Perhaps there should be some sort of process which would strip professional engineers of their accreditation if they decided to design something malignantly. For example, lets take the case of a power steering pump that's held in place with three bolts (safety in numbers?*), which are two different sizes: 2 of 5/8" and 1 of 14mm.
Seriously, imperial and metric on the same attachment? It might have been a badly manufactured or worn 9/16th, which might have made a bit more sense. Not much sense though, and the socket fit very nicely.
There are those who would call for ritual suicide for such a designer, but I think that is a little harsh.
Perhaps just a public flogging, to underscore the foolishness of such a decision.
Because when I'm lying on my back underneath a rusting old machine, cursing the fact that I can't conceivably reach the pump from above, even if I was Reed Richards**, I don't like the thought that such a design choice went unpunished. Unless designing '90s midrange passenger vans was a punishment in its own right. In which case, across the inside of the hood should be stamped: WELCOME TO THE FIRST LEVEL OF HELL.
* It can't be a degrees of constraint thing, because they were all in the same plane.(If I was actually awake right now, I could work in a 'Snakes on a Plane' joke here.)
**Maybe that is why Dr. Richards got so damn much work done -- he could bend and contort to reach into any machinery on earth!
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