My buddy waited five years, nothing changed.

Did you maybe have the airlock put together wrong or forget to add water to it? Those little airlocks are literally made to let gas out without letting air in, so a big explosion shouldn't happen. It sounds like the gear might have been set up in a way that accidentally trapped the pressure instead.

Yeah but @tessa_scott, that easy fix can just be luck lol. Sometimes you chase a simple solder joint only to find the whole board is shot.

Sometimes even with a check, the tool can be in the wrong spot if your touch off plate is dirty. I mean, I've seen it save the machine but still wreck the part, which is a whole other kind of expensive. It's good advice, just not totally foolproof I guess.

Scale errors pop up everywhere once you start looking for them. I see it all the time with online furniture assembly guides where the parts don't line up. It's like a lack of double checking has become normal in a lot of places. Makes you wonder what else gets built wrong because someone didn't verify the numbers.