The All American Five

[Terry]

In reality there were allegedly very few deaths caused by live chassis radios and TV'S. People back then seemed to be more aware of the risks.

I don't think it has anything to do with awareness - quite simply, most owners wouldn't dream of removing the back and fiddling inside!

There will always be the odd exception, of course, and I wonder how many got a non-fatal shock for their curiosity. I don't ever recall hearing of a fatality, though.

It would be interesting to see if this would be different now if there was a resurgence of live chassis equipment.

I think people would be even less likely to tamper with modern technology! After all, you can't take all the valves out and trot down to a local dealer to get them tested these days, can you?

Something I wouldn't like to put to the test is the strength of a modern plastic cabinet but I wonder how easily they might be damaged and expose live parts? As for removing the back, that in itself can be an interesting exercise in ingenuity! Even when you've found the fixings, how many of them will be recessed down deep holes that require a driver with a suitable tip to access the screws because there is no way that a multi-bit screwdriver will get down that little hole!