safety - esl with kids

[rbmcginnis]

Can someone tell me how concerned I need to be about the safety of ESLs.

My design uses perforated metal stators that have been powder coated.

I have a 4 year old boy and am concerned about him touching one or both stators.

Can anyone give me some guidelines about the danger here. I am driving the panels with a 200w Adcom amp.

Thanks

 

[I_Forgot]

Touching the stators is only dangerous while the speaker is playing.

It would be best to provide some mechanical protection that would keep the kid's hands off the stators. Quad uses slotted metal grills a few inches in front of and behind the drivers.

I_F

 

[gvy]

This is one of the reasons I have always built wire stators. (there are more advantages to)
Because the insulation of the wires is perfect, it is impossible to touch dangerous parts.

Normally , If you use high resistances, the DC high tension is not dangerous.

However , the music signal, when playing loud, can be seriously dangerous, when insufficiant insulation is used. and I really am not sure about the powder coating here.

I think you should consider a mechanical protection here.

Geert

 

[I_Forgot]

I wouldn't trust the thin insulation on a wire to protect against shocks. The voltage out of the audio transformer can be as high as 5kV. Wire with insulation rated for 600V (most PVC insulated hook-up wire) may be OK, but I wouldn't take that chance. I have been zapped by the things and never want to repeat the experience. Mechanical barriers are best.

I_F

 

[SY]

Up until a few months ago (Jimmy is now 6 and much more trustworthy), I used a collapsible fence.

 

[gvy]

I wouldn't trust the thin insulation on a wire to protect against shocks. The voltage out of the audio transformer can be as high as 5kV. Wire with insulation rated for 600V (most PVC insulated hook-up wire) may be OK, but I wouldn't take that chance. I have been zapped by the things and never want to repeat the experience. Mechanical barriers are best.

I_F

Well, I do.

I have been building and measuring on ESL wire stators for some time now.

I have done tests with a high tension insulation tester.
(used to measure out high voltage cables , It is measuring insulation using a tension up to 5kV!!!
and I have never met any problems with the wires I use anyway.

I think that a diy wire stator is way more safe then any plate stator, also for the DIY er working and experimenting with it.

Geert

 

[wrl]

Along these lines:

Do most people leave the bias voltage constantly plugged in? I did this for about a year before I started a rebuild and had no problems (its also much nicer not to wait for them to charge).

But now that I'm putting them back together I'm starting to get paranoid again. There is a 10 mOhm resistor between the high voltage converter and the diaphram so discharge shouldn't be too dangerous.

Is there any fire risk? I've tried my best to use good wiring practices (heat shrink etc), but is there any added layer of protection I could use (thermal fuses etc)?
Also, how flamable is dried laquer (because I have a lot of it on the base cabinets)?

I'm getting a cat soon and I'd rather it not get electrocuted. Burning down the apartment would also be bad.


-WRL

 

[wrl]

I forgot,

My stators are aluminum and coated with about .5 mm of rust-o-leum paint. I wouldn't lick them, but I haven't had any issues yet. The diaphram is coated with water based stuff from ERaudio.

-WRL