I just...destroyed something - FML (Dec/21/2010 )

I'm a tech.

I just destroyed a GE Superdex 200 16/60 column. I was repacking it, somehow over-tighten that thing, and the glass tube end cracked (and eventually broke).

On the better side of it, the replacement glass tube is "only" $189 and I don't have to rebuy the whole $2000 column, but I lost about 15% of resin (so total is ~$400)and I feel very horribly horrible because the whole point of the mistake is that I feel that I was being careless. I was lacking knowledge that the glass is very fragile, that it shouldn't be overtigthen (the manual said it), but somehow I gave it too much power and overtighten it. Holy shit I even had a gut feeling not to do it, but I still did it and it cracked ((

If I could, I'm going to pay for both the glass tube and resin out of my own pocket, since this is 100% my fault, but would it be proper to tell my supervisor that I would pay?

MyProteinBulliedMe on Wed Dec 22 03:56:51 2010 said:

I'm a tech.

I just destroyed a GE Superdex 200 16/60 column. I was repacking it, somehow over-tighten that thing, and the glass tube end cracked (and eventually broke).

On the better side of it, the replacement glass tube is "only" $189 and I don't have to rebuy the whole $2000 column, but I lost about 15% of resin (so total is ~$400)and I feel very horribly horrible because the whole point of the mistake is that I feel that I was being careless. I was lacking knowledge that the glass is very fragile, that it shouldn't be overtigthen (the manual said it), but somehow I gave it too much power and overtighten it. Holy shit I even had a gut feeling not to do it, but I still did it and it cracked ((

If I could, I'm going to pay for both the glass tube and resin out of my own pocket, since this is 100% my fault, but would it be proper to tell my supervisor that I would pay?

FML means "f*** my life" it's an internet slang expression like "lol" but it's for something significantly bad that happens to you. E.g. breaking an S200 column.

Thanks for the input Casandra! I don't think it's a manufacturing defects because we've been using this thing since...so many years ago (5-7). The part that's broken is the bottom part in which it was fine before, but I got something stuck in there (couldn't reach it using pipet) so I had to open the bottom part. Then when I close it, I think I might've tightened it too much and it started to crack. And I just remembered my supervisor kind of said, "if it's possible don't open the bottom part" looooong time ago (which I forgot...), which "cracking" might be the cause why. So since he DID tell me that I'll pay for it.

Despite everything else that I could do to repay (e.g. work overtime/mop the floor/walk his dog) I just personally don't feel right if I don't pay for something I think I'm being careless for.

sorry I have to take a refresher course on internet slang ...and I vote for walking his dog and picking up his stuff at the cleaners....seriously, how did he react when you told him about the cracked glass? He freaked out? You're being too hard on yourself probably?

Don't you have a glass breakage insurance? here some (but not all) pay this and some students really needed it for practical courses, not to go bankrupt later...
Some universities offer them, and some companies have it in their household insurance or general liability insurance. But this is for Germany, don't know about other countries.

Hahaha I'll walk his dog and pick stuff at cleaners if he wants me to. But he hasn't know yet because he's on vacation for couple weeks, I really don't want to tell him any bad news on his vacation and make him feel worried. I don't know, I guess I'll just continue working on my projects and tell him good news about it instead of ruining his vacation with bad news.

Besides there's nothing we can do anyway, I can't buy glass (everything is closed till next year). The most important thing now is that the resin is fine in 20% ethanol, I just need to make sure it doesn't go bad, since it's the most expensive stuff.

hobglobin on Wed Dec 22 10:11:42 2010 said:

Don't you have a glass breakage insurance? here some (but not all) pay this and some students really needed it for practical courses, not to go bankrupt later...
Some universities offer them, and some companies have it in their household insurance or general liability insurance. But this is for Germany, don't know about other countries.

do you have any "retired" 16/60 columns (regardless of packing)? if so, then unpack one and use it to repack the superdex. if it was also a superdex column then you can clean some of the old packing and add it to yours to make up for the lost material (make sure you "define" all of the matrix before repacking or your flow rates and pressures will suffer).

what was it that was trapped in the column that couldn't be reached by pipette? you should have removed it by flushing the column, with water (or 20% ethanol), into a beaker or flask and prepared the matrix for repacking (once you remove or disturb a significant portion of packing you should repack the entire column or you end up with uneven packing).

over the years, you will damage or lose a lot of things in the lab, some more costly (and dangerous) than others (wait until you bend a centrifuge spindle, dent a rotor or send a rotor flying around the room). you may feel guilty and want to pay for your mistakes but it is not practical. i'm not saying to be careless or cavalier about it but don't beat yourself up about it either. just make sure you learn from your mistakes so that they are not repeated and use them to illustrate when teaching new labmates (we kept a "museum" of things not to do).

Ditto what mdfenko said. As a naturally clumsy person (I have broken everything from beakers to a flow cytometer), I can confirm that the important thing is to NOT break it a second time. Try explaining to your boss why you broke a pH meter electrode, twice, in one week!

i just found this article at bitesize bio (make sure you also read the comments).