Stupidest thing youve done with electricity

[Electronic M]

I guess it's a somewhat common trait that infants that like to play with outlets grow up involved with electronics...

I had a rather dangerous big stupid moment this spring with a TV...I didn't notice that the audio output transformer was on the speaker (which I left in the cabinet) so I used clip leads to hook a modern speaker from a BPC set up to it and it worked reasonably well transformerless(reinforcing my misconception)... Not realizing it was at B+, nor that the speaker had developed a voice coil to frame short, with the set on I grabbed a clip lead that fell off (must have been a bare spot on it) in one hand and the speaker in the other and across my chest became the plate load for the audio output. Luckily I was able to let go quickly but it hurt and put the fear of God into me for a while...
Be wary of/avoid using both hands on a live instrument (I knew this but ignored it and the results weren't pleasant).

[lnx64]

When I was 7, I pulled my VCR's power cord out a little and dropped a penny between the prongs to see what it would do.

Just for reference the house at the time had knob and tube wiring and glass screw base fuses. My father was furious because I apparently popped quite a bit of the house doing that stunt and he had to drive to a store late at night to get a fuse to bring the living room back.

We still have that VCR and Penny, and VCR still has the marks where the penny dropped, but I think I need to replace the cord, it's oozing a green liquid from the cord's plug end itself, so I think the rubber is breaking down.

[ppppenguin]

This thread is Darwinian. Anyone who's done something truly stupid with electricity will have been removed from the gene pool

[Alex KL-1]

So this thread is a trap, but not a sound trap or a chroma trap...

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by lnx64

When I was 7, I pulled my VCR's power cord out a little and dropped a penny between the prongs to see what it would do.

Just for reference the house at the time had knob and tube wiring and glass screw base fuses. My father was furious because I apparently popped quite a bit of the house doing that stunt and he had to drive to a store late at night to get a fuse to bring the living room back.

We still have that VCR and Penny, and VCR still has the marks where the penny dropped, but I think I need to replace the cord, it's oozing a green liquid from the cord's plug end itself, so I think the rubber is breaking down.

That home must've had wiring from the time it was built, in the early 1900's.
Homes that were wired later, were either wired with BX or Romex!
You could imagine how labor intensive it was wiring with K&T!

[lnx64]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

That home must've had wiring from the time it was built, in the early 1900's.
Homes that were wired later, were either wired with BX or Romex!
You could imagine how labor intensive it was wiring with K&T!

Yea the home was an antique, no grounded outlets except those with the cheater wire between ground and neutral (luckily at the very least hot and neutral were correct, but a completely useless ground), and we rented. Still had the oil boiler and everything in that basement.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by lnx64

Yea the home was an antique, no grounded outlets except those with the cheater wire between ground and neutral (luckily at the very least hot and neutral were correct, but a completely useless ground), and we rented. Still had the oil boiler and everything in that basement.

Using the neutral and the ground on a receptacle is a code violation! Early Romex doesn't have a grounding conductor either. Older BX doesn't have a grounding conductor either, but using a grounding receptacle can provide a ground, but not ideal and still not code. If a ground is important it's best to use a GFCI. The code will allow using that on a two wire circuit, as it creates an artificial ground.
Regarding basements, I didn't think there's a basement in all of Florida.

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

Using the neutral and the ground on a receptacle is a code violation! Early Romex doesn't have a grounding conductor either. Older BX doesn't have a grounding conductor either, but using a grounding receptacle can provide a ground, but not ideal and still not code. If a ground is important it's best to use a GFCI. The code will allow using that on a two wire circuit, as it creates an artificial ground.
Regarding basements, I didn't think there's a basement in all of Florida.

The only Florida basement I ever saw was in an quick oil change shop, but there's probably some here and there...

[Dude111]

Originally Posted by Alex KL-1

So this thread is a trap, but not a sound trap or a chroma trap...

Ah man!!

[Telecolor 3007]

@ jhalphen : I thought you are younger. You're older then my parents.

[jhalphen]

Hi to all,
Hi Telecolor 3007,

Yes, 70 this year. Electronics & using your mind keeps you (relatively) young.
OK, maybe i should change my thumbnail photo, but it's not that old (2004).

Best Regards
jhalphen
Paris/France

[etype2]

I stupidly tried to trim insulation from a wire in a 120 AC box to install a dimmer switch. Did it many times before. Didn’t hurt me, but vaporized my pocket knife.

[Dude111]

Wow Im glad you were ok

[electronjohn]

I was working on a balky 1kW AM transmitter (Gates BC-1J) and decided to speed things up by bypassing the interlocks and removing the back to troubleshoot. I carefully used the grounding stick to discharge the caps. Yeah, you figured it right: missed one. 3600V woke me right up.

[Mad-Mike]

First time when I was 13 plugging in my boom box in the dark to go to sleep with headphones on, I put my finger on the prong to guide it into the outlet.

Second time was at age 16, I was making my first attempt to fix a 1979 Peavey Backstage 30 guitar amp (I'm a guitarist) and was testing the mains voltage, and in a moment of absent thought, put my finger on the fuse that went between the transformer and the power switch.