On Sun, 31 Jan 2016 11:31:52 -0800 (PST), bob haller
wrote:

Ibelieve some of this goes back to the AM radio days, when
tranformless radios first started appearing on store shelves.

one side was hot, the other side connected to the radios case,
which worked fine with the transformer isolating the outside
case.

no transformer no isolation ZAP

I was probably around 14 years old when I got an old shortwave radio
which was probably made in the 40s. It had a metal case, which was
isolated from the metal chassis buy some rubber grommets. There was no
transformer. Those grommets had become brittle and the case was in
direct contact to that chassis.

Shortwave radios need an antenna and have a ground screw that needs to
be grounded to complete the antenna. I rigged up a piece of wire
outdoors, ran it to a tree for an antenna. Then I connected a piece of
wire from the GROUND screw to the screw holding the cover on the wall
outlet. The cord on that radio was obviously wired backwards. When I
plugged the radio in, that thin piece of wire I used for a ground wire,
instantly went up in smoke, and since it was right by the outlet where I
was plugging in the radio, that red hot wire fell on my hand and burned
right into my skin, before it blew the house fuse. I had burned deep
into my hand, leaving the melted insulation enbedded in my hand. That
was very painful.

My father was really ****ed off about it and after taking me to the
hospital, he said I could not play with electricity anymore. His brother
(my uncle) was an electrician. He looked at that radio and showed me
what was wrong. He wired it properly with a grounded cord, and told me
to replace those grommets before I ever consider plugging it in again.
I did that, and after my father calmed down (I think my uncle talked to
my father about it). When I tried the radio again, it worked fine.

That was a hard lesson to learn. But it could have been worse if a fire
had started. There was always a small reminder, because that wire left a
burn mark in the linoleum below that outlet, and another burn in the
wooden table the radio was on. (The outlet cover plate had to be
replaced since it was all charred too. My uncle did that, and might have
replaced the outlet too).

I still have that radio, even though I have not used it in years. It
brings back good memories of my youth and bad memories of that incident,
but a BIG LESSON in electrical safety.