"Martin H. Eastburn" wrote in message
t...
Ed Huntress wrote:

"Harold and Susan Vordos" wrote in message
...

By contrast, when I took my class in electricity in high school, the
first
thing the teacher taught us was to ground washing machines----obviously
at

a

time before the ground wire was an integral part of typical wiring (back

in

'55, it was), and death by electrocution while washing wasn't exactly
unheard of.

First thing I did when I got home was run a ground wire to an overhead

water

pipe and connect it to the washer. My mother went to her grave
secure

in

the knowledge that I had tried to kill her by electrocution, and no
amount
of explaining what the wire was for changed her mind. She refused to
wash
clothes until the wire was removed. Ignorance, and lack of trust in

one's

offspring, can create some very bad memories.


Jeez, she thought you were trying to kill her? I locked my mom in the
basement once, when I was 7 and she was being particularly churlish one
day,
but she would have stuck her fingers in a socket if I asked her to give
me a
hand with my electricity project. g

--
Ed Huntress


I remember Mom had a Bendix washer. The plug was a 2 wire with a circuit
breaker
inside the plug. It would flip a plastic lever and push itself out of the
socket.

Insulation shorts in motors and switches were the dangers. Varnishes used
for insulation
had yet to be great as it is today. This is how motor repair people can
wind more HP
into a frame of old motors since the old varnish is so thick.

Martin

I also understand that the varnish (for lack of better description) used
today will withstand a much higher temperature, so motors run hotter as
well. No doubt a result of pulling more power out of a small motor.

Harold