My goose was nearly cooked

[asimov]

Time: 4am 27th june.
Place: in bed at my place.

Ok, so I'm in bed asleep dreaming about jupiter etc & I wake up 'cos I'm really hot. Yep went to sleep with the electric blanket on flat-out, I'm sure everyones done it yes? I reach for the switch & turn it down & try to get back to sleep. Before too much longer I realize I'm getting hotter...not cooler ? I'm on the verge of falling asleep again when I start to notice strange flashing lights (I've got my eyes closed of course) & I'm thinking "oh, must be a lightning storm going on outside..but wots that got to do with me getting hotter ??"

I open my eyes, & the whole bedroom is lit up with this weird light flashing off & on rapidly like a strobe light! what the....!!?!??

I spring outa bed, hitting the carpet in a crouch thinking "ok, I'm being abducted by aliens...!!"

2 seconds later I smell something burning, 2 seconds after that the smoke alarm go's off in the room next door :eyepop: & asi is crapping himself!

The flashing lights stop. It's pitch black & I see nothing, with this damn smoke alarm deafening me with the stench of something burning getting stronger. I hit the light switch, I see nothing burning. I'm now thinking "electrical appliance" I'm scanning the room looking for all electrical appliances in the room. Alarm clock ? Battery operated! Bedside lamp ? Don't own one! That leaves only one thing...the electric bloody blanket !

I'm looking at the cord & the switch etc & I gingerely touch it....feels warm. I flick back the blankets & sheets to reveal the connection where the power cord attaches to the actual blanket....its hot!! I go to reach for the switch on the power point but this connection I'm staring at starts to melt.

I grab the electric blanket & rip it off the bed in a frenzy ripping the cord out of the wall in the process & march to the frontdoor & throw the rotten thing out the door where it still sits.

Geez! :( What would have happened had I been asleep? I'm in an old house with old fuses in the fuse box. Why didn't the damn fuse blow before this connection started to fry?? :doh:

How was your night? ;)

[middy]

Holy Cow! :scared: Glad to hear you're alright. Good thing you had that smoke alarm.

[Dennis]

Wow John, what a close shave. Glad you came out alright, apart from the heart palpitations, that is.

Cheers

Dennis

[ving]

glad you didnt wet the bed!!!!

time for a new 'leccy blanket asi?
glad you didnt fry sir :)

[wavelandscott]

Glad you are okay...

As strange as it sounds, I had a similar experience to yours about 25 years ago...the only difference was my blanket burst into flames when I threw it outside.

I've been free of all electrical devices in bed since then...And I do mean all :whistle:

[rogerg]

Gez!

Makes me think I really should get around to putting more smoke detectors in our house - we only have 2 in the entire house, in hallways not rooms too.

[asimov]

Let me think about thatNO! I'd rather freeze, lol. I'm glad of it too that I didn't fry. Obviously my number wasn't up just yet. ;) I've had plenty of near misses like electrocutions/car wrecks to name but a few. Each experience a sobering one. I've decided to have a closer look at this blanket to see what went wrong. Seems it's the standard thing: one wire came adrift inside this plastic thingy & touched one of the other wires.

When ya gotta go, ya gotta go! But not this time round :D

[h0ughy]

so I take it there is no dew on the front lawn! Amazing stuff, glad your here to tell it! Never used a electric blanket since I was a kid because of that possibility. wear something warm to bed!

[wavelandscott]

Or (he says sailing close to the edge of good taste) alternatively find an aerobic activity to help aide in keeping warm!! ;)

[mickoking]

Strewth, glad your all righ Asi. I have never owned an electric blanket and I don't think you have convinced me to purchase one either ;)

[danielsun]

Glad to here you got through that o.k .
Same thing happened to my Mrs a few years ago in the middle of the night so we have done away with them for good!!!
I wouldnt even trust a brand new one these days.The way things are made these days its not often that you can buy something without having to return it the next day because something is wrong or missing , but thats another topic alltogether.

[xelasnave]

Black dogs dont catch on fire:D ..mild night = one dog, cold night = two dogs, really cold = three dogs ..and after a while they dont smell like they are burning either:lol: :lol: :lol:
alex

[davidpretorius]

damn, he found out about the blanket.......now how am i going to get that parkes 12.5" mirror out of him and his c9.25 guide scope!


glad to here you are ok....what did micki think... i know my wife would be laughing at my misfortunes, of course not caring if i was alright!!!!

[janoskiss]

Wow that's scary stuff. :eyepop:

Maybe for your next one a battery operated electric blanket...? 12 or 24V... :confuse3:

I never liked electric blankets.

[Astroman]

Same thing has happened to me too Asi, your not alone with trying to set fire to yourself. I only realised something was amiss because I could only half see out of my window, the top half was covered in smoke (no smoke alarm) I only woke up cos I stuck my knee into the burning hole that the electric blanket left in my matress. I also ran out with the blanket ripping it out of the wall, but I threw mine into the bath tub :P Spent the next 3-4 hours faning out the smoke from the double storey appartment. Went to work later in the day smelling like burnt foam.

[rowena]

You could all move North where it is much warmer in winter! ;)

[Starkler]

I have an electric blanket but i only use it to warm the bed up and I always switch it off before climbing in for two reasons

Possibility of getting cooked like Asi nearly did
Avoiding megadoses of electromagnetic radiation. You cop far more from sleeping on an EB than you will living directly under high voltage power lines. (Inverse square law)

[astro_nutt]

Glad to hear you're ok!!..that was very close indeed!!..put a doona under the bottom sheet to keep out the cold..it works well!!..and hopefully no more dramatic events catching some ZZZ"s!!

[asimov]

Wow, sounds like I'm not the only one then. You were damn lucky to get out of that one Andrew & wavelandscott !

I think the moral of the story here is 1: As Starkler says...for both those reasons. 2: Make sure the smoke alarms are present & working, just in case you do what I & others have done (fall asleep with it on).

I was thinking about using one as a dew heater for the SCT too! I think I'll knock that project on the head :eyepop: :rofl:

[iceman]

Wow, timely lesson right there.

[chunkylad]

Glad to hear you didn't fry Asi. Nasty experience.

I'm no sparkie, but I think an earth leakage safety switch fitted to your fusebox (around $200) may have prevented this electric fault from escalating, and cut the power to that p.o.s. blanket before it got even hot enough to be 'toasty'.

[CoombellKid]

Asi,

Glad to hear your ok, maybe you should do like me, re-invest in a couple
of hotwater bottles, they work a treat!!!

regards,CS

Rob

[Roger Davis]

I'm glad that no-one was hurt, fried, toasted, baked etc.
I invested years ago in heat packs.
A heat pack contains hypersaturated sodium acetate and water. Sodium acetate is very good at supercooling. It "freezes" at 130 degrees F (54 degrees C), but it is happy to exist as a liquid at a much lower temperature and is extremely stable. Clicking the internal disk, however, has the ability to force a few molecules to flip to the solid state, and the rest of the liquid then rushes to solidify as well. The temperature of the solidifying liquid jumps up to 130 degrees F in the process.

When you boil the solid, you melt it back to the liquid state. You have to completely melt every crystal, by the way, or the liquid will quickly re-solidify. You can repeat this cycle forever, theoretically, just as you can freeze and melt water as many times as you like. The plastic pouch eventually wears out and leaks, though (since sodium acetate is a food additive, it is non-toxic). Mind you mine are now ten years old and still work well!
The heat lasts for a few hours or so. Much safer than 240 volts AC at 10 amps!
Got mine at Victoria Markets for $10 for the small pack (50X150mm) and $30 for the large pack (A4 size).

[fringe_dweller]

:scared: glad you lived to tell the tale and your still with us mate :)

i'm with starkler - sleeping in/on a EMF field put me off them many years ago (i did read you fell asleep accidently john)

[Lester]

Hi Asi,

Just found this news flash. News travels prity slow in the country, (sometimes).

Glad you are alright.

[Shawn]

you lucky bloke, my night was also interesting. about 2 this morning, you know, when you know its nearly time to get up but you dont want to, this little friggin mozzie was P(#$#ing (P@#$#ing) me off every time I was about to nod off again BZZZZZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZZZZZ,,,So I thought ill get you you little B$#%rd. shot down to the kitchen to get the raid, marched straight into the bedroom, stood on the bed and thoroughly doused the room with Mr Muscle oven cleaner. Well it was the right shape and colour"in the dark" in my own defence. Wife was impressed at the stealth and efficiency that I didnt get the little blighter..glad shes got a sence of humour...

[asimov]

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Sounds like you had a more entertaining night than I did SirDystic! Wow! I wonder if Mr muscle puts out electric blanket fires?? I'll keep one near my bed just in case!! :lol:

Fire extinguishers work good on those rotten mozzies! :D

[asimov]

And here I was telling everyone the bush telegraph is faster than light around cummins ! ;)

[asimov]

Oh & Dave P....Micki found out about it before Lester did!:rofl: :rofl:

Only by a few minutes though I must admit! :)

[Lester]

Well done mate,


BEHOLD! THE RESURRECTION OF JUPITER

BY

PROPHET ASIMOV
You cannot die before your time is up.

OH! MIGHTY ONE.

[asimov]

The funerals at 4 tomorrow...seeya there :lol: