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This is the kind of thing that keeps me up at night

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  • This is the kind of thing that keeps me up at night

    This is was inside the chassis of an old yamaha amp for Boston College which came in today. If it isn’t clear from the picture, this is the mains ac wiring.

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    I would like to submit this as exhibit A in my bid to have a sticky made about safe and proper mains wiring and equipment earth grounding.
    If I have a 50% chance of guessing the right answer, I guess wrong 80% of the time.

  • #2
    That defies words!
    "I took a photo of my ohm meter... It didn't help." Enzo 8/20/22

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    • #3
      I've seen similar... not that bad but same MO.

      Twisted wires and black tape...

      Scares the bejeezus outta me.
      If it ain't broke I'll fix it until it is...
      I have just enough knowledge to be dangerous...

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      • #4
        Sadly, people who do that are not likely reading stickies on safe wiring.
        Education is what you're left with after you have forgotten what you have learned.

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        • #5
          Uh.... Exhibit A?? That is like Exhibit ABC!!
          When the going gets weird... The weird turn pro!

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          • #6
            Hey, Lead is toxic and Tin develops whiskers so most echologically safe connection is twisting copper to copper.
            Juan Manuel Fahey

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            • #7
              Darwinian theory at work.
              "Take two placebos, works twice as well." Enzo

              "Now get off my lawn with your silicooties and boom-chucka speakers and computers masquerading as amplifiers" Justin Thomas

              "If you're not interested in opinions and the experience of others, why even start a thread?
              You can't just expect consent." Helmholtz

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Chuck H View Post
                Darwinian theory at work.
                Well, this certainly is one way to cull the herd.

                I mean, dude, how often do you just plug in and power up when you show up for a jam or whatever without even thinking about it. Even at the shop, we don't pull the chassis every time before before we apply power (even if we us the variac for precautionary measures). I kind of prefer having a look before, but.. the reality is I'm trying to be as efficient as possible because someone has to bill my hours. It's not always practical to pull the chassis and then try and get an amp to exhibit the issue we're trying to fix. Plus, this is the dangerous exception. You wouldn't expect to see something like this in a 15 year old Hot Rod Deluxe. But that doesn't mean it isn't in there.
                I only pulled the chassis first thing because of it was such a piece of shit in it's current condition and the customer wanted to know if it was worth repairing.

                Anyways, back to being lucky... I was thinking about how many players having no idea they were millimeters away from that power cord rotating the wrong way, the earth wires separating, and the chassis connection going live. Or even more likely causing a fire because that was before the fuse.
                Makes me think about a conversation I had with a good friend of mine when we were in his shop years ago. I was just starting out, and he was trying to reinforce the need to stay alert and cautious always when working on electronic equipment. He warned me not to assume something is safe because it should be and told me "Never bet your life on somebody else doing their job." I don't even know if he remembers saying that to me, but it was a simple thing which had an impact and stuck with me.
                If I have a 50% chance of guessing the right answer, I guess wrong 80% of the time.

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                • #9
                  "Never bet your life on somebody else doing their job."

                  Sigged.
                  "Take two placebos, works twice as well." Enzo

                  "Now get off my lawn with your silicooties and boom-chucka speakers and computers masquerading as amplifiers" Justin Thomas

                  "If you're not interested in opinions and the experience of others, why even start a thread?
                  You can't just expect consent." Helmholtz

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    I've gotten amps in with that shit on the 'outside' of the chassis.
                    It's weird, because it WAS working fine.....

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Randall View Post
                      I've gotten amps in with that shit on the 'outside' of the chassis.
                      Don't they know Duct Tape works better for that stuff?

                      nosaj
                      soldering stuff that's broken, breaking stuff that works, Yeah!

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                      • #12
                        I laughed so hard when I found my first fuse wrapped in aluminum foil. Not so much the second time.
                        --
                        I build and repair guitar amps
                        http://amps.monkeymatic.com

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                        • #13
                          No tinfoil yet, just a few 20A fuses...

                          Justin
                          "Wow it's red! That doesn't look like the standard Marshall red. It's more like hooker lipstick/clown nose/poodle pecker red." - Chuck H. -
                          "Of course that means playing **LOUD** , best but useless solution to modern sissy snowflake players." - J.M. Fahey -
                          "All I ever managed to do with that amp was... kill small rodents within a 50 yard radius of my practice building." - Tone Meister -

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                          • #14
                            My friend still kids me about using tin foil on his Bassman.

                            Hey, we were 15!

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