Is it o.k. to power up electronics that have been on the shelf for decades?

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no I don't have a variac..i use this with a 2 socket wall jack..one with 120v coming in then I have a 60w bulb wired in with the main. Plug the old equipment in the other jack and when i turn on the power the bulb will light up dimly if nothing is wrong or if there is a short the bulb lights up very bright but u won't blow anything in the old equipment
 
no I don't have a variac..i use this with a 2 socket wall jack..one with 120v coming in then I have a 60w bulb wired in with the main. Plug the old equipment in the other jack and when i turn on the power the bulb will light up dimly if nothing is wrong or if there is a short the bulb lights up very bright but u won't blow anything in the old equipment

Thanks for explaining that. I think I understand. The way I conceive of what you're saying is that you're wiring the equipment is series with the light bulb, so if there's (for example) a dead short in the equipment, the bulb goes to full brightness.

That strikes me as a significant help, but not sure I can take that as a 100% green light to "plug er in". It's definitely would be a way I'd try out lesser valued stuff.

Again, I could be missing something. I took electronic tech classes in college, but that was (ahem) a long time ago.
 
Thanks for explaining that. I think I understand. The way I conceive of what you're saying is that you're wiring the equipment is series with the light bulb, so if there's (for example) a dead short in the equipment, the bulb goes to full brightness.

That strikes me as a significant help, but not sure I can take that as a 100% green light to "plug er in". It's definitely would be a way I'd try out lesser valued stuff.

Again, I could be missing something. I took electronic tech classes in college, but that was (ahem) a long time ago.
Depending on the wattage of the equipment ...u want to get a bulb about half the total watts
 
I take it you're using that instead of a ammeter. Still using a variac?
I have a hunch that I'm missing something.
I must admit that I haven't the fainest idea what the walnut moulding has got to do with anything!
 
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