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RE: A Tragedy






>> The third is remember that things like Tesla coils are really "cool" and
> they attract kids and other people who want to join in the fun.  However,
> almost all the "toys" they are used to playing with are very
> safe.  They do
> not realize that this is one device that is like a loaded gun.
> It can kill
> instantly!  Kids love to try things for themselves and they like to wait
> till your are gone so you won't be pestering them about being
> careful.  The
> results could be (an now have been) fatal.  Make some way to effectively
> disable your system so that others cannot power the thing up if
> you are not
> there.
>

Actually, this is the first thing to remember. I have a six year old son,
and
an eight year old daughter. Both have been fascinated by my coils for about
2  years. Neither one gets to run the coil. Ever. In addition to the normal
grounding, due to the rather inquistive, and to be honest, clever nature
of my son I take the following precautions when for when I am not home:
1) I have a fused lockout box. I pull the fuses, and lock out the
connection.
2) There is a deadman circut on the LV side of my system, that requires a
   seperate 110V connection.
3) I place a shorting wire across the HV output of my pig
4) I also disconnect all wiring from the pig to the coil assemblies.
Am I being paranoid? Perhaps. But then, I don't exactly expect I can
replace my kids.
I am one of the more popular "wierdos" in my neighborhood,(I've had
people call me when they see coils on TV, e.g. TCBOR on "Dangerous
Planet") but I would hate to be known as the guy that fried his kid.

Michael Baumann
Coiler, Homebrewer, Nerd. mycroft-at-access1-dot-net