diff --git a/raw/ekman/cronjobs/arome/cron.yaml b/raw/ekman/cronjobs/arome/cron.yaml
index 2cc0cd36..0a6c50fc 100644
--- a/raw/ekman/cronjobs/arome/cron.yaml
+++ b/raw/ekman/cronjobs/arome/cron.yaml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ metadata:
 data:
   download.py: |
     import os
-    import time
+    import sys
     from netCDF4 import Dataset
     import re
     from datetime import datetime, timedelta
@@ -81,26 +81,26 @@ data:
     os.makedirs(outdir, exist_ok=True)
 
     fList = generate_thredds_names("2026-04-24", datetime.today().strftime("%Y-%m-%d"))
+    failed = False
     for fname in fList:
         savename = os.path.join(outdir, fname.split("/")[-1].split(".")[0] + ".nc")
+        if os.path.exists(savename):
+            print(f"Skipping {savename}, already exists")
+            continue
         print(savename)
-        retries = 4
-        for attempt in range(retries):
+        try:
             try:
-                try:
-                    copy_thredds_file(fname, savename)
-                except:
-                    alt_fname = re.sub("sfc", "2_5km", fname)
-                    alt_fname = re.sub("ncml", "nc", alt_fname)
-                    copy_thredds_file(alt_fname, savename)
-                break
-            except Exception as e:
-                if attempt == retries - 1:
-                    print("File not found: " + fname)
-                else:
-                    backoff = min(2 ** attempt * 5, 60)
-                    print(f"Retrying in {backoff}s... ({e})")
-                    time.sleep(backoff)
+                copy_thredds_file(fname, savename)
+            except:
+                alt_fname = re.sub("sfc", "2_5km", fname)
+                alt_fname = re.sub("ncml", "nc", alt_fname)
+                copy_thredds_file(alt_fname, savename)
+        except Exception as e:
+            print(f"File not found: {fname} ({e})")
+            failed = True
+
+    if failed:
+        sys.exit(1)
 ---
 apiVersion: batch/v1
 kind: CronJob
@@ -114,10 +114,10 @@ spec:
   failedJobsHistoryLimit: 3
   jobTemplate:
     spec:
-      backoffLimit: 10
+      backoffLimit: 3
       template:
         spec:
-          restartPolicy: "OnFailure"
+          restartPolicy: "Never"
           containers:
             - name: cronpod
               image: juselius/busynix:1.1
@@ -126,9 +126,14 @@ spec:
                 - /bin/sh
                 - -c
                 - |
-                  nix-shell -p 'python3.withPackages(ps: [ps.netcdf4])' --run 'python3 /scripts/download.py'
-                  chown -R 5000:5000 /data/hdd/data/AROME
-                  chmod -R g+w /data/hdd/data/AROME
+                  if nix-shell -p 'python3.withPackages(ps: [ps.netcdf4])' --run 'python3 /scripts/download.py'; then
+                    chown -R 5000:5000 /data/hdd/data/AROME
+                    chmod -R g+w /data/hdd/data/AROME
+                  else
+                    echo "Job failed, sleeping 30 minutes before retry..."
+                    sleep 1800
+                    exit 1
+                  fi
               resources: {}
               volumeMounts:
               - name: data
diff --git a/raw/ekman/cronjobs/mur/cron.yaml b/raw/ekman/cronjobs/mur/cron.yaml
index 4b5750fd..48500f41 100644
--- a/raw/ekman/cronjobs/mur/cron.yaml
+++ b/raw/ekman/cronjobs/mur/cron.yaml
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ data:
     import argparse
     import os
     import sys
-    import time
     import requests
     from datetime import datetime
 
@@ -54,43 +53,37 @@ data:
         return urls
 
 
-    def download_file(session, url, out_dir, verbose=False, retries=3):
+    def download_file(session, url, out_dir, verbose=False):
         filename = os.path.basename(url)
         local_path = os.path.join(out_dir, filename)
 
         if os.path.exists(local_path):
             if verbose:
                 print(f"Skipping existing: {filename}")
-            return
+            return True
 
-        for attempt in range(retries):
-            try:
-                if verbose:
-                    print(f"Downloading ({attempt+1}/{retries}): {filename}")
+        if verbose:
+            print(f"Downloading: {filename}")
 
-                with session.get(url, stream=True, allow_redirects=True, timeout=60) as r:
-                    if r.status_code == 401:
-                        raise Exception("Unauthorized (check .netrc credentials)")
+        try:
+            with session.get(url, stream=True, allow_redirects=True, timeout=60) as r:
+                if r.status_code == 401:
+                    raise Exception("Unauthorized (check .netrc credentials)")
 
-                    r.raise_for_status()
+                r.raise_for_status()
 
-                    with open(local_path, "wb") as f:
-                        for chunk in r.iter_content(chunk_size=8192):
-                            if chunk:
-                                f.write(chunk)
+                with open(local_path, "wb") as f:
+                    for chunk in r.iter_content(chunk_size=8192):
+                        if chunk:
+                            f.write(chunk)
 
-                if verbose:
-                    print(f"Saved: {filename}")
-                return
+            if verbose:
+                print(f"Saved: {filename}")
+            return True
 
-            except Exception as e:
-                if attempt == retries - 1:
-                    print(f"Failed: {filename} -> {e}")
-                else:
-                    backoff = min(2 ** attempt * 5, 60)
-                    if verbose:
-                        print(f"Retrying {filename} in {backoff}s... ({e})")
-                    time.sleep(backoff)
+        except Exception as e:
+            print(f"Failed: {filename} -> {e}")
+            return False
 
 
     def validate_dates(start, end):
@@ -111,9 +104,13 @@ data:
 
         urls = get_download_urls(args.start_date, args.end_date, args.verbose)
 
+        failed = False
         for url in urls:
-            download_file(session, url, args.out_dir, args.verbose)
+            if not download_file(session, url, args.out_dir, args.verbose):
+                failed = True
 
+        if failed:
+            sys.exit(1)
         print(f"\nDone. Downloaded files to: {args.out_dir}")
 
 
@@ -132,10 +129,10 @@ spec:
   failedJobsHistoryLimit: 3
   jobTemplate:
     spec:
-      backoffLimit: 10
+      backoffLimit: 3
       template:
         spec:
-          restartPolicy: "OnFailure"
+          restartPolicy: "Never"
           containers:
             - name: cronpod
               image: juselius/busynix:1.1
@@ -149,10 +146,14 @@ spec:
                       -sd $(date -d "3 days ago" +%Y-%m-%d) \
                       -ed $(date +%Y-%m-%d) \
                       -o /data/hdd/data/river-data/MUR/MUR_SST_nc \
-                      -v
-                    chown -R 5000:5000 /data/hdd/data/river-data/MUR/MUR_SST_nc
+                      -v &&
+                    chown -R 5000:5000 /data/hdd/data/river-data/MUR/MUR_SST_nc &&
                     chmod -R g+w /data/hdd/data/river-data/MUR/MUR_SST_nc
-                  '
+                  ' || {
+                    echo "Job failed, sleeping 30 minutes before retry..."
+                    sleep 1800
+                    exit 1
+                  }
               resources: {}
               volumeMounts:
                 - name: data
diff --git a/raw/ekman/cronjobs/nemo/cron.yaml b/raw/ekman/cronjobs/nemo/cron.yaml
index 6aa126ca..2190faf8 100644
--- a/raw/ekman/cronjobs/nemo/cron.yaml
+++ b/raw/ekman/cronjobs/nemo/cron.yaml
@@ -181,10 +181,10 @@ spec:
   failedJobsHistoryLimit: 3
   jobTemplate:
     spec:
-      backoffLimit: 10
+      backoffLimit: 3
       template:
         spec:
-          restartPolicy: "OnFailure"
+          restartPolicy: "Never"
           containers:
             - name: cronpod
               image: ghcr.io/lix-project/lix:latest
@@ -200,13 +200,17 @@ spec:
                     copernicusmarine login \
                       --username "$COPERNICUSMARINE_SERVICE_USERNAME" \
                       --password "$COPERNICUSMARINE_SERVICE_PASSWORD" \
-                      --force-overwrite
+                      --force-overwrite &&
                     bash /scripts/download.sh \
                       $(date -d "2 days ago" +%Y-%m-%d) \
-                      $(date +%Y-%m-%d)
-                    chown -R 5000:5000 /data/hdd/data/NEMO
+                      $(date +%Y-%m-%d) &&
+                    chown -R 5000:5000 /data/hdd/data/NEMO &&
                     chmod -R g+w /data/hdd/data/NEMO
-                  '
+                  ' || {
+                    echo "Job failed, sleeping 30 minutes before retry..."
+                    sleep 1800
+                    exit 1
+                  }
               env:
                 - name: COPERNICUSMARINE_SERVICE_USERNAME
                   valueFrom:
diff --git a/raw/ekman/cronjobs/norkyst/cron.yaml b/raw/ekman/cronjobs/norkyst/cron.yaml
index 83313cca..154ddd61 100644
--- a/raw/ekman/cronjobs/norkyst/cron.yaml
+++ b/raw/ekman/cronjobs/norkyst/cron.yaml
@@ -75,10 +75,10 @@ spec:
   failedJobsHistoryLimit: 3
   jobTemplate:
     spec:
-      backoffLimit: 10
+      backoffLimit: 3
       template:
         spec:
-          restartPolicy: "OnFailure"
+          restartPolicy: "Never"
           containers:
             - name: cronpod
               image: juselius/busynix:1.1
@@ -88,9 +88,14 @@ spec:
                 - -c
                 - |
                   nix-env -iA nixpkgs.wget nixpkgs.coreutils nixpkgs.bash nixpkgs.parallel
-                  bash /scripts/download.sh
-                  chown -R 10000:10000 /data/hdd/data/norkyst
-                  chmod -R g+w /data/hdd/data/norkyst
+                  if bash /scripts/download.sh; then
+                    chown -R 10000:10000 /data/hdd/data/norkyst
+                    chmod -R g+w /data/hdd/data/norkyst
+                  else
+                    echo "Job failed, sleeping 30 minutes before retry..."
+                    sleep 1800
+                    exit 1
+                  fi
               resources: {}
               volumeMounts:
               - name: data
diff --git a/raw/ekman/cronjobs/norshelf/cron.yaml b/raw/ekman/cronjobs/norshelf/cron.yaml
index 94298f74..62c62396 100644
--- a/raw/ekman/cronjobs/norshelf/cron.yaml
+++ b/raw/ekman/cronjobs/norshelf/cron.yaml
@@ -67,10 +67,10 @@ spec:
   failedJobsHistoryLimit: 3
   jobTemplate:
     spec:
-      backoffLimit: 10
+      backoffLimit: 3
       template:
         spec:
-          restartPolicy: "OnFailure"
+          restartPolicy: "Never"
           containers:
             - name: cronpod
               image: juselius/busynix:1.1
@@ -80,9 +80,14 @@ spec:
                 - -c
                 - |
                   nix-env -iA nixpkgs.wget nixpkgs.coreutils nixpkgs.bash
-                  bash /scripts/download.sh
-                  chown -R 5000:5000 /data/hdd/data/norshelf
-                  chmod -R g+w /data/hdd/data/norshelf
+                  if bash /scripts/download.sh; then
+                    chown -R 5000:5000 /data/hdd/data/norshelf
+                    chmod -R g+w /data/hdd/data/norshelf
+                  else
+                    echo "Job failed, sleeping 30 minutes before retry..."
+                    sleep 1800
+                    exit 1
+                  fi
               resources: {}
               volumeMounts:
               - name: data
diff --git a/raw/ekman/cronjobs/nve/cron.yaml b/raw/ekman/cronjobs/nve/cron.yaml
index 3761120c..eefdb472 100644
--- a/raw/ekman/cronjobs/nve/cron.yaml
+++ b/raw/ekman/cronjobs/nve/cron.yaml
@@ -22,10 +22,10 @@ spec:
   failedJobsHistoryLimit: 3
   jobTemplate:
     spec:
-      backoffLimit: 10
+      backoffLimit: 3
       template:
         spec:
-          restartPolicy: "OnFailure"
+          restartPolicy: "Never"
           containers:
             - name: cronpod
               image: git.oceanbox.io/oceanbox/churn/riverrun:24a8bbbc-debug
@@ -34,9 +34,14 @@ spec:
                 - /bin/sh
                 - -c
                 - |
-                  riverrun data --download --ndays 5000
-                  chown -R 5000:5000 /data/hdd/data/river-data/Data
-                  chmod -R g+w /data/hdd/data/river-data/Data
+                  if riverrun data --download --ndays 5000; then
+                    chown -R 5000:5000 /data/hdd/data/river-data/Data
+                    chmod -R g+w /data/hdd/data/river-data/Data
+                  else
+                    echo "Job failed, sleeping 30 minutes before retry..."
+                    sleep 1800
+                    exit 1
+                  fi
               resources: {}
               volumeMounts:
                 - name: data