Thread: do not use these self help books

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34770363...consumer_news/

Hey Barb, Thanks for this. I watch a lot of the do-it-yourself home shows, and have to wonder about some of ideas and tips they give you, might as well use duct tape,it'll probably last longer, Brian.

Originally Posted by Oldmanb

Hey Barb, Thanks for this. I watch a lot of the do-it-yourself home shows, and have to wonder about some of ideas and tips they give you, might as well use duct tape,it'll probably last longer, Brian.

If they don't find ya' handsome, they should at least find ya' handy.......
Author Red Green
That article was shocking....

As a "Professional" Electrician, I have many times written to the producers and stations that aired some of the do-it-yourself shows, and publishers of some of these books about the techniques and procedures, and general safety instructions in their electrical wiring and troubleshooting productions and publications. Most times, I get absolutely no response from them. It is good to see that someone has finally taken steps to correct some of their errors.

what get's me ,is some of this books were sold back as far as 1975 and they are just being recalled now? I am a retired electrician so I never had a reason to read any of these books but I found another post on this some time back (can't remember where.....CRS!)but by the illustrations they had I thought this was just isolated time someone did not double check what was being printed not something that had being going on for 30 -35 years!!
Makes you wonder how much DIY wiring that is out there that is not wired right that has the potential to hurt/kill someone or burn the house down. Scarey ......
Kenny

i dont use the books either. i would rather have someone show me how so i can do it myself. but i have also wondered about some of these shows that come on saturday mornings. i do not know enough to question them but some of them look fishy to me.

Geeeeeezz Barb, all of the 'good' ones I've ever used are on that list.

My guess - some of the trades unions got hold of these books and are suggesting that we common folk aren't doing the job to someones code. And in some cases, probably right, particularly the electrical books

yea, I'v looked at some of those wiring books some scary stuff in there. I have a very old set of popular mechanics self help books from the 70's.. they contain everything from setting the dwell on a points ignition to building a bird house. there fun to look at but the information is so outdated it's funny...

I remember as a kid asking someone that I thought knew what they were doing, how to do a certain task. They gave me an answer and got me headed in a direction. I completed the task but along the way had to re-do everything that they told me to do. That was a good lesson for me, most of the time I'll search out more than one answer to a question. Part of that learning who you can trust and who you can't.

Things like books, I'll consult more than just one. There is more than one way to do anything, sometimes it's nice to know alternative methods.

Originally Posted by drec

I remember as a kid asking someone that I thought knew what they were doing, how to do a certain task. They gave me an answer and got me headed in a direction. I completed the task but along the way had to re-do everything that they told me to do. That was a good lesson for me, most of the time I'll search out more than one answer to a question. Part of that learning who you can trust and who you can't.

Things like books, I'll consult more than just one. There is more than one way to do anything, sometimes it's nice to know alternative methods.

I have my share of scars to prove that I've done it according to the school of knocks based on the sticky red stuff oozing from rents and gouges in my hide over the past years. And this is after reading those books

A good part of my education came from watching others jump into a situations and make big mistakes. Sort of like, don't run if you are on the wrong road.