So far, I've usually been lucky- the time I had a hand held drill slip, and
twist my shirt round the bit pointed at my stomach... The time the bungee
cord slipped(at full extension) and shot me between the eyes, or my
favorite- when I was about 17, I learned about spark voltage... Grabbed a
spark plug lead on the Jeep's engine while it was running, and made a great
imitation of a spark plug- I jumped about two feet. Then I heard laughter as
a girl passing by noticed. I just invited her to give it a whirl!
Of course, better than that is the story a friend of mine told about his
boss one day, working on an old pick-up truck: seems he told my friend to
start the engine while he jiggled the plug wires... And, as he was leaning
over the fender, a bright blue spark was seen to jump from the vicinity of a
particularly voltage sensitive section of his anatomy to the rusty fender.
The accompanying howl seemed to confirm his "short circuit" shall we say? My
friend shut the truck down, and laughed while his friend cursed.
Scott
----- Original Message -----
From: "Graham Stretch" <technical@iwnet.screaming.net>
To: "Triumph List" <triumphs@autox.team.net>
Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2003 2:03 PM
Subject: Re: Bonehead auto repair mishap
> Hi Gary
> BTDT
> I was reaching in to the engine bay on a Toledo to undo the dizzy clamp
when
> the starter (and engine) started turning, then within a second pain, I had
> shorted the solenoid terminals with the band of my watch. It is such an
easy
> route to reach in but I couldn't get my hand out fast, damn watch kept
> hooking to things, it was still glowing red when it hit the deck. No that
is
> not an exaggeration it had got red hot, no real surprise as it was drawing
> cranking current through it!
> And yes my watch didn't die from the heat / volts, it died many years
later
> of old age!
>
> Graham.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <Gbouff1@aol.com>
> Subject: Bonehead auto repair mishap
>
>
> > I'm sure most of us have been involved in some real bonehead experiences
> > while working on our LBCs. But what just happened to me would make the
> Three
> > Stooges proud.
> >
> > While trying to do a quick adjustement of the throttle linkage on my
TR3A.
> I
> > suddenly experience a very painfull sensation in my left wrist. At
first,
> I
> > couldn't figure out what was going on as the pain was located under my
> wrist
> > watch band, you know, one of the flexible metal bands with the snap
> buckle.
> > The pain was still increasing when I detected the familiear smell of
flesh
> > and hair burning (triggered by memories of other mishaps). Those snap
> > buckles sure take a long time to unhook when you're in a panic. I
finally
> > removed the watch and realized that it was too hot to handle.
> >
> > It seems that while trying to adjust the linkage my watch band made a
> > complete circuit between the metal heater-valve pipe and the battery
lead
> to
> > the starter selenoid. It's amazing how fast 12 volts of DC current and
a
> few
> > hundred amps will heat up a watch band. I now have second degree burns
> that
> > look a lot like the design of the reverse side of my watch band.
> >
> > Truly one for the bonehead archives. BTW, the watch still works fine.
> >
> > Gary Bouffard
> > 59 TR3A
> > 59 Bugeye
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