The older guys who still use screwdrivers on coax connectors drive me nuts

Been doing this 8 years now, started right after high school. Every time I go out with a more experienced installer on a tough job, they pull out a flathead to tighten the connector. I get it, that's how they taught you 20 years ago. But I've seen three service calls this month alone where the customer had intermittent signal loss and sure enough, the connector was mangled inside from a screwdriver. A $10 torque wrench saves that every time. Anyone else run into this battle with the old-timers?

3 comments

3 Comments

drew96522d agoTop Commenter

Told my lead guy I'd buy the torque wrench for the truck if he gave it a fair shot on one job. He grumbled but tried it, and after not getting a single callback on that apartment complex he actually started using it on his own. Sometimes you just gotta let the tool prove itself instead of telling them they're wrong.

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wrenh6522d ago

Lol old habits really do die hard until you prove there's a better way.

jakeb2522d agoMost Upvoted

Man I had a buddy who did HVAC and he got sick of his senior guy refusing to use contactors on compressors because "that's just how we've always done it." So he showed up early one Saturday, swapped out the old hard start on a unit that kept tripping, and didn't say a word. Three weeks later that same senior guy calls him up asking what he did different because that unit hasn't had a single nuisance trip since. Now they stock contactors on every truck in the fleet. Sometimes the best teacher is just letting the results do the talking.