To learn electronics in a very different and effective way, and gain access to Mr Carlson's personal designs and inventions, visit the Mr Carlson's Lab Patreon page here: www.patreon.com/MrCarlsonsLab

@foureyedchick

2 жыл бұрын

Dear Paul, I have a Radio Shack Micronta FET VOM from the 1970s. I like the high input impedance, but I regret that they didn't provide a MOSFET version. But, the next meter I would like to have is a VTVM. There is nothing like that classic old equipment smell that the tube equipment have, as well as the high quality performance that I remember from back in school in the 1970s.

@scottisnotfromhere6553

2 жыл бұрын

I might actually be able to make it to the ham fest tomorrow in kalamazoo. I am in dire need of some odds and ends.

@monfrig6959

2 жыл бұрын

I just bought a very old Micronta VOM at a Thrift store for $2.00 !!

@monfrig6959

2 жыл бұрын

Mr C can't you 3- d print a new lense ?

A dark and stormy night, coffee and rambling about tech. That's life at it's best! 👍

I was about to sleep but this is more important, im gonna get a cup of coffee and enjoy

@peterfitzpatrick7032

2 жыл бұрын

You'll be dreaming about kiloMegaCycles Carlos ! 😂

@lupojacobo9892

2 жыл бұрын

Same here

Please never stop Mr. Carlson. Your content is too cool.

"If you're new to the channel here I'll cram your brains full of knowledge"...pretty much sums up Mr. Carlson's Lab!

I just love this older equipment - much of it is rock solid and precise. Always a pleasure to watch mr. Carlson's lab!

I love watching you Mr. Carlson. My dad died in 2016, leaving me with his old Grundig 2220 that he had owned since before I was born. He found it in a dumpster and got it working again. I loved listening to it, I used it for hours and hours. Unfortunately it's full of old caps. I stopped using it because I'm afraid of destroying the tubes. :( I'm working up the courage to replace them myself by watching your videos. My dad had bought an old All American 5 type AM radio before he died and I practiced cap replacement on it. It works! It's pretty out of tune. I don't know if he screwdrivered it or if a previous owner did. One day I'll get the Grundig safe to use again and I'll remember my dad fondly.

@peterfitzpatrick7032

2 жыл бұрын

Doing stuff like this keeps that connection (no pun intended🙄) with your father... my dad was a cabinetmaker & though I ended up being a machinist all my life, I took up woodworking as an homage to him... I found that I would think alot about how he might do a certain cut or joint etc .. Good luck with the re-cap, Paul here will keep you steered in the right direction... I'm betting yer late dad would have loved these videos we are blessed to have ourselves... Thank you Mr. Carlson for that... From the Emerald Isle 😎👍☘️🍺

@ianbutler1983

2 жыл бұрын

Manny, Tubes are cheap and easy to replace. The danger is that the caps are leaky (beginning to pass DC) and load down the power transformer until it burns out the very fine secondary winding. There is only a couple of things that usually make a tube radio beyond reasonable repair and they are the transformers, both the power and the IF transformers. Good luck with your dad's radio. It is not too hard to do, but you might want to practice on a radio you don't care about.

@jlucasound

2 жыл бұрын

Don't rush it, Manny. Do your research. Your Dad would expect nothing less. You will get it right.

@mannys9130

2 жыл бұрын

@@peterfitzpatrick7032 Nice that you do some woodworking to remember your dad. :) I find myself asking the same "what would dad have done" question and thinking about how I'll approach a project. I recently replaced my water heater. My dad was not a plumber, just a general repairman and maintenance tech for a jail and before that, an apartment complex. He did do lots of plumbing work as a result though. In planning the water heater replacement, I decided "Dad would do this job the right (hard) way using all soldered Type L copper pipe. He'd replace the old shutoff valve and he'd replace the drain valve with a full port ball valve for maintenance." So, that's exactly what I did. I used a few old copper elbows in the system in addition to the new ones from Home Depot. I used his pipe cutter, emery cloth, pipe wrench, channel locks, and work light to do the work. I'm quite proud of that install. :) I feel it's as good (likely better) than work a professional master plumber would do. Deburred every joint ID and OD. Lead-free silver bearing solder. Lead-free ball valve (tricky to solder). Water soluble flux. I practiced soldering correctly for days on some cheaper Type M pipe and couplings until I was very proud of my joints. I could hear my dad in my mind saying "No snots Manny! I don't like snots. Just take your time and let the solder wick in. There you, beautiful! Good job!" I think if he was here to see it, he'd pinch my cheek and say "You're my son." He was only 56, cigarettes caused bladder cancer. I wish I had 20 more years with him. :'( My grandparents were 83 and 81 when they died of natural causes. He could have done 76, I think. He was a good man. I would not be the mechanical nerd that I am today without his love and teachings. Your dad would be happy and very proud seeing you sharpen that chisel and use that table saw. Hopefully you have some of his own tools to use today? :) And yes, my dad would have absolutely LOVED Mr. Carlson. My dad had an associates degree and was a field electrician, but Mr. Carlson seems like an electrical engineer with extensive electrical theory education and advanced circuitry design knowledge. I think my dad likely would have went that same path if he had invested more in his college journey rather than stopping short and going with field work for new structure wiring and service calls. :)

@mannys9130

2 жыл бұрын

@@ianbutler1983 Thank you so much for this information! You just taught me several things! I do have spare tubes for the radio as well as a speaker and (I believe) a button set that my dad had acquired at flea markets and antique electronic supply shops, but I do not have any transformers. :( I don't want to burn these ones out. It sounds like I made the right choice by boxing the radio up and stoping my frequent use of it until I get it sorted out. I did practice this a bit by replacing the capacitors in my dad's newly acquired Emerson AM-only All American 5 type radio. I found it in his apartment while clearing it out. He did not have it before he got the cancer diagnosis a few months prior to his death, so I had no attachment to it like I do with the Grundig. I think he bought it to restore it as a sort of busy project to stay in good spirits and revisit his youth and old hobbies. He just never got started on it, or he may have just replaced a tube to fix it. It worked ok when I found it. I believe I did ok with that Emerson re-cap. I only replaced the cylindrical yellow and orange paper electrolytic caps that Paul always harps on about being failed at this point in time. What does he call them? Yellow bees, or honey bees, or yellow jackets, or super bees or yellow drops...something like that. 🤷🏻‍♂️ I didn't replace any caps that looked different than that, so I don't think I accidently put an electrolytic in place of any mica or other special, high stability capacitor design. I looked at and recorded every Farad and voltage value that was written on every cap and I remember that I researched the tolerance allowed for these electrolytics in tube radios. Then I searched for the right ones with the exact values or a value as close as possible within that tolerance on online electronic supply shops. I verified that each one's value and position was correct on the schematic as I removed the old ones and soldered in the new caps one by one. I did not take the risk reorganizing things or tidying up all the components like Mr. Carlson often does to make it neat and visually appealing. Just point to point, following the old layout exactly. 😸 When I turned it on for the first time afterward, it worked! I was happy! The reception is not very good though. Only the strongest local station is really able to be listened to adequately. If I remember correctly, the dial was off quite a bit, it had several birdies and hums, and I think one other issue that just made it uncomfortable and annoying to listen to anything other than the station which is very close to the house and has a powerful antenna array. The reason why I didn't power through and tackle the Grundig re-cap after that apparent success was that it functions in AM, FM, 2 shortwave band ranges, and external input mode. There are TONS of components inside that chassis. Tons! They're buried underneath each other and sprawled out everywhere! Very intimidating and I'll absolutely cry if I ruin it. I should probably revisit that Emerson and get it perfect. Maybe add filtering or try to tune it better for clear reception and get the dial accurate. The antenna is intact so it's internal issues plaguing the performance. :( Anyway, thank you so much for taking the time to read my comment and offer your valuable information. I sincerely appreciate it Ian.

Last couple of minutes were a MAJOR HOOT AND A HALF.. And I agree much of the test equipment of the past can work very well and has PERSONALITY. In particular early Tek and HP stuff is awesome but even some Heathkkt, Eico and Knight stuff was decent too. Thanks for keeping these old gals going and highlighting their functionally and Beauty ! ! !

Paul, you are amazing. I personally love older products. They can do most things as with modern equipment, but they have one thing the new stuff doesn’t have, and that’s personality, design, and style. I’m a model train restorer, collector and operator, and the older trains have that same type of character. I enjoy watching how you bring old tube equipment back to life again. It’s such a joy to see you talk about the designs and engineering aspects of old electronic equipment, and watching it function again like the day of rolled off of the assembly line. Great work!!

@MrCarlsonsLab

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing your story, and your kind comment too Tom!

Great way to have a cup of coffee ! It’s a heck of a lot more interesting and less depressing than the news

Ahhh the aroma of hot coffee and older electronics, what a perfect way to start the day. Thanks for sharing.

@MrCarlsonsLab

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your kind comment Vic!

Thank you! Fully agree on the vintage aroma!

You can use Mother's Mag and Aluminum Polish on a section of cheap dollar store ultra absorbent cloth to get scratches, fogging, etc. out of the clear plastic on the meter. In some bad cases I finish with a little Novus #2. Works every time even on plastic eyeglass lenses.

@TheDrunkenMug

2 жыл бұрын

Good tip, thanks !

Perfect start for my Sunday morning. I enjoy watching Mr. C´s lab while drinking my cup of tea. 73 de Olaf

Amazing VTTM Paul, thanks for the tour 🙂

@MrCarlsonsLab

2 жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed Dave!

Was going to go to bed. Now I'm going to have a dooby and watch a tech talk. Going squirrel hunting in the morning with my son. Thanks for the upload.

That IS a nice meter. Like the saying goes; "They don't make them like they used to." (Which, of course has its own pros & cons) This reminded me of the Supreme Vedolyzer series you did a while back. (Cool looking old tech) (And still functional)

Lots of info. Mr C was definitely caffeinated on this one!

@thunderkunt5416

2 жыл бұрын

lol

@roseelectronics4582

2 жыл бұрын

Lol

I smiled at the hand warmer comment - before the justification

Hi Mr Carlson's Sir, You Are Explaining Very Well About Tube Multimeter.

@MrCarlsonsLab

2 жыл бұрын

Many thanks!

The tube in the probe is a double diode. E= 6,3 V heater/filament A= small signal diode A= small signal diode 9= 7pin miniature socket 1= number

This company also made a device called the “raving loonie”. I used to live with her.

@MrCarlsonsLab

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for stopping by!

@KeritechElectronics

2 жыл бұрын

Made me google that, but got no results that make sense in this context...

@fullwaverecked

2 жыл бұрын

Remember the probe that looked like something my ex might like?

@AcmeRacing

2 жыл бұрын

They're also known for the Stark Arc Reactor. It's a Marvel of engineering.

@martinda7446

2 жыл бұрын

@@KeritechElectronics There was once a well used phrase, 'Stark raving loony'.

If only some of the other channels I watch cared so much about the audio quality! Thanks again Mr C. I dont really have much in the way of electronics knowledge but you make this all look so easy and you explain everything so well I just keep coming back for more :) Thank you

@MrCarlsonsLab

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your kind comment Jamie!

@GeorgeZ213

2 жыл бұрын

I really appreciate that he takes time to teach. Why do things the way they are done. Why to use certain components and what could happen if you use wrong components. Treats people of all electronics knowledge with absolute respect

@peterfitzpatrick7032

2 жыл бұрын

@@GeorgeZ213 George.. yeah, I never knew about the "foil-side " of the old caps... learn something (a LOT actually) every time I watch Paul do his thing.. 🤗

@jlucasound

2 жыл бұрын

He is the "Go To" Guy. Very few know what he knows, and he is sharing. Thanks, Paul!

@murlock666

2 жыл бұрын

@@jlucasound totally agree with you. AvE always says that we are spoiled these days. KZread allows us to look over the shoulder of experts for free and I couldn't agree more.

Kilomegacycles. What's next? 2.4 KMCPS computercomputer telephones? My stars and garters!

I built several vacuum tube amplifiers and such as kid, so I know what you mean about personality. Watching your videos takes me back to those days. By the time I left college and was designing electronic equipment professionally, transistors, ICs and PCBs had almost displaced vacuum tubes.

@MrCarlsonsLab

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing your story Richard!

wow, first, i wake up in the middle of the night,.,. happy holidays!!!!

There's nothing I like more than holding a metal probe while measuring AC.

As soon as I saw the VOLTS-MILS across the top of the meter I knew there had to be a connection to Hickok. The font is exactly the same on my Hickok 209A with the black background and white lettering on the meter. I acquired my 209A when I bought out a TV-Radio shop at least 40 years ago, that had been in business since the 1930s. I liked it then because of the uniqueness of the very large meter, now since I've developed macular degeneration the size is a great asset. Mine needs restoration but it does still work albeit rather crochety much like it's 70 something owner...

That diamond plate pad is priceless.

Thank you for the discussion about the 0D3 tube. I have some 0C3 tubes in my Leslie amplifiers for my Hammond B-3 organ. I always wondered about these 0C3s. Thank you again for the discussion.

The tube in the probe is EAA91 and is equivalent to 6AL5 and yes, I don't know a person who is into vacuum tube electronics not capable of recognizing the type of the tube, the tube itself or even the brand just by looking at it :) This particular tube is one of my favorite devices that I've ever seen, it looks really cute in a TV set being so tiny...

@MrCarlsonsLab

2 жыл бұрын

You will also like the 6HA5, 6AS6, 6HM5, Maybe the 2C51 too. (9 Pin)

Those old phenolic PCBs give off a smell like in a pub bathroom where more pee hits the floor than the urinal. Shango has some interesting descriptions for some of the old stuff he works on too.

@mannys9130

2 жыл бұрын

Really? 😸 I always thought my old radio smelled like old books mixed with the smell of an old WW2 battleship or destroyer. If you've ever been inside a museum ship, you know that smell. Many times I visited Battleship Cove in Fall River, Massachusetts. BB-59, Battleship Massachusetts is my favorite warship in history. Big Mamie. ❤️ The Joseph P Kennedy and the USS Lionfish are awesome as well though. As a child, the destroyer and the sub were not too bad to explore. As an adult, they were a bitttttt more cramped. 🤣 "The smell of gun grease, and their bayonets they shine." -Sky Pilot, Eric Burden & The Animals That old paint and gun grease smell is unmistakeable. Old books are so soothing and earthy to smell too. I love it. Never smelled my radios or old US civil defense Geiger counter and noticed that they smelled like a bar bathroom full of old pee. 🤣 I'll have to be on the lookout for other ones.

Of course you are spot on - the smell on some of the old tube jobs is incredible, love it.

I have a pair of Grommes 260A amplifiers with Electro-Harmonix KT88's for finals. Smooooth!

Been always curious bout these old "bulb" (as we call it here) Radios, and this channel sparked my curiousity even more. Will be on a lookout to find one, some day, and get my hands dirty. Or burnt, depending if I feel clumsy that day ;)

That was a fun video. It's good that you show off some of these things to other technicians. People need context to make sense of modern things. 😊

Wow! I have a couple VTVM but I've never seen one that also measures capacitance and inductance. Now I'm not going to be happy until I have at least three VTVM.

@5:00 Oh, my. Glory to behold. Like magic and colorforms.

Doubt if many people under 50 know much about vacuum tubes. My first color 25" TV had some vacuum tubes. I built a tube & transistor tester to locate a bad tube in it. Still have my RCA tube Manuel that I purchased in late 1960 's. Have a 5 tube AM FM radio in my garage that still works. I bought it for $10 over 50 years ago. Great vid.

👍👍👍Greetings Paul! thanks for sharing!

@MrCarlsonsLab

2 жыл бұрын

Many thanks!

When you opened it up, I could almost smell it thru the screen... 😂 Beautiful construction... 🤗 I could listen to these tech talks all day...& night !! 😊 2.5 kiloMegacycles..... 😂😂 😎👍☘️🍺

The electronic sophistication of this unit is amazing! I'm impressed with the ceramic switches. I'm only 25 % in. Can't wait for more time to finish.

I love all this stuff, I know what you mean about modern stuff seaming cold & dead, I still use a piece of equipment I got from work when they upgraded a old bench millivolt meter AC/DC, she takes about a half an hour to warm up, I'm retired so what's the rush, and is so accurate I love the old girl, it has that old electronics smell about it.

this is our lucky week 2 videos in one week

I have the Hickok version of the VTVM and am looking forward to seeing you refurbish this one so I can play along with mine.

I love that smell. For those into electronics it is the equivalent of "new car" smell, only better. There is an electronics museum across from NSA near the airport in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, that is absolute heaven. I'm convinced that part of that smell is attributable to tobacco. Life's little pleasures....

I love the more frequent videos in addition to the long form full details restore so keep up the good work! You have an awesome channel!

Thank you. You are a very good teacher!

@MrCarlsonsLab

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

@DanielSmith-rw9ms

2 жыл бұрын

@@MrCarlsonsLab if you ever need a dream interpreted let me know

That Fluke is a beautiful machine.

Great...thank you

I took my own meter into work once because there weren't enough to go around. I was not the star of the show! Got rapped knuckles for using non-calibrated equipment. I suggested they calibrate mine, they suggested something altogether much ruder...

@MrCarlsonsLab

2 жыл бұрын

Sounds like you worked with a tough crowd!

@garybevis8691

2 жыл бұрын

Alan, I hope did not take your meter to work at Tektronix...lol. Sorry for your knuckles.

@alan_wood

2 жыл бұрын

@@garybevis8691 Ha! Nice. We had pretty good equipment in the lab, just not enough of it to go around and management always wondered why commissioning equipment took so long. They should have spent less on company cars and more on us poor engineers who were actually trying to earn the income!

Ah, that delicious smell of old equipment! Every time I feel it, it brings me back to when I was a kid, disassembling old soviet tube radios and TV's and playing with PCBs!

That meter is humongous. 😃 (I'm talking about that Fluke, btw.)

I remember that 'case buzz' very well from older audio receivers. Always extremely unnerving.

Used to use one all the time. Great tool to find problems associated with leakage before the device shorts out.

I call these types of curcuit designs and builds organic electronics. They have a life, story and smell all of their own.

Love this format.

Another great video Mr C. Take a break and then do some more. I can't get enough of your vast quantity of electronic knowledge.

I would love to see that 1950 40 kilo-mega-cycle spectrum analyzing apparatus....😍

It's a dark and stormy night. All you need is lightning flashing through the window.

poor little me, i never new about this stark test equipment.. i used the RCA VTVM in radio/tv votech school in 1968... 👍👍👍 thanks a lot ... 😀 cool stuff back in the low light level image intensifier and English Valve Isocon camera tube days...:) sweet

Always enjoy your videos for the in depth explanations as an old newbie subscriber.

@MrCarlsonsLab

2 жыл бұрын

Welcome aboard!

Hello Mr Carlson That is a cool old VTVM multimeter tester!! Yea I LOVE my HP 410 B it is a great goto VTVM !! I use it often and installed a few new caps in it about 15 years ago when I bought it! Then I recalibrated it and its been very good since then!! Paul I always enjoy you videos, you are a very thorough instructor and have a fantastic way of sharing your vast knowledge!!

@MrCarlsonsLab

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your kind feedback John!

Thank you Mr.C for sharing your vast knowledge. I’m enjoying the new tech talk series.

@MrCarlsonsLab

2 жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoy it!

I too love a cold weather probe.!!

Sheldon has "Professor Proton, we have you! Thanks for the great video! Also, West Marine sells wax coated string for "whipping" the ends of sail boat "lines" (ropes for non sailors). It looks pretty good for looming old wires together.

Seeing that this video was from you beckoned me, but the red arrows in the thumbnail sealed the deal

Great walk thru and tech info Paul..Learning all the time. So cool the way you explain everything..Thanks for sharing..Ed..uk..😀

Great video, thanks for sharing Paul.

@MrCarlsonsLab

2 жыл бұрын

You are very welcome Brian!

Would love to see a lookat/teardown on the 1950's 40Ghz spectrum analyzer

Paul one thing i look forward to on here is the intro mate :D

I LOVE these tech videos!! AWESOME!!

Great video! Love the "character" of the older test equipment!

Your not wrong - I love the smell of my HP oscilloscope !

Always enjoy watching your videos & everyday is a school day!

Nice ceramic rotary switches. Looks great.

I've been buying old Phone and Tablet Screen protectors cutting them to fit my meters and other test equip to prevent scratching. I believe most of them use silicone based adhesive which should be safe for plastic.

I don't have engineers to mess with but I attend to carry around a RCA WV-77 VTVM with me servicing Alarm Systems. I get comments from older folks saying "I used one of those back in the day" or "Where do you find tubes for that".

@marka1986

2 жыл бұрын

Still use a Simpson 260 for a lot of repairs. Have several VTVMs as well.

I received my initial electronics training in the late 1960's when frequency expressed in "C.P.S." was still common and considered proper..at least in the circles I traveled in (no pun intended). I always found 'Cycles Per Second' to be much more intuitive than 'Hertz' or Hz..."what hurts?" was my first reply when someone corrected me after the convention changed. I received no laughs then either I'm afraid... Thanks for the nostalgia.

Love the way you say "toob"

Love the humour in this one Paul... :-)

I use a pair of altec lansing a7-500 speakers in my den and your channel has the best audio I have come across, your voice comes through crystal clear. I am guessing it is the mic and equipment you are using to record. I would love to hear more about what you are using. Thanks for the great content!

What great condition that tester is in!! You really have a goldmine of vintage gear in great esthetic condition.

The coolest tech in youtube ever

In regards to 6X5 tubes,I believe a refusing took place. If plates are in a figure 8 deign, these were less prone to failure.Also lamps were used for fuse protection. Again,thanks Paul for wealth of information.

Thanks again Paul! Go for this one as a restore soon!

22:20 Restore a lot of vintage equipment? Make big $$ re selling bumblebee caps to guitar players. Just specify "not to be used in hi voltage circuitry"!😁

Hi Paul. My name is Reg. I very much enjoy your videos. You truly have a great understanding of your trade. I am completely self taught in electronics, and that started with a book copyrighted in 1955. From there I moved into more modern stuff..... . I have amassed quite a pile of pieces over the years from many people and places. Now I am a little old to deal with all of it myself....😁. Do you ever communicate with any of the people who follow your channel?

Great videos on the electronics! Love the old devices.

Love the informal tech talks! Thanks for the content

@MrCarlsonsLab

2 жыл бұрын

Glad you're enjoying Jake!

Very interesting

I need to write a script to auto-"like" all your videos upon upload, since I always love them :) GOD bless you.

Coffee.....new Mr. Carlson video.....new gadget.....and as Paul mentioned UGLY weather in these parts.

Very interesting video definitely learned something can't wait see the restoration!

Stark was a Canadian company that made products in Ajax ON. I haven't been able to find out if they were a subsidiary of Hickok, if they made instruments under license or if they were just pirated copies. I have a power supply of theirs which is a virtual copy of a Heathkit IP- 32. Dunno if there was any connection but they were near Bayly Engineering who made a lot of RF Instruments mostly for the military. Cool factoid: In addition to being the first mayor of Ajax, Mr Bayly designed and built the the huge transmitter that communicated with all the allied spies in WW2 from Camp X (the allied spy training camp) which was located just east of Ajax.

Hi Paul, I really love some of your vids partially for my 50+ years of electronics, especially the strange a rare devices I have never remembered seeing things like that you share with us. I had no Elmer, to teach electronics to me. I had to be didactic, I bought a soldering iron when I was 11 years old. That was 50 years ago this month...BTW. I love the odor of tube devices. I worked on devices from the 1930's to the 1960's devices and I dearly enjoy working and restoring these types of electrical devices of days of yesteryear. Thanks as always Paul, and I always enjoy what you do and share with us all.

@MrCarlsonsLab

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your kind comment Gary!

@garybevis8691

2 жыл бұрын

@@MrCarlsonsLab it is my privilege to be a small part.

Hi, from England, UK. That's a fine example of precision hand built electronics, just like an old British oscilloscope I've got, and that has cold cathode neon stabilisers too. And the rectifier valve, or tube, should have a fuse in line between it and the transformer then it won't burn out. And judging by the appearance of those valves in that meter it looks like it was made in the 1940's. And that meter is in remarkable condition for one so old, it looks almost like new, it's obviously been well looked after, not like some.

This looks like a really good candidate for full restoration. Lots of circuitry to be explained, too.

24:30 I have felt that buzz even on properly grounded devices - or at least "sufficiently" grounded. There are of course many houses that still have a "Swedish ground" where a jump wire is run from the neutral to the ground strip of outlets, and for most practical uses this is sufficient for user safety. However it takes one mistake to make this kind of wiring scheme extremely dangerous. I remember a situation when I was in the vocational school and we did miscellaneous electrical work. There was a Finnish saying "on syksy tullut ja harmaa maa" (from a song or poem, I think), which means "autumn has come and the earth is grey". I learned it from an electrician some years earlier. Up to the 70s or early 80s there was an old coloring scheme where the neutral wire was grey, and then black, yellow, green and purple were used for live wires. The neutral was considered equivalent to earth just as well. So, we were in the mid-90s and a new wire coloring scheme had been in use for over ten years, where blue is neutral, black, brown, and white, and initially a black/white striped are for live wires and yellow/green striped is a dedicated earth wire. We were working on an older house where the owner wanted grounded outlets in a room. So, at that time it was still legal to dedicate one box in a circuit where the neutral could be jumped to the earth , and from that spot on you could extend a chain of earthed outlets. So, this house had grey for neutral and in that area green for live. The other guys asked me if I knew which was which, and I said that there is this mnemonic (... the earth is grey). They didn't believe me and hooked the green with blue and yellow/green, and the grey with black. Our instructor came to check on the work and said "olette tehneet vihreen kanssa hirveen virheen" (you have made a terrible mistake with the green). He then asked why it was done so, and the other guys said that "J told us the earth is grey but we doubted him and joined the more logical colors."

@MrCarlsonsLab

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for taking the time to write, and sharing your story Jussi!

@eDoc2020

2 жыл бұрын

That sort of "ground" was never allowed on 120v outlets in the US but some people did it anyways. I've read a story online where somebody got a big arc when hooking up a cable to their TV. Sure enough the ground terminal of the outlet was strapped to its neutral terminal, but live and neutral were switched before that. Even though the ground was live, it's worth noting that the outlet testers available at hardware stores will say that there is no problem.

@jussikuusela7345

2 жыл бұрын

@@eDoc2020 that has been pretty much forbidden now, there are a few exceptions though. The last socket in line can be made that way if it is either at least 2 metres away from the preceding "Russian" socket or if it can be considered to be in another room. Also old systems can stay as they are and even renovated by new fixtures if the wiring is not remarkably altered. Of course what is remarkable and what is another room is sometimes not very well defined.

Thanks, Paul. Always fascinating.

@MrCarlsonsLab

2 жыл бұрын

My pleasure!