Quote Originally Posted by Randy Moe View Post
Check for the required voltage. Safety glasses. Tubes are glass. When in doubt don't stand in water and use one hand, the other behind your back. That last one has saved my heart.
Years ago I wanted to repair an old Zenith floor-standing radio. I bought a book on how to restore old radios-- it said to pull the chassis out of the cabinet, plug it in, then turn it on. Watch the tubes. The tubes that didn't glow were bad and needed to be replaced. I did this, and in a few seconds a capacitor the size of a shotgun shell exploded "BLAM!". I looked in a mirror: my hair was blown back and my face was blackened. I looked like Wile E. Coyote after the Acme bomb blows up in his hands. It's a wonder I didn't blind myself. I replaced the capacitor and got the thing going, though.