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As embarrassing as it is, I'm sharing this here in the hope of saving others from the frightening close call I experienced a couple of days ago. :Scared1:
On Friday afternoon I was finishing up the rigging of the 140 on the Sabrecraft and was working on the installation of the trim pump. I had just hooked everything up when my lovely spouse arrived home from work. My first mistake was not noticing how tired she looked, with that "It was all I could do to drag myself home from work thank God it's Friday" look on her face. My second mistake, and the one that set me firmly on the path to annihilation, was asking her to push the trim buttons and help me bleed the system. Screwy1
After a few minutes of pushing buttons and watching me climb in and out of the boat to refill the pump, she was obviously growing impatient with the whole procedure. (third mistake - ignoring the eye rolling and sighing)
In fact not only did I ignore the warning signs, I made things worse by saying "Oh, come on. Is this really that awful? It's Friday night, you're out here in the nice fresh air and all you have to do is push a button for a few minutes!"
After the lower pressure "down" side of the system was bled, I started on the higher pressure "up" side. This is where things went horribly, horribly wrong. I said "OK, push the button", she pushed it, the system pressurized, and then it happened. An o-ring blew out and a very impressive jet of pressurized 5w-20, beautifully misted around the outer edges with a more concentrated stream in the center, shot out straight toward my reluctant assistant's head. :shocked4:
I won't attempt to describe the look on her face, or the feeling of abject terror that shot through me, I'll just say that if you ever find yourself in a similar situation please, please don't say "It's okay, not much got on the boat." :Scared2: Another good phrase to avoid is "I think we have some shampoo for oily hair."
anger:
Work safely,
Tim
On Friday afternoon I was finishing up the rigging of the 140 on the Sabrecraft and was working on the installation of the trim pump. I had just hooked everything up when my lovely spouse arrived home from work. My first mistake was not noticing how tired she looked, with that "It was all I could do to drag myself home from work thank God it's Friday" look on her face. My second mistake, and the one that set me firmly on the path to annihilation, was asking her to push the trim buttons and help me bleed the system. Screwy1
After a few minutes of pushing buttons and watching me climb in and out of the boat to refill the pump, she was obviously growing impatient with the whole procedure. (third mistake - ignoring the eye rolling and sighing)
In fact not only did I ignore the warning signs, I made things worse by saying "Oh, come on. Is this really that awful? It's Friday night, you're out here in the nice fresh air and all you have to do is push a button for a few minutes!"After the lower pressure "down" side of the system was bled, I started on the higher pressure "up" side. This is where things went horribly, horribly wrong. I said "OK, push the button", she pushed it, the system pressurized, and then it happened. An o-ring blew out and a very impressive jet of pressurized 5w-20, beautifully misted around the outer edges with a more concentrated stream in the center, shot out straight toward my reluctant assistant's head. :shocked4:
I won't attempt to describe the look on her face, or the feeling of abject terror that shot through me, I'll just say that if you ever find yourself in a similar situation please, please don't say "It's okay, not much got on the boat." :Scared2: Another good phrase to avoid is "I think we have some shampoo for oily hair."
anger:Work safely,
Tim
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