"Ish" wrote in message
...

Excellent stuff !
It brings back memories for most of us I guess.
I remember two things that really stink, each with their own unmistakeable
aroma:
1 An exploding electroytic capacitor.......makes a mess too !
2 A burning-out selenium metal rectifier.......anyone present usually
blames you or the dog !

However my real gem was when I lived in an old house converted to flats, two
teenage girls in
the flat below insisted on playing their stereo at full blast, shaking my
floor.
After numerous complaints it still went on when they returned from clubbing
at 2:30 am, so
when they were out I lifted a floorboard in my room and found the cable
leading down to
their power socket. Dangerously working with the live cable I seperated the
conductors
after removing 4" of the outer sheath, inserted a junction box and a
changeover switch which
I connected to the output of a big P.A. anode supply transformer (1,250
volts)
I waited until the racket started when they returned with their boyfriends
at 2 AM, and threw
the switch..........the result was spectacular.......screaming
females....loud expletives from the males...
and finally opening windows and doors to let the smoke out.
The next moring the offending stereo was dumped in the yard and I removed
all evidence of my
efforts. Later when one of the girls asked me what the cause might have
been, I glibly told her
"It's playing it too loud which causes that"
And peace reigned in those flats until I moved on.

I also remember a timber electricity pole, which carried a high tension
supply of 11,000 volts
falling into a water filled ditch during a gale.......that lit up the sky a
bit !