ken@cs.rochester.edu (Ken Yap) (02/23/90)
| I've also boiled water with 120 VAC: 5 gallon bucket, drop-in a | plugged-in extension cord. Nothing happens. Oh, I know, lets No longer on the topic of mayhem with electronic components. In Australia you can get kettles that boil water with a naked nichrome element. Actually they are ceramic jugs and they are safe because of the construction: all ceramic body, and a cord that cannot be plugged into the jug with the lid in the open position. Are there similar appliances in other countries?
rdi@cci632.UUCP (Rick Inzero) (02/23/90)
In article <1990Feb22.205630.26536@cs.rochester.edu> ken@cs.rochester.edu writes: >No longer on the topic of mayhem with electronic components. In >Australia you can get kettles that boil water with a naked nichrome >element. Actually they are ceramic jugs and they are safe because of >the construction: all ceramic body, and a cord that cannot be plugged >into the jug with the lid in the open position. > >Are there similar appliances in other countries? There are single-coffee-cup water heaters that work this way. The nicrome wire is encased in a (somehow electrically insulated) coiled aluminum tube. You just stick it into an open cup of water and in a couple of minutes, it's as hot as you want it. Also, steam vaporizers, usually used in a sick child's room, operates like this. There are two bare electrodes inside that boil the water. Naturally, they blatantly advertise "automatic shutoff" as a feature. Gee, when all the water boils away, I guess it'll shut off, eh? I have a toy steam engine from 1946 that works like this too, with 2 bare lead electrodes inside the steam chamber. In college, I had a commercially made hot-dog cooker that worked off line voltage. Just put the hot dog on these prongs that were directly connected to the line cord, and it would cook a hot dog as fast as a microwave. It was *great*! --- Rick Inzero rochester!cci632!rdi Computer Consoles Inc. (CCI) uunet!ccicpg!cci632!rdi Rochester, NY uunet!rlgvax!cci632!rdi "Your grandmother never, ever called me stupid. She always called me 'pinhead'." -Jimmy Stewart in 1988 Campbells Soup commercial.
grege@gold.GVG.TEK.COM (Gregory Ebert) (02/24/90)
In article <1990Feb22.205630.26536@cs.rochester.edu> ken@cs.rochester.edu writes: >In >Australia you can get kettles that boil water with a naked nichrome >element. > >Are there similar appliances in other countries? Actually, some hot hot vendors in New York City stick 2 table forks into a hot dog, and fire it up w/ 120 VAC. I'm concerned because this might put some nasty metal ions into the meat :-( .
barry@hprmokg.HP.COM (Barry Fowler) (02/24/90)
Well, here comes my high school electronics "lessons".
1. Steel wool connected to a car battery via heavy jumper leads.
2. Car battery connected to radio-type slug-type inductors (enamel
goes up in smoke).
3. NE-2 connected to 120vac without series resistor (watch for flying
glass, keep it at a safe distance).
4. Old, non-fuctional vacuum tubes fired from a sling shot.
Disclaimer: HP doesn't promote this stuff. Smart people are cautious
playing like this and don't get within close range of
obviously exploding and flying objects. Don't put your
hand on the stove burner, it burns, etc, etc.
Warning: Life can cause death, most accidents occur
around the home, there homes should be outlawed.honig@ics.uci.edu (David A. Honig) (02/26/90)
In article <805@gold.GVG.TEK.COM> grege@gold.GVG.TEK.COM (Gregory Ebert) writes > Actually, some hot hot vendors in New York City stick 2 table forks into > a hot dog, and fire it up w/ 120 VAC. I'm concerned because this might > put some nasty metal ions into the meat :-( . You're living in NYC, eating hot dogs, and you're worried about a few ions? -- David A. Honig "Southern California would be great except for the primate infestation..."
johne@hpvcfs1.HP.COM (John Eaton) (02/27/90)
<<<< < Standard issue to embassies and outposts was an EPROM destructor -- < the bottom business end of a waring blender with a stainless steel < lid into which crucial EPROMs could be dropped. Cheap, but < effective (one of the few government devices that was -- cheap and < effective, that is). ---------- Did this marvel have a hand crank on it or do our treaties guarantee that a hostile goverment won't knock out the power before invading our embassy. John Eaton !hpvcfs1!johne
brian@ucsd.Edu (Brian Kantor) (02/27/90)
The biggest "oops I should have thought of that FIRST" fireball I ever saw was when the guy at a former workplace threw his dying car battery into the dumpster - which just happened to have a good foot of aluminum, magnesium, graphite, and steel machining spew in it. The resulting fire burned right through the bottom of the dumpster and several inches down into the pavement below before the company fire department arrived and foamed it to death. The heat, smoke, and smell was incredible. - Brian
thomas@mvac23.UUCP (Thomas Lapp) (02/27/90)
> Also, steam vaporizers, usually used in a sick child's room, operates > like this. There are two bare electrodes inside that boil the water. In the one which was used when I was a child, I remember my mother having to take the thing apart and clean it because it kept getting caked with metals and salts from the water. - tom -- internet : mvac23!thomas@udel.edu or thomas%mvac23@udel.edu uucp : {ucbvax,mcvax,psuvax1,uunet}!udel!mvac23!thomas Europe Bitnet: THOMAS1@GRATHUN1 Location: Newark, DE, USA Quote : Virtual Address eXtension. Is that like a 9-digit zip code? -- The UUCP Mailer