Team-BHP - View Single Post - The Nostalgia Thread - Tales of Middleschool DIY & Soldering Iron Burns

DerAlte · 14th February 2008, 18:25

Didn't have any incidents with soldering irons, but ...

1975. The auditorium of Delhi College of Engg. (Kashmiri Gate at that time). Me and a bunch of classmates were rewiring the PA / Audio system of the auditorium, whose main wiring was only 50 years old at that time.

So, we had all the wires laid out and we were busy doing the various connections. I was up on a ladder, trying to connect a speaker box (DIY) up on the mantel. Wire strippers? Incisors - we were bionic people! So here I am taking the end of a wire and stripping the insulation and KABOOM! Next thing I realize I have fallen on the guys below and another guy is screaming AIIIEEEEE and going berzerk.

Turns out that the wire I went to strip thinking it was the speaker wire (in those days ALL wiring was 2-color twisted multi-core flex, the common household variety), had been mistakenly connected to the power socket box by someone who had thought it was the wire to his electric drill. Fortunately the stripping motion was down and outward, so the wire touched my teeth for a fraction of a second only. But, after I got the shock, the wire was thrown out of my hand and it fell on a poor unsuspecting fella who bore the brunt!

14th February 2008, 18:25	#38 (permalink)
DerAlte Team-BHP Support Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,928	Didn't have any incidents with soldering irons, but ... 1975. The auditorium of Delhi College of Engg. (Kashmiri Gate at that time). Me and a bunch of classmates were rewiring the PA / Audio system of the auditorium, whose main wiring was only 50 years old at that time. So, we had all the wires laid out and we were busy doing the various connections. I was up on a ladder, trying to connect a speaker box (DIY) up on the mantel. Wire strippers? Incisors - we were bionic people! So here I am taking the end of a wire and stripping the insulation and KABOOM! Next thing I realize I have fallen on the guys below and another guy is screaming AIIIEEEEE and going berzerk. Turns out that the wire I went to strip thinking it was the speaker wire (in those days ALL wiring was 2-color twisted multi-core flex, the common household variety), had been mistakenly connected to the power socket box by someone who had thought it was the wire to his electric drill. Fortunately the stripping motion was down and outward, so the wire touched my teeth for a fraction of a second only. But, after I got the shock, the wire was thrown out of my hand and it fell on a poor unsuspecting fella who bore the brunt! __________________ Never believe it cannot be done - it's only that you haven't found out how!!!