Harold and Susan Vordos wrote:

"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


The insulation dope has a much higher voltage insulation per unit thickness. So the
overall wire diameter of insulated wire is much thinner. The copper is cleaner or of
a higher quality and that allows more current. When Current and Turns increase - wow!
Yes - the early stuff was dark and brittle. And sometimes silk covered.
Martin

--
Martin Eastburn, Barbara Eastburn
@ home at Lion's Lair with our computer
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder