[BubbleRings]

If you like playing with old hardware, be aware that old CRTs have a gotcha that can getcha: they hold a charge that can shock you across the room, and they can hold that charge for weeks or more. Google how to discharge it before poking around in a CRT.

[Scubabear68]

When I was about 12 I got an old TV in my room which I of course decided to take apart to figure out how it worked.

I was VERY smart and of course unplugged the TV before doing anything.

My flat head screwdriver brushed against the wrong terminal in the back, I was literally thrown across the room several feet, and my flat head screw driver was no longer usable as the tip had deformed and slightly melted.

I later found an electronics book that had a footnote mentioning grounding out the tube before going near it…

[nextaccountic]

How does an electric shock throws someone across the room? What's the mechanism for this push?

I know a shock can paralyze (by contracting the muscles) and it can burn (by joule effect) but never seen one push

[preisschild]

Yeah the tube is essentially a large capacitor :P

I also learned electronics by shocking myself often

[RedShift1]

Not just shock you across the room, but shock straight into your next life.

[actionfromafar]

So we are all in post-tube life?

[macintux]

I have a vague recollection that my little cousin was nearly ended when he managed to destabilize the stand that a CRT was sitting on, and it fell just behind him, but I may be entirely hallucinating that memory.

Regardless, there are multiple ways old CRTs can cause great harm.

[asciii]

My family bought our first one and we used it keep it on a carpet floor - boy was that an electrifying experience

[addandsubtract]

Same goes for your microwave.