Lets face it:we all once did a stupid mistake which led to an injury.
Remember the first time you plugged in a soldering iron and went to take a **** then came back and grabbed the tip to feel if its hot enough?You will crack your ribs laughing at the kind of stuff one did when he was a newbe.
I once tryed soldering using an open fire on a windy day(yep!I can solder with fire and rod!).Well the rod had no insulation and was in the fire for quite some time.Without lifting my eyes from the pcb i was working on,i grabbed the rod.DAMN!!!It burnt into my palm like hell!It drew two lines on my palm and across my fingers.
Talk of experience and such 'accidents' should be included,including ignorance of safety precautions.So,how much 'experience' do you have in diy?
Remember the first time you plugged in a soldering iron and went to take a **** then came back and grabbed the tip to feel if its hot enough?You will crack your ribs laughing at the kind of stuff one did when he was a newbe.
I once tryed soldering using an open fire on a windy day(yep!I can solder with fire and rod!).Well the rod had no insulation and was in the fire for quite some time.Without lifting my eyes from the pcb i was working on,i grabbed the rod.DAMN!!!It burnt into my palm like hell!It drew two lines on my palm and across my fingers.
Talk of experience and such 'accidents' should be included,including ignorance of safety precautions.So,how much 'experience' do you have in diy?
In my 57 years on this planet I have performed far too many sensless acts of stupidity. Some have resulted in minor injury, but nothing major. There have been countless stupid electrical tricks starting when the paper clip met the wall outlet at age 5. My most memorable and embarrasing dumb blonde moment was not directly related to my electronics hobby, but electricity did play a major role.
The time frame was 1970 or 1971. I had broken my second car. I had removed the carbureator for rebuilding and found that a previous owner had used gasket sealer on the carbureator to manifold gasket. It was stuck to the manifold real good. Attempts to scrape the gasket off left much debris behind which would not allow the new one to seal properly. The standard procedure for a backyard high school mechanic was to apply a suitable solvent and attack with a paint scraper. The solvent of choice in my backyard was gasoline. I had poured a good bit of gas on the manifold several times and was making headway at the old gasket when it happened.
I was concentrating on the task at hand and set the (steel) gas can down.....right on the car battery. The big spark blew a hole in the bottom of the can, promptly setting me, the car, and the ground under the car on fire! Instinct took over and I covered the 50 or so feet from the car to the lake in the back yard in about 2 tenths of a nanosecond! After I was suitably extinguished, I saw the black cloud eminating from the car.
Putting a gasoline fire out with a garden hose doesn't usually work to well since the gas floats on the water, but I finally succeded to discover that the cars battery was now toasting the wiring harness since all of the insulation had melted. The car was a 1965 Pontiac Grand Prix, which contains about 65 miles of wire, and 47 miles of vacuum hose,.....All melted.
It took me about 3 months, but I did get that car running again. Almost all of the hair was burned off my body, and head, but there were no serious burns.
The time frame was 1970 or 1971. I had broken my second car. I had removed the carbureator for rebuilding and found that a previous owner had used gasket sealer on the carbureator to manifold gasket. It was stuck to the manifold real good. Attempts to scrape the gasket off left much debris behind which would not allow the new one to seal properly. The standard procedure for a backyard high school mechanic was to apply a suitable solvent and attack with a paint scraper. The solvent of choice in my backyard was gasoline. I had poured a good bit of gas on the manifold several times and was making headway at the old gasket when it happened.
I was concentrating on the task at hand and set the (steel) gas can down.....right on the car battery. The big spark blew a hole in the bottom of the can, promptly setting me, the car, and the ground under the car on fire! Instinct took over and I covered the 50 or so feet from the car to the lake in the back yard in about 2 tenths of a nanosecond! After I was suitably extinguished, I saw the black cloud eminating from the car.
Putting a gasoline fire out with a garden hose doesn't usually work to well since the gas floats on the water, but I finally succeded to discover that the cars battery was now toasting the wiring harness since all of the insulation had melted. The car was a 1965 Pontiac Grand Prix, which contains about 65 miles of wire, and 47 miles of vacuum hose,.....All melted.
It took me about 3 months, but I did get that car running again. Almost all of the hair was burned off my body, and head, but there were no serious burns.
last major act of stupidity (minor ones still continue of course...) building a wall frame for my deck, trying to insert said frame between the deck uprights standing on two milk crates. The crates weren't stacked properly so came down on my assets catching my ankle (already smashed 20 years before in a bike crash - my fault) between the frame & the crates. Continued with frame insertion but by the time I'd finished my ankle was twice it's normal size - off work for a couple of weeks...
Stupid as pertaining to a recent electronics blunder.......negating to discharge the PS capacitor bank before fiddling with the circuit. While soldering some small SMD, the solder wire shorted out the PS caps into the tiny SMD circuits and the whole lot went up in a poof of smoke.
......
At least it wasn't any of my THAT 340 arrays.
Good thing I have a few extra PCBs.
...... At least it wasn't any of my THAT 340 arrays.
Good thing I have a few extra PCBs.
I've had a couple of run-ins with mains stuff (230v, not your wimpy 110v in America).
The first: lid off an amplifier, tried to plug in the IEC mains lead. Needed a good sove so I held on to the socket inside the amplifier. Plugged it in and got 230v across my index finger. Felt strange to say the least. Fairly safe though.
The next one is a lot more dangerous and I'm lucky to have survived really...
Fitted new PSU caps to an old amplifier that needed it. I started poking around (when it was powered up) to see if anything was getting warm before I closed up. So, to set the scene - left hand, grounded on the case. Then my right hand came into contact with the input of the mains transformer.
My insides hurt for days afterwards.
Of course, there's the usual burning myself with the soldering iron...
Oh, here's one. "Testing" a broken guitar amp (didn't know the extent of the broken-ness at the time). Replaced the internal speaker that had gone open circuit, put in an Eminence Alpha 10, because it was spare and the right size. Powered it up and the positive DC rail of the amplifier went through the speaker. Now, say what you like about it's sound, if it'll take 30V DC for a while, it's not doing too badly. It was loud, too (PSU ripple came through). Turned out that, under heavy use, one of the output transistors had melted through the mica insulation and one of the rails went to ground, but had taken a 2.2 ohm resistor with it, I mean, that thing had almost exploded, black burns on the PCB for an inch each way.
The first: lid off an amplifier, tried to plug in the IEC mains lead. Needed a good sove so I held on to the socket inside the amplifier. Plugged it in and got 230v across my index finger. Felt strange to say the least. Fairly safe though.
The next one is a lot more dangerous and I'm lucky to have survived really...
Fitted new PSU caps to an old amplifier that needed it. I started poking around (when it was powered up) to see if anything was getting warm before I closed up. So, to set the scene - left hand, grounded on the case. Then my right hand came into contact with the input of the mains transformer.
My insides hurt for days afterwards.
Of course, there's the usual burning myself with the soldering iron...
Oh, here's one. "Testing" a broken guitar amp (didn't know the extent of the broken-ness at the time). Replaced the internal speaker that had gone open circuit, put in an Eminence Alpha 10, because it was spare and the right size. Powered it up and the positive DC rail of the amplifier went through the speaker. Now, say what you like about it's sound, if it'll take 30V DC for a while, it's not doing too badly. It was loud, too (PSU ripple came through). Turned out that, under heavy use, one of the output transistors had melted through the mica insulation and one of the rails went to ground, but had taken a 2.2 ohm resistor with it, I mean, that thing had almost exploded, black burns on the PCB for an inch each way.
That incident with the car battery reminds me of a stupid moment back in my younger days.I was in kindergarten and i had just learnt the basic circuit of two drycells and a bulb.
Now its stupid,but then it was an ingenious idea that if i connect the bulb to a car battery,it would light up brighter.I went ahead with the idea and connected the bulb.I was not hurt but the explosion scared the sh*t out of me!Since then,I've never seen a bulb explode.
In another moment,the same car battery was laying on the floor.There was a jumper cable nearby with rounded ends.I still don't know what i was trying to archieve but i figured out that the jumper cable 'should' be connected to the battery terminals.I did connect the cable and saw the first sparks in my life!It scared me half to death.
Sometimes i tend to think that the two incidents made electronics my hobby.
Now its stupid,but then it was an ingenious idea that if i connect the bulb to a car battery,it would light up brighter.I went ahead with the idea and connected the bulb.I was not hurt but the explosion scared the sh*t out of me!Since then,I've never seen a bulb explode.
In another moment,the same car battery was laying on the floor.There was a jumper cable nearby with rounded ends.I still don't know what i was trying to archieve but i figured out that the jumper cable 'should' be connected to the battery terminals.I did connect the cable and saw the first sparks in my life!It scared me half to death.
Sometimes i tend to think that the two incidents made electronics my hobby.
I have lost count of the near misses I have had.
When I was about 3 years old, I unscrewed the torpedo switch on a bedside lamp and stuck my finger in. The spring-loaded switch promptly closed on my finger and wouldn't let go. 240 volts. My dad rescued me when he heard me bellowing, I guess the bed and mattress provided some insulation which may have saved my life. 'It bit me', I said.
When I was about 12 I used to like to use acetylene to weld small pieces of steel together. Not for any purposes, it just fascinated me that I could actually do it.
I used to generate the acetylene in a conical flask with water in it. I'd chuck in a few lumps of calcium carbide which you could still buy in bike shops at that time, it was used in bike headlamps since it burns with a bright white flame when pure. The flask had a rubber bung in it pierced to accept a piece of glass tubing bent at right angles and pulled out to neck it down into a nozzle capable of producing a fine jet. I'd fire the jet at a steady candle flame, but holding it back far enough so that the Bernoulli effect dragged enough air into the stream to produce a hot flame, which the candle flame kept alight.
The presssure in the flask was so high that I tied the bung on but I still had to grip the flask and bung tightly to keep the bung from popping out. Give it a shake to encourage the gas production...
It was only later in school I discovered that acetylene explodes spontaneously under pressure. The triple carbon bond is unstable and the gas decomposes into hydrogen and soot with the release of considerable energy.
It's over 40 years ago but it still brings me out in a sweat to think about it...
Then there was the time I nearly lost my fingers to a paper squib filled with homemade guncotton. Boy does that stuff burn quick, don't try to use it for a fuze.
And the time I thought I'd lost my hearing hitting a mixture of sodium chloride and sulphur with a lump hammer. I could still hear the ringing in my ears the next day.
One day we were messing about in the lab with a Bunsen burner which was intended for use with coal gas. We had it connected to a bottle of butane. I was at least 7 feet away at the end of the bench but the gas had been turned on for a while. For some reason I suggested to one of the other 'experimenters' that he should light the burner. Immediately he did so a large cloud of nearly pure gas which was hanging in the air between the burner and me ignited. The visible flame front came rushing towards me and before I could react removed my eyebrows and eyelashes as it passed. It was blind luck that it wasn't better mixed with air or it would have detonated.
The good old days. They say: 'it's better to be born lucky than rich...'
w
When I was about 3 years old, I unscrewed the torpedo switch on a bedside lamp and stuck my finger in. The spring-loaded switch promptly closed on my finger and wouldn't let go. 240 volts. My dad rescued me when he heard me bellowing, I guess the bed and mattress provided some insulation which may have saved my life. 'It bit me', I said.
When I was about 12 I used to like to use acetylene to weld small pieces of steel together. Not for any purposes, it just fascinated me that I could actually do it.
I used to generate the acetylene in a conical flask with water in it. I'd chuck in a few lumps of calcium carbide which you could still buy in bike shops at that time, it was used in bike headlamps since it burns with a bright white flame when pure. The flask had a rubber bung in it pierced to accept a piece of glass tubing bent at right angles and pulled out to neck it down into a nozzle capable of producing a fine jet. I'd fire the jet at a steady candle flame, but holding it back far enough so that the Bernoulli effect dragged enough air into the stream to produce a hot flame, which the candle flame kept alight.
The presssure in the flask was so high that I tied the bung on but I still had to grip the flask and bung tightly to keep the bung from popping out. Give it a shake to encourage the gas production...
It was only later in school I discovered that acetylene explodes spontaneously under pressure. The triple carbon bond is unstable and the gas decomposes into hydrogen and soot with the release of considerable energy.
It's over 40 years ago but it still brings me out in a sweat to think about it...
Then there was the time I nearly lost my fingers to a paper squib filled with homemade guncotton. Boy does that stuff burn quick, don't try to use it for a fuze.
And the time I thought I'd lost my hearing hitting a mixture of sodium chloride and sulphur with a lump hammer. I could still hear the ringing in my ears the next day.
One day we were messing about in the lab with a Bunsen burner which was intended for use with coal gas. We had it connected to a bottle of butane. I was at least 7 feet away at the end of the bench but the gas had been turned on for a while. For some reason I suggested to one of the other 'experimenters' that he should light the burner. Immediately he did so a large cloud of nearly pure gas which was hanging in the air between the burner and me ignited. The visible flame front came rushing towards me and before I could react removed my eyebrows and eyelashes as it passed. It was blind luck that it wasn't better mixed with air or it would have detonated.
The good old days. They say: 'it's better to be born lucky than rich...'
w
I predict that this thread will live long and prosper. It was about 1978 and I was working as a technician at a marine radio company tuning up new production HF radios (1-30Mhz) These radios had tuning elements for each channel that had to be adjusted. So microphone in left hand and screwdriver in right hand. Key up and tune right! Well that is until my right thumb slipped onto the plate of one of the transmit tubes. Thats B+ in the hundreds of volts plus RF in the 150W range. This made a nice jaged hole in my finger on it's way to the bone, no blood mind you, just carterized flesh. I also flew back about 6 feet and banged into the wall. In those days there way no thought of law suits or liability, the boss just asked if I needed to go home and rest.
It was about 1978 and I was working as a technician at a marine radio company tuning up new production HF radios (1-30Mhz) These radios had tuning elements for each channel that had to be adjusted. So microphone in left hand and screwdriver in right hand. Key up and tune right! Well that is until my right thumb slipped onto the plate of one of the transmit tubes. Thats B+ in the hundreds of volts plus RF in the 150W range. This made a nice jaged hole in my finger on it's way to the bone, no blood mind you, just carterized flesh. I also flew back about 6 feet and banged into the wall. In those days there way no thought of law suits or liability, the boss just asked if I needed to go home and rest.
Sorry, that's an error on my part, it's sodium chlorATE, NaClO3, a common weedkiller, not sodiun chlorIDE, which is common salt.
w
Other than being shocked briefly by 240V when our house was being built, I've only had one other incident which was particularly dangerous, once again related to building our house.
Dad and I were building an in-ground pool in the backyard, we were setting up all the frame work prior to pouring concrete. Anyway, Dad had just bought a new air powered nail gun. One thing led to another which resulted in me nailing my index and middle finger together with an 80mm nail (not on purpose obviously). End of the story, didn't loose any use whatsoever of those two fingers, missed all the nerves, didn't hit any knuckles, very lucky.
Dad and I were building an in-ground pool in the backyard, we were setting up all the frame work prior to pouring concrete. Anyway, Dad had just bought a new air powered nail gun. One thing led to another which resulted in me nailing my index and middle finger together with an 80mm nail (not on purpose obviously). End of the story, didn't loose any use whatsoever of those two fingers, missed all the nerves, didn't hit any knuckles, very lucky.
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Not as spectacular as the time i saw a Xmas tree of sparks coming out of my chest when i electrocuted myself, but the absolute most stupid thing i did was cutting the top of my Dig-II finger in half with a stanley knife, trying to fix a jammed manual stapler.
Worst part was the system manager graveyard shift hour, i had to wait 4.5 hours to get to ER, which was at 300 yards distance.
On top of that they gave me tetanus shots in both legs, made me walk like a criple for three days.
Worst part was the system manager graveyard shift hour, i had to wait 4.5 hours to get to ER, which was at 300 yards distance.
On top of that they gave me tetanus shots in both legs, made me walk like a criple for three days.
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Back in a summer of way pre-2k i was sitting on the sidewalk curb in an empty street in Rome with two girls i met there, talking the night away.
After half an hour or so, a window opened three floors up and someone emptied a 4-gal bucket of water with toilet cleaner on me.
Turned the black Fiorucci T-shirt that i just bought on saldi into a supermarket $10 for 3 package white item within minutes, and the matching Fiorucci pants.
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I see. And just how loud was this "talking"?
The reason I ask is that a lot of ripe produce was hurled from my Montmartre window onto the heads of drunken, singing Germans, Swedes, Danes or Dutchmen 7 floors below. I cursed the day that the city decided we needed streetlights on my little rue. Before that the tourists were afraid to come up there.
A buddy who's bedroom window was right over the steps going up to Montmartre never had to take his rubbish to the bin. It all went onto the heads of the noisy drunks below.
Makes me wonder why someone wants an appartment in Montmartre.
I can understand the attraction of living arrangements in Le Marais nowadays, even for straight people, but Montmartre ?
(still haven't found a word that describes the gay circle of Le Marais in a still somewhat respectfull manner, what an odd bunch. )
My street is a shortcut to/from the main beach entries, during the summer holiday season that means noisy folks returning late at night from band nights at the beach clubs.
I still do get up and out bucknaked to the bedroom terrace at 3.30am (with an old and trusty alloy baseball bat from my college paying door days) to monitor lingering ones, in case they feel like damaging my property, the price to pay for having a pool on both sides of the house.
An amusing note, some of the property closer to the beginning of my street do about $1m more each, during summer season weekends they frequently have (illegally) parked cars smack in front of their driveway.
The most bling-bling one had a front gate installed, the size that fits a chateau, the property next to him was due for demolition to make room for another +$3m estate.
As of last weekend my Panamera neighbor has squatters living right next to him.
Just recently i went for a memory lane visit to the Rue de Rennes hotel i stayed at three times a year with my g/f during the l'Audiophile years, 100 steps from the church at Jules Joffrin.
Total bummer, an Arab running it, rooms on a monthly basis, unrecognisable interior.
Just talking, i just need one shot of whisky to handle stage fright anxiety, after that i do club dance floors on coca coke.
Nuff OT-talk.
I can understand the attraction of living arrangements in Le Marais nowadays, even for straight people, but Montmartre ?
(still haven't found a word that describes the gay circle of Le Marais in a still somewhat respectfull manner, what an odd bunch.
) My street is a shortcut to/from the main beach entries, during the summer holiday season that means noisy folks returning late at night from band nights at the beach clubs.
I still do get up and out bucknaked to the bedroom terrace at 3.30am (with an old and trusty alloy baseball bat from my college paying door days) to monitor lingering ones, in case they feel like damaging my property, the price to pay for having a pool on both sides of the house.
An amusing note, some of the property closer to the beginning of my street do about $1m more each, during summer season weekends they frequently have (illegally) parked cars smack in front of their driveway.
The most bling-bling one had a front gate installed, the size that fits a chateau, the property next to him was due for demolition to make room for another +$3m estate.
As of last weekend my Panamera neighbor has squatters living right next to him.
Just recently i went for a memory lane visit to the Rue de Rennes hotel i stayed at three times a year with my g/f during the l'Audiophile years, 100 steps from the church at Jules Joffrin.
Total bummer, an Arab running it, rooms on a monthly basis, unrecognisable interior.
Just talking, i just need one shot of whisky to handle stage fright anxiety, after that i do club dance floors on coca coke.
Nuff OT-talk.
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