[AMPS] RE: Pencils and fiery inch-long arcs!

[Richard W. Ehrhorn]

VERY GOOD POINT, Pete!  I should have mentioned that - always keep the 
blade of the screwdriver solidly grounded to chassis BEFORE AND WHILE 
touching it to the HV line.

The safety advantage of a proper HV shorting "stick" is that the metal 
probe/point is solidly connected to chassis by an insulated wire and 
healthy alligator clip or similar ground.

Thanks for the reminder & 73,   Dick

-----Original Message-----
From:	Pete Smith [SMTP:n4zr@contesting.com]
Sent:	Wednesday, July 22, 1998 11:33 AM
To:	amps@contesting.com
Subject:	Re: [AMPS] RE: Pencils and fiery inch-long arcs!


At 11:00 AM 7/22/98 -0600, Richard W. Ehrhorn wrote:
..
>Then FIRST THING after opening the cover, short the HV line to chassis two 
>or three times with an HV-shorting stick, or at least with a long,
>well-insulated screwdriver, before touching anything! NEVER TRUST YOUR 
LIFE
>to switches, relays, cover interlocks, crowbars or the like - even with a
>well- designed commercial amp, the stakes are just too high to take
>chances.

Amen.  Many years ago a friend got one hand on a ceramic standoff that was
used as the HV input on a surplus amp - maybe a BC-610 - and the 2KV
knocked him cold, threw him across the room and left a huge divot in his
thumb.  I was told while still a pup that, when double-checking that your
caps have discharged, you should always be sure that the blade of the
screwdriver is in contact with ground before you bring it near the +B.
Make sense?


73,  Pete Smith N4ZR
In wild, wonderful, fairly rare WEST Virginia

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