Don't Ignore Smells........

[rwcarpet]

After repairing my diverter valve yesterday, you sometimes expect something else will pop up.

I took the Genny out yesterday to give her a test run on a small apartment. Everthing worked well. I would check on the TM ever few minutes to make sure evereything was running OK. Detected a "Paper" burning smell, and thought some neighbor was burning their trash.

Kept smelling it on the ride home.

Today, fired up for an apartment, ran well, but there was that "paper burning" smell again.

It was a cotton towel that had dropped on the HX exhaust and was burning, actually on fire. Glad I went out to check.

Man, I'm sure I checked everything after the repair, but I missed the towel. Could have bought "the farm" had it kept burning.

 

[Becker]

Avoid that problem by using a tool check out app.

Tool onto the job, tool off the job. ( tool can be anything being used including towels. )

Imagine your van being showcased as the next Bane Clean Ad.

 

[Jim Pemberton]

Many years back a customer of ours was cleaning carpet, and the lady kept walking up with that look you get one someone wants to ask a question but isn't sure that they should. The cleaner was in a hurry, and didn't want to engage in any conversation with the woman, so he kept breaking eye contact hoping she would just go away.

She kept pacing and stepped a little closer, then said:

"Excuse me, I know your busy, but I would like to ask you a question"

The cleaner said: "Just let me finish this room, ok?" (He was annoyed at the interruption of his work).

She didn't leave and said: "I'm sorry, I really need to know something about how your machine operates"

He ignored her for a few wand strokes, then stopped and in an exasperated tone said:

"OK..what do you want to know?"

She said:

"Should flames be coming out the window of your truck?"

Some solvent soaked rags were left in a bucket that tipped onto a hot spot on the machine (from what I remember I was told) and the rest is "history" as they say.

Morals of the story:

1. Keep your truck clean and anything that can easily catch fire far away from heat and sources of ignition.

2. Always remember your customer and her/his questions are more important than how fast you can clean the carpet. They might have a very important question to ask you!

 

[Mikey P]

Why do you think the franchises and real multi truckers run PTOs?

 

[hogjowl]

So they won't have to talk to their customers?

 

[hydracat]

I left some papers on the tank. fell on to the muffler. my helper caught it in time but it was the title to the truck.

 

[rwcarpet]

Avoid that problem by using a tool check out app.

Tool onto the job, tool off the job. ( tool can be anything being used including towels. )

Imagine your van being showcased as the next Bane Clean Ad.

Becker.....I did a mental checklist. I only needed a 7/16 box wrench and a 7/16 socket and ratchet. I made sure I had all the tools before firing up the TM. But, I did place a rag/towel on the starter motor connections so I wouldn't drop a tool across the wires. I'm guessing I forgot it.

When I was in the Air Force, there was a manual work checklist which I had to check off each step with a grease pencil. (I was the crew chief). Working around any equipment, especially the jet engines I worked around, had absolutely 0% mistake tolerance. You defineatly didn't want to destroy a jet engine on the ground, let alone when the pilot was flying. They kept some pretty tight records, and knew who was last to work on any equipment.