"Lew Hodgett" wrote in message
ink.net...
Ah yes, the days of old.

Just to carry this a little further.

Knew some old time mechanics who would disconnect a spark plug wire from a
running engine, grab the end with one hand and the nearest unsuspecting
person with the other.

Didn't seem to bother them, but Boy Howdy that would get a reaction from
the
one who was grabbed.

Waaaay back when . . I've got to guess mid '30's, my Father, who was a
mechanic, had a maintenance contract for the construction fleet when they
were building a trolley line from Jamestown, NY to Warren, PA. (historical
note, there were 2 legs to this trolley line, the Jamestown/Warren leg and
the "Northwest" leg from Jamestown to Westfield, NY, shortened to the "J.W.
& N.W", then nicknamed the "Jesus Wept & No Wonder"). Back to story . . Dad
had a shop set up near the "right of way" so they didn't have to drive or
tow equipment back to town. The *fleet* at this time was Ford Model T's with
"gravity" dumps. However, one of the fixtures in the garage was an old
wooden chair, held together with twists of baling wire, nails, whatever,
with it's hidden secret being the nails in the seat were wired to a Model T
ignition coil, with the switch to turn it on being hidden on a nearby post.
For those not knowing, this coil was a vibrator, which when activated
produced high voltage spark until turned off. Yep, you guessed it, any
"newbie" got to sit in that mysteriously empty chair, given long enough to
get totally relaxed, then ZAP!


The other was in the industrial electrical area.

Way back when, factories were upgrading their electrical distribution
systems from 240V to 480V so it was common for both to exist during the
transition which might take a couple of years.

Quite common for a "sparkie" to back hand the bus bars of an open panel
board.

Based on how fast and how hard his hand closed and was kicked off the bus,
determined whether it was a 240V or a 480V panel.

I know, should have used a "wiggie", but that took all the fun out of
it.G

I'm assuming you mean some kind of meter or tester. When in USN, shipboard
wiring(110V) was fed from panels with both sides of the line fused, using
the old tubular fuses, IIRC about 1 1/2 to 2" long, maybe 3/8" diameter. I
remember seeing "old-timer" Electricians Mates check for blown fuses by
"walking" the index/middle fingers of one hand down the line of fuses until
they either got a shock or didn't get a shock to isolate a blown fuse.
Younger ones used a meter or tester!


--
Nahmie
The law of intelligent tinkering: save all the parts.