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What was your biggest project Disaster? We are asking e14 in our Join, Share & Win Competition

e14phil

Calling all makers, engineers, and tinkerers!
We are back for a second, and more SPOOKY month, asking you about your projects, spaces and adventures in engineering!
Last month we asked you about your workbench tips RE: What are your Tips for an Organized Workbench? [Ask e14 - Join, Share & Win Competition] September 2025 

This month we want to know about the biggest project disaster you have experienced. 

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Photos: Historically "accurate" engineering accidents.  

Competition
Join the element14 Community today and take part in our latest “Join, Share & Win” challenge.

It’s simple:
1. Register (or Login) for FREE
2. Answer this question by adding a reply / commenting:

What was your biggest project Disaster?

3. Be in with a chance to WIN!

Share with us your best (hopefully lighthearted) watercooler story of how that one project sank, fell over or failed to start!

The Community Judge team will select our 3 favorite answers to win one of the prizes below. 

Here’s what you could win:

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Arduino Uno R4 Minima

General Terms
What: Win 1 of 3 Arduino UNO R4 Minima
How: Sign up  or Sign in and Comment your answer to What was your biggest project Disaster?
When: Before October 31th 2025. 
Anything else: Full terms are below, but we must be able to ship to the address in your account. 

Entries close October 31st, 2025, so don’t wait!

Terms & Conditions
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  • I think my biggest disaster was when I put together a power supply kit. I didn't have a heat-sink for the power transistors yet, nor beefy cables for testing high currents, so I set the potentiometers to minimum voltage and minimum current. I had connected a volt and current meter in the supply for display, so I was shorting the outputs to test both voltage-limiting and current-limiting behavior. A couple of seconds after I applied power, the relatively thin cables I was using turned red hot and melted, and suddenly there was smoke everywhere. Turns out I wired the potentiometers incorrectly and at their "minimum" position they were actually set to both max current and voltage. The power transistor didn't survive that (I had to order a new one). Luckily that was the full extent to the physical damage. Damage to my morale on the other hand...

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  • I think my biggest disaster was when I put together a power supply kit. I didn't have a heat-sink for the power transistors yet, nor beefy cables for testing high currents, so I set the potentiometers to minimum voltage and minimum current. I had connected a volt and current meter in the supply for display, so I was shorting the outputs to test both voltage-limiting and current-limiting behavior. A couple of seconds after I applied power, the relatively thin cables I was using turned red hot and melted, and suddenly there was smoke everywhere. Turns out I wired the potentiometers incorrectly and at their "minimum" position they were actually set to both max current and voltage. The power transistor didn't survive that (I had to order a new one). Luckily that was the full extent to the physical damage. Damage to my morale on the other hand...

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