One thing I’ve noticed is that no matter how much you plan, every lab eventually runs into a problem that forces you to rethink your process. Sometimes it’s a vacuum leak that takes days to find, a filtration step that quietly hurts yield, or a temperature setting that seems harmless until it starts affecting consistency.
We’ve had our share of troubleshooting over the years, and looking back, the biggest lessons usually came from the mistakes not the runs that went perfectly. Those experiences have helped us build better SOPs and understand our processes much better.
My only regret is that I have boneitis.
1 Like
Anyone that takes days to figure out a vac leak should not be making SOPs
but i’m sure this has something to do with the quality of this post
5 Likes
At this point in my career it’s fun to verbally indicate what the problem is once, and then sit back and eat popcorn as the leads and such deliberate about changing the glycol again as if we’re all in a lil’ “admiral fitzroys stormglass” together! 
1 Like
I remember one time I was at a job in Tulsa and had trained these two dudes on the roto like to a crazy degree, answered every question, etc. - few weeks into them actually operating it kinda ok one dude comes up to me and asks MAN I’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR LIKE AN HOUR AND CHANGE AND I CAN’T FIND THE VAC LEAK WHERE THE HELL IS IT.
He did not put the fucking keg on the bottom to receive the solvent. Ball valve wide open. I gave him like 10 minutes to try to play where’s waldo before I just went and put it on for him.
2 Likes
Turning a closed-loop into an open blast was one mistake I won’t forget. This is why we vac test (and take hours!).
Every lab has that moment. Sometimes you can spot the issue in five minutes, but convincing everyone that’s actually the problem takes the rest of the shift. I’m sure thats what others are experiencing everyday
