Submitted by MeeKoH t3_118o19y in tifu

This just happened while during a fit of manic energy, i decided to try and pull the lint from deep within the dryer as we have been needing two cycles to get clothes dry. So i dove onto youtube to find out how to pop the drum open. I found the specific video for my dryer and skipped ahead to snapping the top open, skipping the safety cautions of course. I decided to open the top with a flathead screwdriver with a rubber handle, got under it and unlatched the springs holding the lid down, and indeed there was hair jam packed all around the drum, it looked like an Italian barbers floor! I went to scoop some of the hair out with the screwdriver and i shorted something with the shaft of the driver. I immediately pull back as some sparks burst out of the wires........and landing onto the hair that was by it. A small burst of flame ignited and i was lucky enough to catch it in time and blow it out before it was able to gain traction and burn the rest of the hair inside. My hearts beating fast and im sitting in the laundry room with a fire extinguisher just in case theres some stray ember gathering heat in there.

TL;DR - Tried to pull hair from a dryer with a metal screwdriver, shorted a wire, almost catching the entire hair packed dryer on fire.

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Comments

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JamieDrone t1_j9ibeeb wrote

And…you…didn’t shut off the main power before opening it like allll the warning labels say??

33

MartenGlo t1_j9jdhbk wrote

You dumbass. If you don't have the sense to disconnect electricity before you work on an appliance you need to get rid of your tools and never attempt a repair again.

Seriously.

Sorry to be harsh, but you can die, start a fire, harm others, lose your house or cost others their homes.

Crosspost this in r/aita, but yata.

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mook1178 t1_j9kdwd4 wrote

>Sorry to be harsh, but you can die, start a fire, harm others, lose your house or cost others their homes.

E. All of the above

​

I circled E

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raulshawn t1_j9i9eld wrote

Did you not turn off the breaker before managing such a high voltage appliance?

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fliguana t1_j9id8o5 wrote

Lay off the meth

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RobOhh t1_j9ist8b wrote

240 volts of exceptionally profound life lessons learned. Please, don’t ever disassemble your appliances EVER again, no matter how much you learned today.

Sincerely, An experienced appliance technician/technical advisor

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Krayt88 t1_j9j4mik wrote

I mean, is it dangerous if you're smart enough to unplug it first? A dryer isn't rocking a deadly capacitor like an old CRT TV, right?

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RobOhh t1_j9jyzuh wrote

Some dryers do have motor start capacitors but not of the the kind you referenced in old CRT’s.

That being said, there are a whole host of other safety-related things OP could have been injured by as well when disassembling the unit even if it was de-energized. Sharp edges in the sheet metal panels and drum, pulley arms under tension are a couple great examples.

I would never want anyone to get injured by their appliance because I truly care about everyone’s well being and health, but further, as a former in-home technician I also absolutely dreaded walking into someone’s domicile to find they disassembled their product (usually the wrong way) and couldn’t put it back together, losing screws or damaging components in the process. It creates hellacious headaches for technicians to unfuck the mess a product owner can sometimes cause by uninformed disassembly. Often does not end well, unfortunately.

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Krayt88 t1_j9kfz2s wrote

Ah, sure, I wasn't really thinking about sharp edges. You'd like to think OP can be trusted to cut up an apple without gutting himself on a sharp edge, but given that he started taking apart an appliance that was still actively plugged in, maybe not.

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superjudgebunny t1_j9j4d55 wrote

I’m only willing to work on things live that I fully understand. Doing it blind live? That’s damn ballsy for sure!

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lilafrika t1_j9j37bj wrote

Now thats fighting fire with fire

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LordoftheExiled t1_j9mhtl7 wrote

God damn. You're lucky you didn't get one hell of a shock. Actually I'm quite surprised that you didn't.

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