larry moe 'n curly wrote:
Anthony Fremont wrote:
"larry moe 'n curly" wrote:

Why is it safe to use wood around high voltage when it contains
moisture?
Who said that it was?

Lots of people who tap circuit boards with wooden dowels to find
intermittent problems or who carve dowels to use as screwdrivers for
adjustments on CRT monitors or TVs that are running. So far, I've used
only plastic or fiberglass rods for this, but dowels are a lot easier
to buy locally.


Water in and of itself is a lousy conductor. Nobody ever said that wood
was a perfect insulator, even dry...just 'good enough'. If you're
really curious, put your DVM probes on each end of a hunk of wood and check.

If you can get a reading I'll be surprised.

For tuning purposes, the utility of wood diddle sticks is their lack of
inductance, moreso than a lack of conductivity. OTOH, the previous
experiment should have demonstrated that there is no danger in using
them to tap out faults, either.

Just don't store them in a glass of water between uses. g

jak