My helper got freaked out today.....

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ultramegabob

ultramegabob

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Indiana
He was installing plastic sleaves on 8' t-8 fluorescent tubes and then installing them into strip light fixtures. The fixtures were not energized, but every time he installed one, he said the lamps flashed and he kept on insisting that I had the breaker turned on or somthing was wired wrong until I showed him that the wires were not even landed in the panel, so I went down and watched what he was doing, and he wasnt making it up, every time he installed one it flashed, I finally determined it was static electricity causing it, the friction of sliding the plastic tube onto the lamp and then touching the fixture was making it flash, and the area he was working in was pretty dark, so it was more noticable....
 
ultramegabob said:
I finally determined it was static electricity causing it, the friction of sliding the plastic tube onto the lamp and then touching the fixture was making it flash, and the area he was working in was pretty dark, so it was more noticable....
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That was my guess. Rub a fluorescent tube against your clothing at night in the winter and watch it glow.
 
Last month.

Last month.

ultramegabob said:
He was installing plastic sleaves on 8' t-8 fluorescent tubes and then installing them into strip light fixtures. The fixtures were not energized, but every time he installed one, he said the lamps flashed and he kept on insisting that I had the breaker turned on or somthing was wired wrong until I showed him that the wires were not even landed in the panel, so I went down and watched what he was doing, and he wasnt making it up, every time he installed one it flashed, I finally determined it was static electricity causing it, the friction of sliding the plastic tube onto the lamp and then touching the fixture was making it flash, and the area he was working in was pretty dark, so it was more noticable....
Click to expand...

Ditto.....
 
Put one in a microwave and watch it light up, neat experiment. Not a 4' lamp but a 12" lamp is possible.
 
Sounds cool...until it explodes or damages micro. Try a CD also...its a neat lightning show. Better to try it in someone else's micro.
 
Put 3 hot dogs in there in a triangle. Give about a forth inch between the ends. A small cup of water helps and nukes it for 3 min. Lots of sparks but the cup of water makes it safe for the nuker.
 
petersonra said:
he probably would go ape if he had one under a high tension line.
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When I was a kid my uncle brought me out to the lines behind his property at night with a bunch of tubes under his arm and all I was thinking was "What are we doing?"..........what followed was one of the weirdest and most interesting things I have ever seen.
 
Many years ago I had 2 8' tubes taped to the ladder rack on the van. It was early in the morning and the boss called me on the 2 way radio. Every time I would key the mike to talk to him I could see a glow above the van.
 
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charlie k. said:
Many years ago I had 2 8' tubes taped to the ladder rack on the van. It was early in the morning and the boss called me on the 2 way radio. Every time I would key the mike to talk to him I could see a glow above the van.
Click to expand...

Used to hold a F40 to a CB antenna at night. It would glow when someone keyed the mike, also.
 
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