[Hallicrafters] AC/DC Halli's, Grounds and HUM

[Ray, W2EC]

Hi Barry,

Not at all, your comment was fine. But I had a few who told me I was
basically playing with fire and had no idea about how dangerous these
devices were, with the implication that I was trying to prove they
weren't dangerous. They obviously had not fully read my original
statement or did not understand what I was asking. For those people I
say again, I agree that these are dangerous and should be treated
correctly. I have no idea what the statistics are, whether it is high or
low and am not trying to make a case for their not being dangerous. I
was just wondering if anyone could point to where these types of
statistics were maintained. 

73, Ray  W2EC

Barry Hauser wrote:
> 
> Hi Ray:
> 
> You wrote:
> > From a few response I received, I have the impression people think I
> > am looking for this data to refute the need for an isolation
> > transformer and good grounding. I am not, I was just wondering if there
> were
> > any statistics on this issue.
> 
> I hope my reply didn't contribute to that misimpression.  I was being a
> bit sarcastic/sardonic about the "collateral damage" thing.  I suspect
> there are statistics on appliances of more recent manufacture.  When an
> accident, fire or fatality occurs, I think there's some requirement that
> the device involved be reported to some central authority, such as the
> FTC or Consumer Product Safety Commission.  If the number of reports on a
> particular product exceed some criterion -- like "10" or "100" or
> whatever, there is further investigation possibly leading to a recall.
> You see these in the back pages of newspapers and in a column in
> Consumers' Reports, etc.  The stats are probably more meaningful for more
> recent years.  I assume you mean some statistics that are specific -- not
> electrocution fatalities from home appliances, or something like that.
> >
> > A neighbor down the road was killed (electrocuted) while using his
> > supposedly double insulated hand saw plugged into an outdoor GFI
> > through a 50 foot outdoor extension cord, while he was standing on his
> dry
> > dirt driveway cutting wood on a saw horse. The investigation on how
> that
> > happened is still going on.
> 
> The funny thing is (but not funny) that I had a similar incident in mind
> when I was writing my post.  Dr. Gerald Johnson ("Dr. J") who used to be
> active on the R-390 list, either told of a very similar case. This was a
> young man using a hedge trimmer or something -- also a GFI involved and
> double insulated.  Something failed with the internal insulation.  He was
> on wet ground however.  The unit wasn't even turned on -- just walking
> with it plugged in, stepped on a damp spot and ...  (Dr. J. is an expert
> witness for these cases -- actually he would be the one to ask about the
> stats.)
> 
> Now, this would seem to be veering further off topic, but not getting
> killed is, in fact, highly conducive and relevant to the preservation of,
> and continued enjoyment of vintage Hallicrafters gear.
> 
> Wanna get really scary?  What's the liabilty if you sell an AC/DC set in
> good order to someone, the buyer unpacks the thing, plugs it in (the bad
> way) and the worst happens? Poor guy is found sprawled out and lifeless,
> radio nearby maybe still smoking, and right in the midst of this gruesome
> scene, an opened carton with an address label on it, identifying
> "guess-who" shipped this hazardous thing to the poor victim.
> 
> Now, with that in mind, how to handle things on the next sale or trade?
> Make sure the insulation components are intact?  Don't dare sell a radio
> with leaky line filter caps?  Don't dare sell untested without cutting
> off the line cord?  How about warnings in the ad or posting, on the box,
> sticker on the radio, tag on the line cord -- including legally worded
> boilerplate disclaimers?  How about "Do not open.  No user serviceable
> parts inside." Now you're starting to think like a manufacturer.
> 
> I'd imagine some kind of stats are available and suspect they sound small
> as a percent of units sold or owned, but add up to thousands of serious
> injuries and fatalities, not to mention fires.
> 
> In case it isn't clear, I share your concern, and I think there should be
> more in the way of organized safety guidance about restoring old gear set
> up somewhere on a web site.  But, what if there's something wrong with
> the advice, or it doesn't equivocate enough, say to handle specific
> chassis/cabinet/panel designs where a particular fix would not be safe.
> Would the webmaster/author be liable?  Will a boilerplate disclaimer be
> enough, or should an attorney be retained?
> 
> I'm not writing all this to hear myself type -- would like to see more
> opinions on it, not just my own (depressing) thoughts.  I guess I'm
> trying to motivate someone out there -- someone qualified. Y'know?
> 
> Barry
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