I had a similar thing happen with an old gas valve on a water heater, tested fine for a second then started leaking the moment I put a wrench on it. Learned right there to never trust a part just because it looks okay on the outside, cause they all look fine til they dont. Now I treat every old fitting like it's ready to blow and keep a towel and bucket within reach.

Man, the wild part is Dale probably learned that exact lesson the same hard way back in the day, and that's why he didn't rub it in. I've started asking myself what the cheapest test looks like before I touch the parts cannon.

118 miles for 20 minutes of wrench time is brutal, but the part that gets me is the painted-over coax outlet. How often do you run into tenants or landlords who paint right over outlets and boxes like nobody will ever need to touch them again? That box knife moment probably saved you a callback, so it makes sense you still hit your numbers.