My $90 vacuum gauge sat in the box for a year before I actually used it

I bought this vacuum gauge to diagnose a weird pressure drop in a new construction house in 2022. Thing sat on my shelf for 12 months because I kept telling myself it couldn't be that hard to just guess the clog. Finally pulled it out last month and realized the main line had a crimp from a nail gun missed by the framers. Took me 20 minutes with the gauge versus the whole afternoon I wasted guessing. Has anyone else bought a tool and then avoided using it for way too long?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_jason12h ago

Man, that hits close to home. I had a multimeter I bought for a simple electrical issue in my garage that sat in the drawer for like 8 months because I thought I could just trace the wires by sight. Spoiler alert: I couldn't. When I finally broke down and used it, I found a loose neutral in the junction box in like 5 minutes. Now I just force myself to use the right tool right away, even if it feels like overkill for a small job. Saves me so much headache (and guessing).

aaron67711h ago

Right, did you ever read that old plumbing forum thread where a guy said his grandpa used to call those gauges 'the truth finder'? I thought it was just some old timer saying but after reading your post it makes sense. I mean, the whole thing about guessing where the clog is, you're just wasting time you could spend fixing it. I have a similar habit with my multimeter, I'll try to see if the light flickers or something instead of just testing for voltage. It's like our brains want to prove we can figure it out the hard way before we admit we need the tool. Idk, maybe it's a pride thing or just being too lazy to walk to the toolbox.