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#1
10-16-2009, 09:49 PM
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Big Bang!
While sitting here at my computer I heard a loud bang, like someone shorting a big HV capacitor.
It came from where I have two radios sitting. My Silvertone metal midget and my Hammarlund HQ-160. Both were plugged in and turned off. The power strip didn't trip. The fuse in the Hammarlund is still good. Both radios work. I used safety caps in the Silvertone where appropriate. The Hammarlund has original disc ceramic caps on the line to ground. I powered each up and they both work. I guess I'll have to open them up and look for damage, but I'm surprized that I don't smell anything and that no fuses blew or breakers tripped. I do have the metal midget sitting on top of the Hammarlund and the Hammarlund is solidly grounded to earth. There's no evidence of sparking between the cases. Not the kind of mystery I like! John 
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#2
10-16-2009, 10:24 PM
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Something like that happened to me a few months back. Scared the heck out of me. I suspected my vintage radios and TVs at first.
I couldn't track it down until a few hours later my computer display went all wonky. I popped the case and discovered that a tantalum cap on the video card had blown. I replaced it and it's been running great to this day  I hope it's nothing serious with your sets.
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#3
10-16-2009, 11:09 PM
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That's a point. No glitches in my computer though. I did have to pull out the video card earlier in the week though. I thought my computer had died. My GeForce4 Ti 4400 died. The main chip got so hot that even though the fan on its heatsink was running it melted the plastic shroud. I'm back to the wimpy motherboard SIS chipset.
Could have been my Pioneer SD-P403 television on the other side of the wall just outside the door. It's been doing strange things occasionally, but not long enough for me to diagnose it. Its electrolytics should be dieing about now given it's age. And it was on. John
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#4
10-17-2009, 01:37 AM
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It could have been an HV arc inside the TV. We had an old 19" RCA that would do that. It would be playing fine, and SNAP!!!, picture would flash and it would keep playing. It might do it again in 30 minutes or 3 weeks. We did finally get rid of the TV.
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#6
10-17-2009, 04:50 PM
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It turned out that it was my cat! He seems to like anything electronic and while looking for a toy he spied a CRT brightener sitting on a cabinet. It's heavy for it's size because of the transformer.
When he pulled it down it fell right into the track of his plastic turbo scratcher and got stuck. It only made one very loud pop because it didn't bounce around and the center piece acted like a loudspeaker diaphragm. Reece: Yes, I probably shouldn't but I grew up with daily shocks from the Arvin my dad kept in his garage. It just wouldn't seem like home without the smell of burning flesh! Actually with the safety caps I've never gotten a poke from the radio. I wonder if the paper caps had anything to do with how the name "Noblitt-Sparks" was chosen?  John
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#7
10-17-2009, 08:02 PM
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Yeahbut, yeahbut, any kind of cap, even safety caps, let through a little juice that with one hand on the radio and another grounded can give you a tingle that can make you knock something over, or fibrillate your fibrillator.
 Reece
__________________
Reece Perfection is hard to reach with a screwdriver.
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#8
10-17-2009, 08:31 PM
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Quote:
If you are too worried about shocks, clip the cord off a hair dryer and use it on the radio. The newer ones have a GFCI in the plug box. I find hair dryers in thrift stores for a buck to $3 or 4. I did a wooden Airline for my GFs son-in-law last year. It was wood and floating ground with safety caps. I added the hair dryer cord as extra measure. She doesn't want to harm him .. yet.
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