On Tue, 07 Mar 2006 02:29:27 GMT, Howard Eisenhauer
wrote:

Come on, admit it- This is something you've always wanted to try .
(...)

Well, I did a mild variation on the same theme to myself. I bought a
used Coleman lantern that has a pizeolectric spark gap starter. Turn
the knob on the front of the lantern and the spark ignites the propane
filled mantle.

http://www.coleman.com/coleman/colem...ategoryid=1010
Beats a match any day.

Unfortunately, someone had tried to repair this one and put it
together wrong. This is good because I was sure I could fix it.
However, when I tried it, no spark. So, I tore it apart and found
that there was a crack in the ceramic tube insulator surrounding the
base of one electrode. The spark was working, but jumping at the
crack instead of at the tip of the electrode. I rotated the tube so
that the broken pieces mated and decided it would be useful to test
the spark before I reassembled the lantern again. I pushed the button
that hammered the piezoelectric element and immediately received a
rather strong jolt. I forgot I was holding onto the hot electrode
with my other hand. Oops.

It took about an hour for me to stop shaking. Eventually, I glued the
cracked ceramic pieces back together and reassembled the lantern. It
works fine. However, every time I use the lantern, I seem to get a
psychosomatic tingling sensation. Pavlov was right.


--
# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
# 831-336-2558
# http://802.11junk.com
# http://www.LearnByDestroying.com AE6KS