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  • #1

    We Are Not Responsible for Your Impending Doom

    My last customer of the night was a *real* gem.

    He came in, and headed straight for the computer case fans.

    Me: Do you know which size you need?

    SC: *picks up a 120mm fan* "I think this will work. I need it to cool my refrigerator until tomorrow.

    Me: ... I don't think that will work very well, sir. Why not buy a regular fan from CVS? *Thinking he was just going to hook it up to an empty case or something and aim it at the fridge.*

    SC: It's just got to cool the compressor.

    Me: I really don't think it'll last very long.

    SC: It only has to work until tomorrow. I *know* these things, I'm an electrician. Only three wires, huh? Wonder which ones actually supply the power...

    Me: Sir, I'm not even sure that will last 5 minutes. Seriously, you'll do better with a normal fan.

    SC: Of course it'll work. 120, huh? So it'll work with 120volts.

    Me: *realizing the full extent of his idiocy* That's the size of the fan, sir. It only takes *12* volts. It's designed to get all its power from the computer's power supply.

    SC: But I *need* a fan!

    Me: ... CVS sells regular fans, sir.

    SC: Oh. I doubt it'll work, but *fine.*

    And he left without the case fan, his tone and walk still making it clear he thinks *I'm* the idiot.

    I'll be keeping my ears peeled for news of fires tomorrow.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Quoth Dragon_Dreamer View Post
    SC: Of course it'll work. 120, huh? So it'll work with 120volts.
    Y'know... I know CS doesn't condone inflicting harm on customers, or allowing them to do the same, but honestly, I probably would have shut up at this point and let him buy it.

    Pumping 120 volts into a 12 volt fan would either cause a SPECTACULAR bang, turn the fan blades into a rapidly spinning plastic shuriken of death as the fan disintegrates, or both.

    And if he's an electrician, winning this particular Darwin Award would protect someone else from suffering from his particular brand of cluelessness. At the very least it might scare him into stumbling into a clue.
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    • #3
      Quoth Dragon_Dreamer View Post
      SC: It only has to work until tomorrow. I *know* these things, I'm an electrician. Only three wires, huh? Wonder which ones actually supply the power...
      I'm surprised that nobody commented on this one. This idiot is an *electrician* and can't figure out the wiring? It's not that hard--two power wires and a ground!
      Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines. --Enzo Ferrari

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      • #4
        People in this town like to claim they're authorities when they're really not. I've had customers claim to be lawyers, computer techs, programmers, electricians... anything to make it clear that they know more than the store employees.

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        • #5
          Quoth Polenicus View Post
          Y'know... I know CS doesn't condone inflicting harm on customers, or allowing them to do the same, but honestly, I probably would have shut up at this point and let him buy it.

          Pumping 120 volts into a 12 volt fan would either cause a SPECTACULAR bang, turn the fan blades into a rapidly spinning plastic shuriken of death as the fan disintegrates, or both.

          And if he's an electrician, winning this particular Darwin Award would protect someone else from suffering from his particular brand of cluelessness. At the very least it might scare him into stumbling into a clue.
          yes, but then he would've gone back to the store and blamed DD for selling a faulty fan and demand compensation. well, had he survived...
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          • #6
            Quoth protege View Post
            I'm surprised that nobody commented on this one. This idiot is an *electrician* and can't figure out the wiring? It's not that hard--two power wires and a ground!
            Close, but not quite. pins 1 and 2 are positive and negative, respectively, pin 3 is a fan speed sensor that reports the speed of the fan to the motherboard. This guy couldn't even tell the difference between AC and DC. That alone would be darwin award worthy.

            Pumping 120VAC into the fan would do probably nothing, other than make a lot of smoke, as there's not a rectifier built into them to allow the Stator Coil to do it's thing. It's expecting DC, so none is needed.
            Coworker: Distro of choice?
            Me: Gentoo.
            Coworker: Ahh. A Masochist. I thought so.

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            • #7
              As of today, the prevailing opinion at both jobs is that I should have sold him the fan, then found a way to record what happened.

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              • #8
                I'd think that had he tried it, then come back to complain he wouldn't have had a case.

                (come to think of it, this sounds like something the ex would have done...)
                "I am quite confident that I do exist."
                "Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up." The Doctor

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                • #9
                  Normal Electrician: Gets Black, White, Green right at least 80% of the time.
                  Expert Electrician: Can also deal with Red and Blue.
                  Superhero Electrician: Also understands Yellow, Orange and Brown.

                  Anything else? Arcs, sparks & meltdown!

                  (US usage. YMMV)

                  Green: Ground (Earth)
                  White: Neutral
                  Black: Line (Hot) 120V Phase 1

                  Red: Line (Hot) 120V Phase 2
                  Blue: Line (Hot) 120V Phase 3

                  Yellow: Line (Hot) 240V Phase 1
                  Orange: Line (Hot) 240V Phase 2
                  Brown: Line (Hot) 240V Phase 3

                  (Phase numbers pulled OOMA)
                  I am not an a**hole. I am a hemorrhoid. I irritate a**holes!
                  Procrastination: Forward planning to insure there is something to do tomorrow.
                  Derails threads faster than a pocket nuke.

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                  • #10
                    I'm an electrician. Only three wires, huh? Wonder which ones actually supply the power...
                    that right there says "I don't know enough to do this properly"

                    and that when it failed he would come back to blame you for selling him the fan or claim that you advised him to do it that way

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                    • #11
                      Quoth dalesys View Post
                      Normal Electrician: Gets Black, White, Green right at least 80% of the time.
                      That would be me. I'm definitely not certified, but I have enough of an interest in electronics to understand which wires are which, plus, I've been slowly replacing all the outlets and switches in the house since the switches were once ivory, but are now black, and the outlets don't hold plugs in place.

                      I've never run across the 240V wires before, since I don't mess with mains much. I can fix a guitar amp in record time, however. :-D

                      Quite frankly, that guy's mentality frightens me. "It has 120 in it, so it MUST run off mains!"...when the little 120mm fans in no way, shape, or form even LOOK capable of handling mains power.
                      Coworker: Distro of choice?
                      Me: Gentoo.
                      Coworker: Ahh. A Masochist. I thought so.

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                      • #12
                        Well, now I'm curious. Midorikawa, you have access to some serious voltage. Go hook up a 120mm fan to a line.

                        Or we can send it to

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                        She's as fast as slugs on barbituates.

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                        • #13
                          ... I want the video of that.

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Quoth dalesys View Post
                            Normal Electrician: Gets Black, White, Green right at least 80% of the time.
                            Expert Electrician: Can also deal with Red and Blue.
                            Superhero Electrician: Also understands Yellow, Orange and Brown.

                            Anything else? Arcs, sparks & meltdown!

                            (US usage. YMMV)

                            Green: Ground (Earth)
                            White: Neutral
                            Black: Line (Hot) 120V Phase 1

                            Red: Line (Hot) 120V Phase 2
                            Blue: Line (Hot) 120V Phase 3

                            Yellow: Line (Hot) 240V Phase 1
                            Orange: Line (Hot) 240V Phase 2
                            Brown: Line (Hot) 240V Phase 3

                            (Phase numbers pulled OOMA)


                            Computer wiring standards work completely differently.

                            ATX wiring has black as being the ground, green as being the standby power. You can see a diagram here:

                            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATX#Power_supply

                            Every ATX power supply uses the same color scheme for wires, be them SATA, 4 pin molex, or PCI-E. For things that connect on to the motherboard its pretty much impossible to set things up wrong. Everything is keyed such that it can only physically fit in one way. If it doesn't fit it doesn't below there. If it does fit it does belong there. I'm unfamiliar with wiring standards for other devices, but ATX computers (pretty much every PC built ever within the past decade) use a different scheme.

                            You should be able to rig up a fan stand alone, but it would be a lot more trouble than its worth as you need to supply the right kind of power, which is a mere 5 volts. Even a 9 volt battery could probably cook a 120mm computer fan! In the case of a fan, a fan is a very, very simple device, but also a very weak device. It might be enough to cool a small computer component, but it will not cool a refrigerator. Just not nearly enough volume of air. Computer fans are about cooling very tiny things, not huge appliances.

                            He'd be better off just buying a $15 oscillating fan, and then point it at whatever needs cooling.

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              I quoted 12 volts because unlike him, I actually read the BACK of the package.

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