Hammonds Can Kill You

Hammonds Can KILL You!

Hammond organs, Leslie amplifiers, and other tube equipment typically operate off of power supplies of a few hundred volts. These are potentially lethal voltages. (Even 110 volt AC line voltage can do you in.)*

Even after the equipment is turned off and unplugged, electrolytic capacitors can store a lethal charge for a period of minutes to hours. So, please, be very, very careful when poking around inside your Hammond or Leslie.

If you are not comfortable around electronics, perhaps you should leave such work to a qualified HammondTechnician.

• Voltage is a measure of potential. Electric potential is the energy required to move a unit electric charge to a particular place in a static electric field; higher voltages mean the electricity can move through more resistance, meaning that it's more likely to be able to jump to/though you from the source. In fact, those who receive a high voltage shock are more responsive to artificial respiration than those who receive a low voltage shock; 110 volt AC line voltage is actually more likely to "do you in" than getting struck by lightning. You wouldn't fly a kite in a thunderstorm, so be careful poking around in your organ. Electric current (measured in amps) between 100 and 200 mA are most likely to be lethal, but as little as 60 mA AC across the heart can be lethal.

You don't have to open them up to get zapped.

Most Leslies and Hammond ToneCabinets make the B+ supply voltage available on their connector pins (it is required by the older Hammond consoles). There can be lethal voltages on the B+ pin, even after the Leslie has been turned off. The pins are quite exposed both on the Leslie amp chasis, and at the organ end of the Leslie cable. So be careful when un/plugging and handling your Leslie.

TopicTroubleshooting TopicRepair