diff --git a/common-tools/clas-detector/src/main/java/org/jlab/detector/calib/utils/ConstantsManager.java b/common-tools/clas-detector/src/main/java/org/jlab/detector/calib/utils/ConstantsManager.java
index abf3d20e30..115e9fa7cb 100644
--- a/common-tools/clas-detector/src/main/java/org/jlab/detector/calib/utils/ConstantsManager.java
+++ b/common-tools/clas-detector/src/main/java/org/jlab/detector/calib/utils/ConstantsManager.java
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package org.jlab.detector.calib.utils;
 
+import java.lang.Thread;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.HashMap;
@@ -19,6 +20,8 @@
  */
 public class ConstantsManager {
 
+    public static final int DBERROR_SLEEP_SECONDS=3;
+
     private static Logger LOGGER = Logger.getLogger(ConstantsManager.class.getName());
 
     private DatabaseConstantsDescriptor defaultDescriptor = new DatabaseConstantsDescriptor();
@@ -116,6 +119,11 @@ private synchronized void loadConstantsForRun(int run) {
                 LOGGER.log(Level.SEVERE,
                         "[ConstantsManager] exceeded maximum requests " + requests + " for run " + run);
             }
+            else if (requests > 1) {
+                LOGGER.log(Level.SEVERE,"[ConstantsManager] sleeping a bit before trying again ...");
+                try { Thread.sleep(DBERROR_SLEEP_SECONDS*1000); }
+                catch (InterruptedException e) {}
+            }
         }
 
         LOGGER.log(Level.INFO, "[ConstantsManager] --->  loading table for run = " + run);