Quote:
Originally Posted by radiotvnut
I remember reading an article from an old radio / TV servicing magazine concerning the dangers of hot chassis radio & TV sets housed in metal cabinets. According to the article, part of the problem was failure of the service technician or DIY'er to place the insulating devices between the cabinet and the chassis when service was complete. The article also mentioned cases of electrocution from such sets. I've had several of those metal radios from the '40's and '50's. None of them had any sort of insulation between the chassis and cabinet. At best, the chassis was connected to one side of the line through a capacitor. I always install polarized cords on AC/DC sets that I service. Of course, it can still be dangerous if the outlet that it's plugged into is wired wrong. I've also run into a fair amount of early AC/DC radios with the "curtain burner" resistance line cord. Now, exposed hot chassis and resistance line cords would never fly with UL.
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That resistance cord idea was a cutie, but I never liked it. The term you use is very appropriate.
The other cute trick was to put the on-off switch on the ground side of the line, making any metal part of the set dangerous to touch in the off or on position, depending on how it was plugged into the outlet. When I was a wee tot we had an old Zenith table radio that was missing both volume and tuning knobs. Where we lived was in a house in FL with a concrete slab/tile floor. My older sisters (usually barefoot around the house) used to either stand on a pillow when changing stations, or would use a playing card in the slot of the splined shaft.