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Re: Dont get zapped.
>line power no matter what. I have a red light bulb (25 watt) hooked
across
>the variac's input so that there is a big red light glowing whenever the
ac
>is present.
I have the same habbit of having a safety lamp. Just make sure it is
connected
in a proper way. I got once zapped when there was a blown fuse *before*
the
lamp. (Yap, safety lamp connected after the fuse in accident! Ouch!) The
lamp
got no power and when I checked the lamp and had forgotten power
connected I got zapped when adjusting things.
For really dangerous stuff like hv circuits it might be a good idea to
have
two lamps just in case one lamp gets blown out. Even with two lamps you
should still check the switches too! Shorting the hv output might also be
a good practice.
>Also, beware that most switches only switch one side of the AC line which
>SHOULD be the hot wire. If your wiring is reversed somewhere, it would
>allow the hot wire to stay live presenting a danger as you work on the AC
>side of the system. Always pull the plug!
Lucky you. I cannot but envy all of you who have unsymmetric plugs. Over
here (Europe) plugs are symmetrical and you can never tell which
lead is live and which neutral. :(
Using double-pole switches is still a good idea anyway. In some situations
(like a disconnected neutral wire at some point and load connected
accross live and neutral) neutral wire will get hot too. A double-pole
switch
will save you then.
Still, I prefer pulling the plug and always checking the second time it is
pulled.
--
Harri Suomalainen mailto:haba-at-cc.hut.fi
We have phone numbers, why'd we need IP-numbers? - a person in a bus