r/IndustrialMaintenance

My wife said she wanted new curtains in the living room, so I put up some old leftover light curtains from work. Now she's mad for some reason, but our house has never been safer?

What industries would a tech need to be in to get exposure to HVAC/Electrical work? I'm in metal processing and metal foundries currently, but want to learn another aspect of the trades. I know some jobs have it to where you literally maintain the whole building down to just company machines, or damn near nothing. Although I'm seeking to expand my skillset as I'm pretty decent at mechanical work and improving my electrical/PLC side.

I'm based in Northeast Ohio, thank you for any info.

Side question: Any opinions or experience on working for Cintas?

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Hello fellow techs! So I'm looking for advice and tips since ill be starting my maintenance career soon. I graduated High school early and I've been enrolled at West Georgia Technical School for about a year now taking an Associates Precision Manufacturing and Maintenance Degree. I also over the last 2 months have attained my Osha 30 and EPA Universal. The reason I'm posting because ill be turning18 soon. So I'm looking for any leads, heads up or advice anyone has since I have many avenues open to me right now. I currently work around 32 hours a week with Hertz as a C-Tech and the pay is good 19 an hr but I want something that gives me more hours on a non 9-5 like schedule and more like a 4 on 4- hence why I chose this career. My job is alright but its so boring doing the same oil changes and inspections. I'm stuck between maybe looking for a mechanic job at a dealership or diesel soon cause I love working on cars and its a good skill to have or whether I should do more to beef up my plc and hydraulic knowledge so my resume looks beefier with my lack of real maintenance experience besides school.

TL;DR: 17/18 soon, almost done with an Associates in Precision Manufacturing & Maintenance, have OSHA 30 & EPA Universal, currently a C-Tech at Hertz (19/hr, 32hrs/week). Looking for advice on whether to pursue automotive/diesel mechanic work to build hands-on experience, or double down on PLC/hydraulics knowledge to make my maintenance resume stronger. Also open to job leads with better hours (4on/4off preferred).

I am honestly furious after seeing a DIY tutorial today where someone recommended using cheap brass valve needles for a setup involving reactive chemicals. Why do we just accept this kind of misinformation? Brass is perfectly fine for shop air or basic plumbing, but the moment you introduce moisture or slightly acidic gases, you are essentially asking for a catastrophic failure.

We’ve become so obsessed with saving a buck that we’ve forgotten that engineering standards exist for a reason. I see people buying mystery-metal valves from AliExpress or Amazon without ever asking for a material test report (MTR). It is 2026 there is no excuse for this. You can literally check Global Sources or Alibaba to find verified 316 Stainless Steel suppliers for nearly the same price as the junk you’d buy at a local hardware store.

When you opt for the cheapest part available, you aren't just being frugal but being negligent. Brass is a copper-zinc alloy prone to dezincification and stress corrosion cracking when exposed to the wrong environment. A valve that looks fine on the outside can be weak and ready to crack on the inside.

And then we wonder why accidents happen or why systems fail after a month. If you are building a system that could potentially hurt someone use the right material. Stop cutting corners on the one component that controls the pressure. It’s not just a valve but a safety device so treat it like one. If you can't afford the correct materials you can't afford to build the system.

I spent 10 years as a mechanic in the Navy, and now I work in a shop that 's got 3 techs and a "supervisor " ... a tech who's been here a long time....

My shop situation is a story for another day. But i'm on 3rd shift all by my lonesome and I'm tired of trips to my toolbox. I currently cary: pen, sharpie, small screwdriver, and a flashlight. All fit in my top pocket which is nice.

In the Navy I had what we called a "diggit", aka a multitool. I also always carried a pocket knife because I hated digging through my multitool to get the knife out, I mainly had the multi-tool for the pliers, and anything else was a bonus/afterthought.

My work seems to be one of the rare places that buys the techs tools, so i'm looking for a good mulittool with a belt "holster" that ideally has spring opened pliers. And for a reasonable price preferably on McMaster-Kar.

My last knife was a benchmade, but I lost 1 too many screws in the clip so it's gone forever. That knife was my multi-tool. It was a knife, flat-head, chisle, and anything else i could possibly conceive.

Ideally work wouldn't care what i got, but even if they do, i'm open to suggestions. I work in an industrial laundry facility. And I have a penchant for forgetting tools places is that makes a difference

So I’m new at this plant and was doing monthly PMs. I didn’t have time to grease shafts that were already greased and check some gearbox oil level that weren’t leaking. I don’t want my boss to see me as underperforming and slow so I checked it done anyway. I feel bad about it but what are the odds that there’s a breakdown because of this. Should I have told my boss I couldn’t do it all?

I called this appliance repair facility to get some information on appliance repair and I gave them all of my information as far as my name and address before they told me that there will be a trip charge then I told them “never mind”. A few days later I get a call stating that I owe them $99 because their technician was on their way and I didn’t cancel the appointment. I told him I never made an appointment. I never signed anything. I told them “never mind” when they told me about the trip charge now they’re threatening to send this to collections are they able to do that? Are they able to actually send this to collections and if they do what are my options can I sue them since I never authorized them to even come out to my place? Has anyone else had any thing like this ever happened to them?

Hi peeps, I’m currently working as a maintenance technician with about ~1 year of experience for a lumbering company that do luxury interior designs, but I was literally thrown into the role without structured training and being the 1st and only technician on standby for the company so adds a little of pressure on me and they trust me too much.

I can troubleshoot and fix issues on a basic level, but I want to make sure I’m building a strong foundation instead of just guessing my way through problems and improperly fixing a problem.

I’m trying to improve in these areas:
- Troubleshooting (mechanical, electrical, PLC)
- Understanding proper procedures instead of shortcuts

What I want to know from experienced techs:
- What are the core fundamentals every maintenance tech should master?
- What step-by-step process do you follow when diagnosing a machine issue?
- What bad habits should I avoid early on?
- What proper tools do I need (I have to buy my own tools)?

Right now, my general approach is:
- Talk to operator about its issue and show them what caused their problems to help them avoid it
- Check mechanical, electrical, then controls when finding the problem
- Verify power and signals (multimeter)

But I feel like I’m missing structure or deeper understanding.

Any advice, routines, or even “rules of thumb” you use on the job would help a lot, thank you for your time.

Been doing maintenance in industrial laundry for more than 8 years, I have a job offer for a good bit more money not in laundry. The company rebuilds motors and transmissions. I’m worried that I may not be able to hold my own even though I’m pretty good at what I do right now. How much different will it be maintenance wise and would it be a good idea to give up a job I’m good at and well liked at for an opportunity to make 5$ more an hour? Just needing some advice. Thanks in advance.