Re: HOW TO BIAS getting first tube amp!! Marshall DSL 40 EL34'S
Some of you need to relax IMHO.
When working with electronics, here's some basic safety guidelines and most idiots (even me) will be fine. I've yet to ever be shocked when working on stuff:
- Wear closed-toe rubber soled shoes. This one gets overlooked a lot, but it isolates you from ground when exposed to DC (but not AC which can travel through the natural capacitance of the air to ground).
- AC will blow you off your ass, DC will make your muscles contract. Know which one you're working with. If both are present in the circuit, know what parts of the circuit are which.
- Never touch anything that is connected to the mains (duh).
- Wear rubber gloves when possible.
- Rubber gripped tools.
- Never work when wet (be it water, or if you're sweating). In the case of water, the metals and minerals in tap water are present enough to conduct electricity. In the case of any liquid, moisture will lower your skin's natural resistance by a very large margin. This is why you can short a 9V battery across your skin and feel nothing, but short it across your tongue and feel it tingling.
- The same rule about working with wet skin applies to open wounds. The tissues under your skin have a much lower resistance and you will feel the shock.
- Drain filter capacitors before beginning work, and use a voltage meter to make sure the capacitors actually discharged.
- Wear a condom; you don't want that to get shocked.
- There are two types of circuits: Ones that are harmful, and ones that are harmless. Treat all circuits with the respect and caution as if they were harmful.
- Keep one hand in your back pocket, and work with the other whenever possible. This isn't to play pocket-pool while working, but to reduce the chance of any electricity seeing the shortest path to ground as "through the heart".
Really, most of it is common sense.
