"Your article reminded me of an incident with one of our customers several years ago."

"One of the functions used a screw-in cartridge pressure reducing valve which I suspected was malfunctioning. Since the customer had a spare cartridge, I suggested he use it to see if it was the cause of his problem. He asked me if he would spill much oil when he removed the cartridge and I told him it wouldn't be much..."

"He called back later to tell me that the new cartridge fixed his problem, then really let me have it about the amount of oil spilled, that it was all over him, his loader, and the shop. When I told him that shouldn't have happened, he said: "Why man, that pump puts out 40 gallons a minute"

"I was speechless. Our manuals warn that maintenance should only be performed with the engine off and after checking for residual pressure. When I recovered I asked him why he would remove a valve with the engine running. It took a few seconds but then he said he never thought of that. While this story is somewhat amusing, the consequences of his actions could have been disastrous."

By Brendan Casey