To Lase, or to burn (dvd's) that is the question

[marianne]

Re: To Lase, or to burn (dvd's) that is the questi

Don't just clip your antistatic strap to the diode! That is worse than useless as you are not grounded, and it is simply more likely to fry the diode when you attach it!
You need to clip the strap to something grounded, like a PC case when it's plugged in. Be sure to get bare metal. Also if you have an amplifier or something that you are thinking of grounding yourself on, it is probably double insulated not grounded. check the plug, needs to be 3 pin not 2.

Overall you need to connect the strap to something that is directly grounded, and has a 3 pin plug.

here in britain, all plugs are 3 pin, whether they need to be or not... though i believe once or twice i've seen a plastic third pin.

 

[dynamicvelocity]

Re: To Lase, or to burn (dvd's) that is the questi

spot on, and also - your power plugs have fuses in them for saftey - i dont know any other country that does that...

what i think i might do is make up a power plug with ONLY earth connected...and plug my  AntiStaticWristStrap into it .

what? did i just hear various gasps from around the forum?

surely you fellows have done 'experiments' with 240v power before? - the most i've come in range of is 8Kv ...from an NST... -now THAT is a live wire

oh yeah - disclaimer: DO NOT DO THIS AT HOME! ALL 240v and 110v WIRING TO BE DONE BY A QUALIFIED ELECTRITION. NO SERVICABLE PARTS INSIDE.​

 

[marianne]

Re: To Lase, or to burn (dvd's) that is the questi

i saw a plug for attaching antistatic wrist straps to on the maplins website, the live and neutral pins were plastic, only the earth pin was real. probably helps prevent it falling out the socket.

 

[BlueFusion]

Re: To Lase, or to burn (dvd's) that is the questi

why the disclaimer? it's called darwinian evolution mate... ;D ;D ;D

 

[SenKat]

Re: To Lase, or to burn (dvd's) that is the questi

ALL 240v and 110v WIRING TO BE DONE BY A QUALIFIED ELECTRITION. NO SERVICABLE PARTS INSIDE.[/center]

Well, where the hel is the fun in that, mate ? ;D You GOTTA get some juice in ya once in a while - lets you know you are alive hehehehehehe...My wife almost had a coronary - as well as her pregnant friend when prior to moving from Florida, I was re-building my back porch - screeening it all in, etc...and I decided the ancient outlets needed replaced. Well, NONE of the outlets in that house were grounded, with the exception being the ones in my computer room, and those only because I ran an 8' grounding rod into the earth, and passed the wire to the inside of the wall in that room. So, replacing the archaic 2 prong outlets on the porch was merely cosmetic. The cricuit breaker box was ancient as well, with one breaker handling the fridge, the microwave, and several outlets i nteh kitchen, etc - and none of them were marked. So here I am, 9800 degrees outside - live outlets (hehehehehe) and changing them all out. Well, I SNEEZED while loosening the live wire - the screwdriver hit that, and went acorss the nuetral wire, and POW ! The lights went out ! Large bang, some sparks, a sizzling sound, and my right hand smelled like a medium rare steak ! LOL !! YUMMMY ! Yeah, fortunately, that was the last one I had to switch out, cause that kinda zing will shake you up a tad bit !!!! No lasting damage, the new outlet was fine HAHAHAHAHAHA !!!

 

[dynamicvelocity]

Re: To Lase, or to burn (dvd's) that is the questi

hhah, that's quite a story! ... the worstest 'Pop / Crack' i've ever generated melted the corner off a spade connector (actually, the corner of both the outer and inner connector) as i was going to plug it in.

i was taking apart a microwave, and had the transformer out. i thought i'd figure out what voltage the 'special' winding had.

I know now that it's a few amps at 6 volts or so and functions as a feedback loop for another component.
yeah - so, 240v, 1 turn around a transformer, POP all the 'accessories' go dead - tv, computer, etc. - thankfully the saftey switch activated and killed the power to those things (and whatever short circuit iwas trying on it) and probably protected me from my own ignorance. :-[