This was over 50 years ago. OSHA, MIOSHA?
Those were the days where you climbed down a ladder into a concrete
lined pit to take weekly measurements, or do maintenance.
Check the O2 concentration? Safety men? Didn't exist. Then one day we
were presented with learning vessel entry rules. Now, it was check the
O2 %, "TWO" men up top holding a rope hooked to the harness you were
wearing. I was chewed out for working on the outside of a 90' tower
which I'd done for years. (I was hooked on to something). These were
towers with stairs. IOW, big suckers! They contained distillation
columns for some really nasty stuff. You didn't want to be up there when
the Differential Pressure cell you were working on sprung a leak, or
some idiot thought an "unannounced" emergency evacuation drill was in
order. For practice we used the stairs, for real, we stepped over the
side and rode the big support I-beams to the ground. In a real one you
wanted to get out alive, not necessarily unhurt. You hit the ground
running "up wind"
On 1/10/2017 10:30 PM, Charles Farr wrote:
In view of the described events below, a two-man rule would make even
more sense, if only to make the call to 911. OSHA would have eaten
that business alive if someone actually had a fatal accident. My life
as a corporate safety officer colors my judgement. Electricians who
regularly work with high-power/voltage wear a special grounded
chain-mail like suit that protects and provides a path to ground, and
from the horrible burns that come from the arc.
What we used to do, and what we do now, are quite different. Much like
climbing, failure to avail yourself of the proper safety equipment is
much like "russian roulette".
I truly enjoy reading your posts and anecdotes, Roger. I'm glad you're
still with us to share your knowledge and wisdom!
Chuck, W6AJW
On 01/10/2017 03:56 PM, Roger (K8RI) wrote:
As for a 2 man rule, they didn't practice that even in the shop when
working with multi ton power transformers inside their cages.
Every one should have the experience of being about 3 or 4 feet from
a 50,000 Joule Varistor when it is vaporized leaving the #8 leads
pointing straight out. We (those who worked on live power packs) made
it a practice to never get in front of those varistors and to never
look at one. Their departure was accompanied by a brilliant/blindly
bright flash and it was LOUD! BTW those transformers were about 5'
X 5' and heavy enough we had to put 3 or 4 men on the back end of the
standard fork lift to keep the back wheels on the pavement. Otherwise
the forks never lifted the transformer.
I can think of many times I was "nearly" killed, but none have to do
with HV...well maybe one, but I don't think of 500 VDC as high
voltage after working with 200KW, and more RF generators. The
Hallicrafters PS for the series of rigs, HT44, SR150, SR160 and maybe
more, had two jacks on the chassis for measuring plate current. I
was actually up on the equipment bench where the station was set up.
This home brew table was the standard height above the basement
floor, or a few inches shy of 3 feet.
I had the probes from a DVM stuck into those jacks on the PS. I had
to reach over to move the DVM. This DVM had a painted steel case and
bare metal handle. Unbeknownst to me, my fingers had slipped down and
were touching the probe tips. IIRC those jacks were on the ends of a
10 ohm resistor "in the HV line". So I had just shorted the 500 plus
VDC to ground through me. No, it didn't throw me. There is a big
difference between grabbing hold of something and touching it.
"Both" cause violent muscle contraction, but the results are quite
different. That sucker had me! In one arm and out the other with my
heart in the middle. I was aware of the pain and then I was laying on
my back on the concrete floor, gasping for breath.
I had apparently curled up, gone unconscious, and rolled forward off
the bench, (breaking the connection). I had landed on the floor,
right in front of the bench.
At any rate, I was back among the living, although gasping for breath
and sweating like crazy. I had cheated death once more.
73, Roger (K8RI)
On 1/8/2017 9:57 AM, Charles Farr wrote:
Doesn't anybody remember the "2 man rule"? I have individuals that
belong to my lodge that work alone, even though I constantly remind
them to get someone to be with them. Another valuable lesson from
the military experience.
Chuck, W6AJW
On 01/07/2017 10:13 PM, Jim Thomson wrote:
Date: Sat, 07 Jan 2017 21:30:23 +0000
From: Manfred Mornhinweg <manfred@ludens.cl>
To: amps@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [Amps] Decline of homebrewing?
Steve, and all,
I was nearly killed at age 15.
## heres my sob story. I was building a heath GR-64 SW rx
between xmas + new year 1969. Age 14
My mum was cooking dinner, and I was in the den, just off of the
kitchen. I had just finished building the
kit after several days..and a had 3-4 components left over.
Thought to myself that heath was not too smart to
be supplying parts that were not required. Of course, when
plugged in and turned on.... it was dead silent.
I take off the lid, and flip it upside down.... and this is a tube
RX. I start probing around...with my fingers....with zero test gear,
then got zapped with 300 vdc off one of the filter caps..it was
unplugged too. Let out a scream, and went flying across the room.
Mother
freaked out, and figures Im in way over my head, and has a fit.
Being from the UK, she thinks nobody should touch anything unless
they have 1st completed the 7 year apprenticeship in the
appropriate field. My older sisters boyfriend at the time was a
physics
lab instructor at the local university, and had a lot of
experience with HB electronics..and also fixing every heath /
dynaco / knight kit in town.
He fixes it in a few hrs, and all is well. 3-4 components were
indeed required.
## fast forward to 1974. Bought a used HB 2 x 813
amp..with NO B+ voltage meter. Great fun driving it with 200 w
po from my used
drake TR-3 xcvr. 1100 w out. Nobody even knew what IMD was
back then, and could care less. I short out the filter choke on
the fully exposed
B+ supply, for even more B+.
## wanting more power, around 1976, I buy a used HB single
3-400Z rf deck, no cabinet, no B+ meter, and no B+ supply. I build
a hb 5 kv no load B+
supply, and also cabinets for both the B+ supply + the RF deck.
Filter caps were a mess of series and parallel 2-4-6 uf oil
caps....and no bleeder. Drove the
3-400 Z with the TR-3. No tuned input on the rf deck. 1700 w out
of a single 3-400Z. Tube ran bright orange to sorta yellowish.
Was working out of town those days, a week at a time. B+ supply
had been OFF from sunday eve to the following friday night. 4
inch diam muffin was sorta loose,
so tightened it with an xcelite nut driver. Tube was in the
way, so tried to work around it. Tried tightening the top pair of
corner screws, and shaft of nutdriver
was touching the glass. Shoulda yanked the tube but was in a
rush, contest on that weekend. To get the driver to fit, I slide
my fingers down onto the steel nutdriver shaft,
and try to get the nuts tightened. Wearing a T shirt with bare
arms exposed. Nut driver shaft touches the plate cap of the
3-400Z..and also had both forearms resting on the
aluminum box. Top lid was removed. I get thrown 7 feet across
the room, and wake up 5 mins later..dripping in sweat.
## lesson learned was oil caps will stay charged for at least 5
days..... esp when stupid enough to not include a bleeder.
After that it was B+ meters wired in both the RF decks and also
the external B+ supplies. Bleeders used, and ditto with shorting
sticks etc.
## Got zapped a few times while working at the telco....and each
time was up 7-10 feet off the ground on a rolling ladder. AC is bad
news.
B+ will throw you across a room..and both will easily kill you.
Had a buss bar explode in my face while trying to pry a stuck fuse
out. Blew
a hole in the square shaft of the large screwdriver I was using at
the time. I almost had it out when the shaft touched the
partially recessed mounting screw
for the insulator block assy..in the rack. I had shorted the
input buss side of the bank of fuses. Now you know why there is at
least one guy in every
telco office nicknamed ..... sparky.
Jim VE7RF
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