John Tuttle's story of his use of neoprene tubing as 110v. insulators
reminded me of my neoprene experience 40 years ago.

Living in Brooklyn, NY, I occasionally visited Canal Street in
Manhattan.  I was fascinated with all the electronic surplus stores.
During one of my trips I picked up a dozen or so rubber 110volt plugs
from a bin of hundreds for a bargain price.

One of the plugs was used for my reading light next to my bed.  One
night, several weeks later, as I was in bed reading Mechanix
Illustrated, I heard a loud pop and sizzle coming from the direction of
the outlet.  Looking over I noticed the plug smoldering with several
bright points of light, bathing the outlet area in an erie blue light.
I jumped out of bed and yanked the plug out by the lamp cord.  Shaken
at this close encounter with disaster, I thought about the hundreds of
other plugs that were sold and probably spread out all over the city.

Were they causing hundreds of houses to burn down?

Andy LaTorre
LaTorre Orgue Mecanique
(MIDI-controlled Fairground Organs)