Five Minute Jobs

[Diggin It]

Ceiling lights in a hall way are on a standard toggle switch. Figured I'd put in a timer switch I had picked up a few years back and never used. Should be simple, hot, load, neutral and a ground.

Nope. Got no neutral in the box, just a switch loop. Electronic timer need s a neutral to work.

OK. Just happens to be an access panel directly above, just one of those things I did when I put in a lowered ceiling to cover some HVAC ducts. Open the panel and everything I need is right there, including the opening I cut in the wall to run the wire to the switch in the first place, plus the junction box with a neutral.

Cool. Drop a wire in there, pull it out the switch box hole and we're all set. Old work box, so it comes out to expose the larger hole I need.

Nope. Can't find a suitable piece of wire. Gotta strip out a piece of Romex. OK. Wire won't cooperate going into one hole where I can get at it to pull out the other. Gotta go get the 50' fishtape for a 6' run.

Plus a bunch of other stuff.

Three hours later, the timer is installed and working.

 

[Oaktree]

No such thing as a 5 minute job.

A few years ago I wanted to add a ceiling light to one of the rooms in my house. Easy, right? Cut a hole for the fixture, fish a wire to it, run it to a switch and done. BBBBZZZZZZTT!! My house has 10 x 10 beams for the 2nd floor, in that room someone had nailed strapping to them and installed ceiling tiles. The way they'd installed the strapping left very little room to get a fish tape, let alone a piece of Romex thru. Eventually did it, but like you it was a 3+ hour job.

 

[grsthegreat]

Thats why code was changed a few years ago requiring a neutral to be run to all switches. Neutrals are also required for occupancy sensors.

 

[BravoXray]

Hah! Five minute job is an urban legend.
It takes five minutes just to chase down all the tools you need, and that's before it get's a lot more complicated and have to get more tools and materials.

 

[sodamo]

Agreed, just a figment of our imaginations

 

[LD1]

Takes at least 5 mins just to drink a beer While thinking about the best way to do the job

 

[Thomas]

5 mins...when person says that there @ss is sucking pond water.

 

[Frankenkubota]

Ceiling lights in a hall way are on a standard toggle switch. Figured I'd put in a timer switch I had picked up a few years back and never used. Should be simple, hot, load, neutral and a ground.

Nope. Got no neutral in the box, just a switch loop. Electronic timer need s a neutral to work.

OK. Just happens to be an access panel directly above, just one of those things I did when I put in a lowered ceiling to cover some HVAC ducts. Open the panel and everything I need is right there, including the opening I cut in the wall to run the wire to the switch in the first place, plus the junction box with a neutral.

Cool. Drop a wire in there, pull it out the switch box hole and we're all set. Old work box, so it comes out to expose the larger hole I need.

Nope. Can't find a suitable piece of wire. Gotta strip out a piece of Romex. OK. Wire won't cooperate going into one hole where I can get at it to pull out the other. Gotta go get the 50' fishtape for a 6' run.

Plus a bunch of other stuff.

Three hours later, the timer is installed and working.

Murphy Rules!

 

[check]

I always tell my kid “I just need your help for five minutes”. So now it is a running gag in our house.

 

[Richard]

A slightly different slant....

Wife bought a Bombay chest. Had three drawers. She gets a hair brained idea that she wants it to be a bathroom vanity.....and "I" am going to get to transform it.

Hmmm....

So I gather tools, think about it.

Oh, she is going to want a sink on top AND working drawers. Doesn't she realize there are supply tubes and drains inside a vanity? The drawers are going to not work because of the plumbing.

I decide to proceed with plan "A" and if it doesn't work,. play "B" is to take the drawer fronts off and just put them back on as a facade.

Long story short, pulled the drawers out. Cut a notch in the middle of them. Built a "wall" around the notch back to the rear panel of the drawer. Top drawer HAD to be screwed shut as things were too tight with the lavatory right there.

The other two drawers however, are fully operational BUT a bit of space is lost as I had to cut a slot out of them to go around the drain pipe.

The really stupid reality is.......this entire project which I was planning to take the entire day.....was done in about 30 minutes.

Never have I done something that initially looked so interesting and challenging, turn out to be utterly easy-peasy to do.

Heck, I even beat the OP's "simple time switch", switch!!

It's nice when something goes much easier than you anticipate.

 

[grsthegreat]

but i hate to say this...but they make timer switches that dont need a neutral. they run on batteries. they have a 5 year replaceable battery. for those jobs that dont have a neutral. think of all the TV time you missed.

 

[BravoXray]

The worst 5 minute job I can remember was changing the oil supply line to the air compressor on a C15 CAT in a 379 Pete.
Was a cheap hydraulic hose, stiff as a board and continually seeping, so I made up a new Weatherhead line to replace it with. Took it loose from the rear of the compressor, but it was really tight on the fitting in the block, and whoever installed it used a 90° fitting instead of a 45° fitting, making it impossible to get a wrench on it, and not enough room to get a crow foot on it either.
Tried loosening the compressor to get some room, but no joy, the coupling to the accessory drive had virtually no slop. Soooo, had to drain the coolant out of the engine so I could take the coolant lines off the compressor and remove it. One of those was getting pretty stiff, so I made up a new line and replaced it too.
Finally got the line loose, decided to replace the 90° fitting with a 45° fitting. Someone had replaced the original steel fitting with a brass one, which promptly broke off in the block when I tried to remove it. Fortunately, I'm pretty good at removing broken fittings, and that only took me about 5 minutes to get out. Then I had to drive 25 miles to the KW dealer to get a new compressor mounting gasket as the original one tore when I removed the compressor.
Finally got it all together, coolant refilled and started up to check for leaks (none!).
Total time from start to finish, 6.5 hours, for a 5 minute job.

I really don't miss owning trucks.

 

[JethroB]

These disastrous 5 minute jobs can get expensive. They give us an excuse to buy more tools. $$$

 

[ljjhouser]

I would like a 5 minute job that paid for 5 months work. Never found one. Only found a 5 month job that paid for 5 minutes work.

 

[AGreenFarmer]

These disastrous 5 minute jobs can get expensive. They give us an excuse to buy more tools. $$$

Exactly, no job is complete without a purchase of 1 or 2 or 10 new tools.

 

[repete]

How about the task of changing the little 184 side marker bulb in a Camry:

 

[jjeff]

ex wife wanted a bathroom fan in our 60yr old house. didn't have one figured a half day, three weeks later I finished it, ended up adding 1ft to the existing bathroom, along with new tub, vanity, toilet, tile, brought all the electrical and plumbing up to code with Romex including running 2 new circuits replaced all galvanized and cast iron with pvc and pex. Funny thing was initially thought I was getting a great deal on the fan light combo didn't even use it and ended up buying another one cuz it no longer went with all the upgrades lol, also learned to never let your significant other to go to the tile store alone. I did justify buying a nice new tile bridge saw though.

 

[JethroB]

ex wife wanted a bathroom fan in our 60yr old house. didn't have one figured a half day, three weeks later I finished it, ended up adding 1ft to the existing bathroom, along with new tub, vanity, toilet, tile, brought all the electrical and plumbing up to code with Romex including running 2 new circuits replaced all galvanized and cast iron with pvc and pex. Funny thing was initially thought I was getting a great deal on the fan light combo didn't even use it and ended up buying another one cuz it no longer went with all the upgrades lol, also learned to never let your significant other to go to the tile store alone. I did justify buying a nice new tile bridge saw though.

A case of wood matches or air freshener I bet would have been a whole lot cheaper.

 

[jimnor46]

Ceiling lights in a hall way are on a standard toggle switch. Figured I'd put in a timer switch I had picked up a few years back and never used. Should be simple, hot, load, neutral and a ground.

Nope. Got no neutral in the box, just a switch loop. Electronic timer need s a neutral to work.

OK. Just happens to be an access panel directly above, just one of those things I did when I put in a lowered ceiling to cover some HVAC ducts. Open the panel and everything I need is right there, including the opening I cut in the wall to run the wire to the switch in the first place, plus the junction box with a neutral.

Cool. Drop a wire in there, pull it out the switch box hole and we're all set. Old work box, so it comes out to expose the larger hole I need.

Nope. Can't find a suitable piece of wire. Gotta strip out a piece of Romex. OK. Wire won't cooperate going into one hole where I can get at it to pull out the other. Gotta go get the 50' fishtape for a 6' run.

Plus a bunch of other stuff.

Three hours later, the timer is installed and working.

You have come upon the fallacy of “simple job.”