[HAM] Hammond A-105 smokes up in the studio.

[Michael Downes]

There is an increased danger with vintage electronics, especially vacuum tube electronics. Underwriters laboratories was not as strict then as it is now, so it is not unusual to find vintage UL listed equipment that could kill you just by touching the right thing. Back then the mentality was that if the shock couldn't hurt you, you were safe, where nowadays even if you do get shocked (other than static of course) it is completely unacceptable. My mother is only 50, and she remembers getting random shocks from things as a kid. Thankfully her Hammond never shocked her, but there was one instance where she was shocked by the Christmas tree (remember those big, dangerous C7/C9 christmas lights?). She had seizures as a result of that shock. I have several radios that are 50 years and older.  The metal chassis in them can give you a nasty shock if you touch them, even if they are turned off. I unplug every one of my radios when I'm done with them, even the Philco Console in the
 living room. Your hammond should be connected to a power strip. It should be unplugged every time you are done with it.
   
  

Kon Zissis <kziss at ozemail.com.au> wrote:
  Hi everyone.
Has anyone seen or is aware about a Hammond organ or a Leslie or a
Hammond tone cabinet that had an electrical malfunction whereby the
transformers or the motors or some other part actually caught fire and
that this fire then spread to the main wood cabinet thus incinerating
the organ or the Leslie or the tone cabinet and even worse, starting a
house fire or a studio fire ?

One thing that concerns me about a lot of modern TV's , radios stereos
and other electrical appliances is that a lot of them are designed so
the power transformer is always powered up and that the 'on / off''
switch merely switches the secondary voltage the subsequent circuitry.
This means that you have to switch the mains power off from the mains
socket.
I believe that this is a bad design practise because it consumes
electricity thus increasing the power bill costs even when the switch is
turned off and it is also a potential fire hazard because the power
transformer is constantly powered up day and night and thus runs the
risk of developing a fault and then burning up. 
All the best.
Kon

Goffmac wrote:
which means whenever dealing with electronics, always have a fire 
extinguisher at the ready.... good thing the fires in these stories 
didn't get worse and spread... and make sure things are turned off.

I know of a guy who left a radio on in his home studio, went to sleep. 
If the dog didn't wake them up, he and his family would've been crispy 
critters along with their expensive studio.. needless to say he had to 
rebuild his studio...

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