Reply to: RE>>FW- Electrical Safety Keith put it in a nutshell. There was quite a tangent developed.
UL has refurbished equipment programs for a limited number of types of equipment, but do involve entanglements, similar to those Tania mentioned. They are designed to look official and rigorous (and are), for the sake of corporate and tort lawyers. An AHJ won't generally enter an established residence to look at certification stickers on refrigerators and traceability of repairs and service. But OSHA might enter Johnny's work shop to check on the conditions there, which is more to, but still not the point. Johnny - Don't jury-rig anything; replace power cords that are worn, cracked or show any kind of damage and use a proper strain-relief, at least equivalent to what was on the product when new (if you can even find that out); an insulating mat may or may not be of any use; GFCIs can't be emphasized enough to protect your repair personnel and could also serve as a very basic indicator of problems in the equipment; dielectric and leakage current testers might be a good idea, but you'll need to learn how to use them properly and safely. Don't forget: R12 has special EPA handling requirements and the type of equipment needed to meet regulations is pricey. My guess is that training and/or technician certification might be needed, to avoid fines. I haven't read the booklet Keith mentions, but you should give it all due consideration. Also, the national government is a good source of a general information, so look through what the Government Printing Office has in print and ftp offerings. Use your web browser, if you have one, and perform searches on all variants of the kind of information you want. Use the phone to get product information from the OEM. Visit the local library to see if repair manuals are available (SAMS Photofax is a fairly comprehensive array of electrical and electronic repair and service information). If you have a bad feeling about an appliance, don't sell it until your confident of its safety. Don't assume and don't expect. The above are my opinions and not necessarily those of Northern Telecom. Regards, Peter L. Tarver Northern Telecom [email protected] ------------------------------ List-Post: [email protected] Date: 5/23/96 9:35 PM To: Tarver, Peter From: Keith Gershon ----- E X T E R N A L L Y O R I G I N A T E D M E S S A G E ----- I didn't see where Johnny says he is getting into the refurbishing biz. He just wants to do some safety tests. Johnny, check out this site: http://www.asresearch.com It belongs to a company that puts out some good test gear. Ask them for their booklet,"A Basic Guide to Electrical Safety Testing" . It is excellent. I would recommend that you do a polarity / ground continuity test, and a Ground-Bond test. They sell equipment to do these, and will take you through the appropriate steps. Good luck. Keith Gershon Lawrence Berkeley Lab [email protected]
