[Amps] The White Smoke

[Harold B. Mandel]

Dear Will,

>From the details Rich Measures asked, it is probable that
a manufacturing error fabricated the primary windings with
connections 180 degrees opposite for one of the windings
than the schematic pins-out and this caused the two
windings to be out-of-phase when 240 vac was applied,
hence the smoke.

Contrary to your posting, the a.c. breaker did not trip.
The room light dimmed slightly when the breaker was closed,
and then the sizzle, the smoke and a soft "pop."

After performing resistance checks with a calibrated DMM
on all the leads, once again I assumed all would be pristine
and kosher for a power-up. This is the same error I made
when trusting the bleeder resistor network to be operative.

Rhetorically, how far does this all need to go? Can I not trust
any electronic component without a thorough examination?
I have years of building experience, but this is the first project
that has presented situation after situation of supposedly new
and pristine hardware being defective.

Has anyone else had similar experiences? How do I invoke
the Rule of the Final Inch? What would you do in this case?

Thanks,

Hal Mandel