Old timer told me my crimps were junk and he was right

Been doing avionics for about 4 years now and thought my crimps were solid. Then this guy with 30 years experience watched me do a batch of D-sub pins on a 757 install and just said 'those are garbage, pull em all.' He showed me I wasn't letting the tool fully cycle before releasing. After redoing all 50 pins the pull test was night and day. Anyone else have a basic skill get totally exposed by someone with more time in the seat?

3 comments

3 Comments

west.richard1mo ago

Yeah, did you ever look back at your own old work and cringe? That's me with my first few jobs. You think you got it dialed in because nobody told you different. Then someone who's been doing it since before you were born walks by and spots three things wrong in two seconds. It's humbling but it saves you years of bad habits.

west.richard1mo ago

Did someone actually walk right up to you and just start pointing out mistakes on the spot? That sounds like a total gut punch in the moment but I bet you remember every single thing they said. Must have felt like getting your work torn apart in real time.

mason_lopez1mo ago

And that reminds me, @west.richard, I once watched a guy rebuild a whole engine block on a lunch break because the shop lead just went "that's not how you do it" and walked off. It's funny how fast you learn when your pride gets bruised, but yeah, at least you never make that mistake again.