Re: [PLUG] Electronics gear

[Steve Litt <slitt@troubleshooters.com>]

On Tue, 21 May 2019 03:40:54 -0400
Steve Litt <slitt@troubleshooters.com> wrote:

> On Mon, 20 May 2019 12:33:38 -0400
> jeff <jeffv@op.net> wrote:
> 
> > Always measure high voltage with one hand in your
> > pocket, lest you provide a convenient path for current, involving
> > your heart.  
> 
> Truer words have never been spoken. I was trying to repair one of
> these really old school TVs with the CRT picture tubes. I had one
> hand behind my back, as the other one went in for a measurement.
> 
> Snap! A 1 inch spark emerged from the very insulated high voltage wire
> to the picture tube and hit me in the finger. It felt like a sledge
> hammer. From there it traveled down my arm, through my body, through
> my tennis shoes, through my rug, through the under-rug padding, to
> the wood below the rug, where it eventually disbursed to a ground
> somewhere. Can you imagine if that sucker had a path to ground
> through my other hand, straight through my heart?

Yes,  as a matter of fact I *am* replying to myself...

This is a story my mom told me. She saw the whole thing. One day my dad
was repairing this giant Muntz TV, back in the 1950's. My dad had no
electronic training above being a prop-plane mechanic in WWII (Army Air
Corps). So my dad took off the back, defeated the interlock, and he
began probing inside with a screwdriver. All of a sudden there was a
snap, a boom, a flash, and my dad flew across the room as if shot out
of a cannon.

He was OK after a suitable attitude adjustment.

SteveT
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