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Safety Tips

Started by Joe, August 24, 2009, 05:16:42 PM

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Quote from: RC cola on September 17, 2011, 07:16:38 PM
Overhead cranes with a ride on operator has this foot switch better known as the "dead man" switch.

Haha......Railway locomotives also have similar designs. German locomotives are usually equipped with dead-man detectors called the SIFA system or the PZB system, while Japanese ones have trigger-like buttons at the back of the throttle/braking handle that'll immediately smash the brakes while released.


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It's never too frequently to say that everyone should ALWAYS BE RESPONSIBLE TO YOURSELF and THINK TWICE before doing anything at your workbench. NONE of the safety measures can protect you from being ZAPPED TO DEATH if you actively rely on them and ignore basic safety principles.

High voltage kills, but you can't see'em with bare eyes. Thus, always keep a neon tester within your reach and use it to confirm the circuit is not at a deadly voltage before touching it.

Capacitors are, kinda, like bee stingers or snake fangs, still able to give you a painful stab after de-energized (even for a long while sometimes!) There're normally powerful capacitors between power rails, so NEVER touch a circuit immediately after it's unplugged from the mains. Wait for at least a minute, and then short the rails to ground before working on the circuit.

While working on powered circuits, e.g. adjusting the bias of a head, ALWAYS insulate yourself from the ground. Use a chair with non-metal legs, put your feet on a thick piece of wood or styrofoam panel, and avoid touching the walls. Also, use an isolation transformer to power your circuit so that you won't get zapped while touching a single point of it. Connect a momentary footswitch in the circuit before the transformer and make sure the current is only on while stepping on the switch. By doing this, the power will immediately be cut off while you're leaving the workbench or you're zapped.

However, while working on low-voltage solid-state systems, things will be totally different - In this case, you'll have to get yourself grounded to prevent any static discharge to the delicate FET-based chips and consequently fry'em. An antistatic wristband would work well - Connect it to a safe grounding point like a piece of metal water tubing. Do not connect it to the ground pin of a power outlet or to the grounding of a lightning rod, as that'll electrocute you while something is having a power leakage or while there's a thunderstorm. Talking about thunderstorms, try to avoid electrical working in them.