Bruce wrote in
:

(or local "no standard") stuff.


Is that like the Middle East with the mercury vapor arc lights hanging on
wires out of the ceiling or wall?...(c;

Is the TV power cord connected to 240VAC by wrapping the wires around the
two pins and holding them in place with masking tape?

My whole apartment building, 8 apartments, in Iran was wired to ONE
ceramic fuse with all 8 apartments in parallel. The fuse went through
one temporary construction electric meter covered in white paint which
was connected to the main power bus for our street by an orange #14 drop
cord running up the side of the building to a coat hanger wire which held
it up above the traffic. At the pole, the drop cord was tied around the
concrete pole through a hole and the bare wires were wrapped around the
street conductors for a "few turns" so the wind wouldn't blow them off
and "something" would make contact.

Ever so often, too many electrical loads would blow the fuse. To
eliminate the problem, our crack Iranian electrician put a 100 rial coin
behind the blown fuse to stop it from blowing. After that, he replaced
the orange drop cord, which we simply melted or caught fire several times
making toast for breakfast.

An electrical short in one apartment's bedroom outlet (only one in each
bedroom, of course), caused an electrical explosion, completely
destroying that whole apartment's SINGLE CIRCUIT electrical system right
down to the fuse base in the basement....of course, melting the orange
drop cord, yet again, putting the whole building in the dark about
10PM....

Living in Tehran was always exciting and it had nothing to do with
terrorist plots or Islamic Jihads.

Seeing these same Iranians operating a nuclear reactor to make plutonium
must put terror in the hearts of every Iranian within the Zone of
Destruction, especially downwind, never knowing WHEN, not if, it was
going to go like Chernobyl. The people in the neighborhood are the ones
in danger, not anyone 500 miles away...and certainly not 8000 miles away.

Larry
--
Try operating your whole neighborhood on a single orange drop cord with
no fuse next weekend and see if you don't have similar results!

You've gotta watch an Iranian electrician holding onto the grounded
cement pole while wrapping the drop cord wires around the hot street
conductors, in the dark, at 10AM. NONE of them ever got "old".
Nothing beats the sound of your swamp cooler powering up as he gets that
big arc from all the swamp coolers starting at once on the roof....(c;