Truth is in the Details ™

Case Studies

The Case of Ipse Dixit

Here, two PhD, P.E.s bumble and bungle their way through a lawsuit over a failed sump pump.

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The Case of the Chagrined Chandelier

Here, electronic circuitry was far too simple and the pennies saved caused a major loss.

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The Case of the Cool Cabin

Ben Franklin’s “A penny saved is a penny earned” needs to be tempered with Pliny the Elder’s “taken with a grain of salt”.

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The Case of the Silver Lining in the Hailstorm

Silver Lining in the Hailstorm Cloud Ever wonder if a quote for repair of hail damage to a condensing unit coil is reasonable? Odds are, it is not, and for multiple reasons.

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The Case of the Crushed Cartons

Crushed Cartons A half-baked new product idea taken directly into high volume production without testing because of similarity to other products backfires in a most embarrassing manner.

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The Case of the Swamped Sump Pump

Swamped Sump Pump Having the right tools for the job, and knowing how to use them, can prevent many a false start.

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The Case of the Barrister's Boiler

Barrister's BoilerHaving the right tool for the job is an advertising slogan in use for over a century. But, sometimes you have to design and build the right tool you need to do the job.

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The Case of the Dead Diesel

Dead Diesel The complexity of modern machines often renders them vulnerable to the slightest defect. A heat treating error on a minor component takes down this large, 16-cylinder diesel engine.

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The Case of the Flea on the Elephant's Back

Flea on the Elephants Back A hydraulic cylinder with 275-ton lifting capacity is destroyed by a failed component weighing less than 2 grams.

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The Case of the Frozen Fertilizer

Frozen Fertilizer Testing under real-world conditions trumps lofty theory every time. A truck driver falsely accused is vindicated by precise testing that indeed shows that Truth is in the Details.

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The Case of the Shivering Shafts

Shivering Shafts Coverage for machine repair often hinges on cause: accidental damage, breakdown, or wear-and-tear. Truth is in the Details.

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The Case of the Cooties in the Cooling Tower

Cooties in the Cooling Tower In this case, “Truth is in the Details” is well demonstrated where a building owner insisted that a leaking cooling tower was the result of freezing, but Boreas was not to...

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The Case of the Awful Automation

Awful Automation Machinery failure often involves a complex mix of accidental damage, breakdown, wear-and-tear, and design defects.

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The Case of the Ancient Lift Station

Ancient Lift Station Sometimes, “They don’t make ‘em like they used to” is really true. Here, three venerable motors are saved from replacement by inferior new motors.

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The Case of the Crappy Crimp

Crappy Crimp Going off half-cocked is sometimes aggravated when shooting from the hip. Pre-emptive replacement assuming insurance coverage sometimes runs afoul of the facts. Here again, Truth is in th...

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The Case of the Leaky Lagoon

Leaky Lagoon A broken underground pipe gave the appearance that ground water pressure ruptured a large concrete tank, but investigation showed that ground water was not involved, thus resulting in cov...

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The Case of the Lousy Lube

Lousy Lube Another case of a tiny, untested product change producing disastrous results.

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The Case of the Radiant Rodent

Radiant Rodent Penny wise and pound foolish business decisions sometimes come back to bite you.

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The Case of the Flooded Felon

Flooded Felon A comedy of engineering errors results in major damage to a new MRI and waterboards a convicted felon.

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The Case of the Tumbled Tower

Tumbled Tower Critical evidence is often perishable and a technical investigator with the dedication and perseverance to collect it can result in cove...

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The Case of the Rock and the Hard Spot

Rock and the Hard Spot A stitch in time saves nine was a foreign concept to the operator of a gravel pit, and the resulting tear was costly.

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The Case of the Medical Equipment Malpractice

Medical Equipment Malpractice If any case demonstrates that “Truth is in the Details” this is it.

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The Case of the Hydrophobic Hydro Plant

Hydrophobic Hydro Plant A complex loss where good business decisions greatly complicated determination of insurance coverage for property damage as we...

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The Case of the Tipsy Turbine

Tipsy Turbine Descendants of 19th-century snake oil peddlers are today selling huge profits to be made by investing in wind energy and then sitting back and cashing checks.

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The Case of the Hasty Hydro Repair

Hasty Hydro Repair The financial pressure to repair major revenue producing machinery can sometimes substantially increase the revenue lost.

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The Case of the Copper Crisis Diesel

Copper Crisis Diesel Here, impending doom and gloom turned out to be a few leaking O-rings. But, the investigation found impending doom elsewhere

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The Case of the Wet Water Plant

Wet Water PlantSometimes the saying “They’re the same, only different” gets you in trouble when they really aren’t the same.

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The Case of the Elevated Invoice

Elevated Invoice“You’d better be sitting down when you read this” applies frequently to invoices for repair of damage to elevators.

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