I was a contractor doing some controls work on an HVAC system that was onsite in a military base. They used a (relatively) high pressure steam system for the heating loop. The subject came up, and the guy I was with learned it as a machinist in a destroyer, from another old navyman, who might've actually been around long enough ago that it was an important skill to know!

60s/60s=1

Thats what I heard, but I erred on the side of caution because hyperbole is certainly a thing. But yes, I figured high pressure steam is no joke... just wasn't sure (first hand, at least) how little of a joke it is.

Might be an old sailor's tale, but an old Navy man I met claimed they used the broom method to detect steam leaks around damaged boilers. Those apparently could also be nearly invisible and capable of cutting the straws off the broom.

Yeah, thats normal for a 120/240v system. Each 120v wire is the ground path for the other 120v wire. They combine and create 240v.

It was standard up to the 80s and 90s (USA) for the 240v circuits to never have a neutral. When electronics started being added to heaters, dryers, ovens, etc, then a neutral became a wanted feature for a clean 120v power source.

Thats the truth. They just wont find much in this case.

Unless something has changed drastically in the code in the last edition, there isnt a set distance from the doorway for light switches, at least in the US. Besides, it's old construction, and code device distancing doesn't really apply.

Its not a standard distance:

Its usually mounted to the nearest stud to the doorway that isnt part of the door frame. That usually puts it within a foot of the doorway. Standard stud gaps are 16", but the doors tend to encroach on that a bit.

But sometimes it ends up mounted to the doorframe stud, anyway. If the frame is thick enough, and there isnt much trim, thats not a problem.

For real. It wasnt that long ago when nearly every piece of trim in both of the vehicles I owned had screws, and pretty much only screws.