[Amps] Working on my Darwin award

[peter chadwick]

Rules I heard early on and adopted:

1. Never wear jewellery - rings, bracelets, neck chains etc when working on live equipment at any voltage. 

2. Never wear rings when soldering - a drop of molten solder under a ring can damage the finger and the ring!

3. Don't wear watches with metal watch straps. I saw a guy working on a 30kW tx do that: he had the safety barriers around him and the cover off, but the hand holding the clip board had the metal watch strap in the same plane as the tank coil. He got a nasty burn right round his wrist - somewhat mitigated by the fact that there was handy fire bucket in which to put his hand (and watch!)

4. Never wear a ring, jewellery or metal watch strap when connecting or disconnecting a storage battery.

5. Plan what you are going to do, list each step in your mind or perhaps on paper if there's a lot steps (like Heathkit instructions!) before you dive into some kit that can injure you.

6. Remember that 12 or 24 volts at 50 amps can be just as bad for your health as 2kV at 1 amp. 

When my XYL was working on the bench in the lab, she removed her rings, and although she doesn't do soldering anymore, the habit of not wearing them has stuck!

73

Peter G3RZP