Someone did a stupid thing

Well, a few days ago I was wiring a switcher supply which had three terminals for AC connection: Line, Neutral, and Ground. I connected the line to ground and the ground to line because I was not paying attention and though I had read the label correctly.

Fortunately the supply was not damaged. More fortunately, I was not damaged since I didn't touch the metal case which was at 120 volts above ground.

There's a saying regarding carpentry which goes "Measure twice, cut once". Maybe there is one for wiring things also.

Neil

How about; Watch wisely while wiring,. Why wager a wallop?
Whenever we wire wisely, watts win wonderfully!
What a wonderful way when we wire watchfully

or as Charlie Browns teacher would say: "Wah wah wah, wah wah wah wah. Wah wah wah wahwah wah..

ok this is ridiculous

Poetry provides a window on the intersection of thought and emotion.

Not such a bad thing.

RichPowers, wonderful way with words, what?

I feel bad for asking this, but...did you do that????

Geoff

How about this one.

Someone (not me) connected 120V line voltage to the 18VAC power jack on an SSTRAN AMT3000. Surprisingly the damage was limited to a few semiconductor components and he was able to restore it to normal operation.

Phil

Yeah Geoff... I did that. But I ain't going to admit it.

Funny wordsmith Carl ... you need to read out this thread on the LOW POWER HOUR. If I can rebroadcast it (or at least I can post a link on my website) I can almost guarantee the hams around here will be FOC - ROFL ... I seriously doubt any of them have gotten far without similar mistakes.

I once switched on a tape recorder to record, having forgotten to turn off the playback output. Of course that caused a direct electronic feedback, sounded like a machine gun. The board smelled like smoke .. y'all know that smell, eh? No idea what saved the HF drivers in the P.A. speakers, but one did blow about a year later.

Please take note: All devices designed and built by humankind operate on SMOKE. As proof of this age old idiom, just let the smoke out of any electronic device and it quits working properly. Therefore, it should be noted that keeping the smoke in any electronic device is the only absolute assurance it will keep working.

Caveat: Sometimes electronic devices are very sneaky, and only give off a hint of an odor of smoke. Be rest assured though, the device will eventually fail. 😎

Finally after beating my head against the wall to figure out how this all works, it's the smoke. After all the smoke that I have released through trial and error you would have thought I would have caught on by now! DUUUUH??? Now I can do something productive by spending the next few months figuring out a way to capture the smoke and getting it back into those little containers welded to the circuit boards. Thanks for the heads up
Mike

Be very careful. When you release the smoke, you cannot get it back in the box. I have tried. Doesn't work. Instead, you have to start over with new fuel (electronic components) to internally create the potential for smoke. An easier way to look at it; have you ever tried to make a fire with ashes? Yep, you have to start with unburned fuel to begin the process. When you repair an electronic device, you are supplying fuel/potential for the next "smoke-letting" event.

See. Isn't that simple. Beats the heck out of an EE degree. 8>]

I've always wondered why the electronic component manufacturers have never considered increasing reliability by packaging the devices in smoke-containment material or with a smoke barrier. Same goes for PC board reliability. There ought to be a way to coat the traces with a smoke blocking film.

Phil

At least we know how to put smoke in way in the beginning, before it escapes.

The answer is careful soldering.

I think you guys have totally lost your minds.

No, no. We are just thinking outside of our boxes, which might lead you to wonder who let us out!

Phil