how do you handle everything breaking

[ericheartsu]

Today is one of those days, where everything in the shop is breaking, and everything is not working the way it should.


It started off with a screen that would not burn correctly. It has very very very very thin lines and kept blowing out. I tried different exposure times, screens that had thinner emulsion, and it just simply would not stay.

Then our well on our property, more or less exploded, leaving us with no water for today. And we live on the property as well.

Then a sticker job i have been working on for about 4 weeks, where i've spent about $2k on upgrading equipment to properly cure and cut these stickers, had a screen rip half way through the job. and it's two colors, so of course it was the first color.

so here i am, three employees trying to keep busy, no water, and running out of jobs that are ready to go!


 What do you guys normally do?

/vent

[Parker 1]

I'm with ya.
1.Esposure unit went out (Bad board) Have 30+ screens to do for jobs that all must go out this week.

2. Screens break down at 500pcs on a 900pc DC job.  Used a friends exposure unit in his shop (see above). So of corse they were under exposed....

3. Get my exposure unit runnin today, over night shipping 2 ways to NJ OUCH!!!!!!!

4. Guys start burning screens, will NOT wash out, they figured this out after burnin 5 or so.  Ink-jet printer F-up!  Film is almost transparent, nobody seemed to notice.......

5. Screen guy tells me he can not get the bolts to loosen on some frames he is attempting to retension. 
He torqued them to 180ft/lbs WTF, 4x5 Newman Frames you do the math.  So I conduct a "How To Use a F'n Torque Wrench 101 CLASS"

And my wife wonders why I have high blood pressure, and am always stressed. 
My answere to this Jack D'ls

[beanie357]

No heat at the retail store. Landlord called hvac immediately. They came in an hour. 20 year old York unit.
2 or 3 days on part from York.

Tractor supply. 6 electric heaters. Run 4 heat presses. Held 63 degrees today. Almost tropical it seemed.

Can't wait for tomorrow. Whee.

[mooseman]

From your time here on the boards you know we all get those days, see above it was just your and a few others turns.
Look at it this way today is over and you are still standing....tomorrow you may not be all the way back but you will be on your way...so you win.
mooseman

[Homer]

it happens to us all. somedays you want to punt a kitten.

1) haven't had heat since october, it was -15 out today. my balls are still frozen to my legs.

2) had a 150 piece DC job to get out last week, took me 4 SOLID DAYS to get the colors mixed just right...got the order out, there was a typo.....(not my fault thank GOD)

3) had to run a contract job with pennent hoodies, they failed to tell me they were the laced up collars, art was too big to fit on the front. had to reburn all the screens halfway through the job. took an entire day to run a 2 hour job...

4) we can not -for the life of me - get orders in a timely fashion without something stupid going wrong....



on the bright side, new press arrives in about 2 weeks! furnace should be installed tomorrow! new guy has the day off tomorrow so I don't need to bitch slap him....good times....

[RICK STEFANICK]

pray..

[cvreeland]

I spend about 1/3 of my working life either fixing broken stuff or troubleshooting problems. Knowing how to repair your equipment & get stopped jobs rolling again is just part of the landscape. It can definitely get stressful when the deadline clock is ticking & 6 or 8 employees are watching you curse at a balky Mac valve, but that's why they pay me the big bucks.

At least no one dies on the operating table when things go sour -- I have no idea how heart surgeons handle the stress, and I try to remain thankful when a flash won't heat up or something that a plane is not about to fall out of the sky. Keep some perspective, sigh, go outside, take a look up at the sky and ask the heavens for a little wisdom & fortitude. :-)

[inkbrigade]

We bought a trilight but we hang on to out msp 3140 out of fear

[mk162]

when something breaks I replace it or fix it so it won't happen again soon.  I get so sick and tired of working on things.  I sometimes enjoy it, but I much prefer it on my schedule.

Most of the time breakdowns are from stupidity.  Educating your staff is a huge deal.

[ericheartsu]

most of the headache today comes from our well pump breaking down, which means, no water at our shop.

 I had a call in with my equipment tech about something else, i told him what happened. He said most likely we'll have to pull our well out, and dig it deeper. Problem is, the ding dong that built our building put the well and pump inside of a fenced in yard, inside our building.

So most likely they'll have to cut a hole in our roof to crane out the well.

so looks like we'll be down for another week. oh joy.

[jason-23]

So I guess there is an up side to have no work at all for like 2 1/2 months...

[ZooCity]

I start breaking more things...but intentionally.  It's actually really good stress relief.

[screenxpress]

So I guess there is an up side to have no work at all for like 2 1/2 months...

LOL, you're all kidney.......think about it.

[tpitman]

How do I handle everything breaking? First, I turn the air blue with expletives. Then, I usually get drunk to put things in perspective. Then I fix it and try not to eff it up again.

[inkbrigade]

I gotta say though the tri-light has never let us down