Do as I say not as I Do Was:Humpty Dumpty

[Bob Bradlee]

The talk of how CRT discharge wont kill you is not always true, It depending on the size of the HV supply 
and how stupid you are feeling at the moment of the SNAP.....

Many years ago, a very stupid Marine stuck a screwdriver in a radar display to discharge the tube, with 
power still on. He died and the screwdriver planted itself several inches in the prestressed concrete bunker 
roof. It turns out he had his other hand holding tight to the grounded chassis as he leaned over to discharge 
it.

This was durring Nam and I am sure that one moment of stupidity, just counted as one more war related 
death. I dont know for sure, but I heard later he got the putple heart for dying in country. What I do know for 
sure was that those of us still alive and  on active duty, working in jobs that exposed us to HV, got the lecture 
and shown the pictures of the screwdriver. In hopes of reducing future losses, the one hand rule, and red 
flagging power, became strictly enforced. 

Then there was the case when dangeling dog tags found a live circuit, he lived but took a lot of crap from the 
CO about willfull distruction of goverment property. Than again they gave me the same willfull distruction 
crap when I broke my foot, off duty playing football, untill I pointed out it was jarheads vs squids and we did 
win even though several people got a bit busted playing a friendly game of tag football for beers and glory.

Many years later, while in a rush, with a customer waiting, I turned away from the bench and monitor I was 
looking at, to get a cliplead to discharge what I was thought was most likely a dead monitor. What I did not 
realize was one of the other guys I worked with come back from lunch saw the monitor on the bench and 
me walking away, he knew the customer was waiting and pluged it in to check it out, also in a great hurry. 
About the time I returned with the cliplead, he had turned to get the HV probe from the other bench.  Without 
thinking I clipped up and the resulting flash and bang bunged up the end on my pocket screwdriver and 
seperated the wire from one of the clips on the cliplead. Thankfully my old training held true and I had my 
other hand behind my back where it belonged and not  grounded. Oh, It shocked the shit out of me all right, 
but from the flash and bang followed by smoke, and the other guy screaming what the hell are you doing! 
not any electrical shock of and apreciable mesurement. I know... I should have seen the power cord 
plugged back in, but I had only turned my back for a minute or two... MyBad and I was lucky ...

Play safe with CRT's and always follow the one hand rule when around HV keep the other hand in your 
pocket or hook your thumb in your belt, best somewhere in the back, and hold on. 

Just my $0.02 on the subject ...

Back under my rock.

The other Bob