician.
There are a lot of hacks out there calling themselves electricians.
And some of them even have a licence saying they are one!

Those licenses don't mean much around here. We did not need to be licensed
at work, but some got their license to do outside work. There was one that
had to take the test 3 times. I would not hire him to change a battery in
a one cell flashlight.


How about getting rid of exams at school then? How about unlicensed
doctors, lawyers, pilots, skippers? Where do we draw the line?