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The Geek Group's Hacker-Oriented High Voltage Lab In Michigan Damaged by Fire

Posted by timothy on from the they've-got-stuff-on-ebay-too dept.

Tech educational collective The Geek Group, based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has more than 25,000 members, scattered all over the world — most of whom have never been to their flagship location in Michigan. Sadly, a fire Thursday damaged one of the facilities at their Leonard Street Labs (damage report starts about 26 minutes into this video), the High Voltage Lab. Since there aren't that many places for amateurs and hobbyists to learn about high voltage (even with the growing number of maker spaces around the world), that leaves a hole that hopefully will soon be filled; lucky for anyone interested, The Geek Group welcomes volunteers.

37 of 65 comments (clear)

  1. Not again... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Why is it that every couple of years something catastrophic happens to the group that severely impacts their progress, and trivializes the hard work of many contributors? And, why does it *have* to be something that’s amplified by the group’s “quirky” management who are clearly out of their league?

    My prediction is that their insurance won’t cover this. Eerily enough, the building’s lack of a fire alarm was also made evident. They will have a salvage mission on their hands and they will beg for private donations to cover the expense. Donator’s contributions burnt up in this incident, and donators will again have to swoop in and clean up the mess.

    I have no confidence that the group will cease to have these periodic, major incidents. And, I caution everyone to consider that fact before engaging yourself, and especially participating in one of their far-too-often fundraising drives.

    I’m sure everyone is aware of my perspective by now, but regardless, it’s been published many, many times in the past that despite the majority of the members being reasonable and well wishing, the management of the group need shuffling.

    1. Re:Not again... by stms · · Score: 1

      It seems plausible that a group of people regularly hacking high voltage equipment might have multiple incidents of fire. I would however be leery about taking their advice regarding the matter.

    2. Re:Not again... by megabeck42 · · Score: 2

      You know, I think the lack of fire alarms is by far the biggest WTF especially considering how much effort they invested in the HV room's grounding setup, for example.

      Hindsight's 20/20.

      --
      fnord.
    3. Re:Not again... by flyneye · · Score: 2

      Sounds like the sort of place that needs to be rebuilt; concrete, cinderblock and rubber.
      This is the internet, they have 25000 members.
      Im guessing between stumping for donations and passing the hat, this can be accomplished quickly.
      Theyll be up and Teslaizing before you know it.
      Used to be, sticking a fork in the toaster was the extent of learning outside school, and usually the end.
      From a Darwinian perspective, the more weeded out through caveat increases the likelyhood of obtaining the services of a COMPETENT electrician in the future.
      Maybe its a good thing, maybe its a bad thing. Its definitely a perspective thing.

      --
      *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
    4. Re:Not again... by DerekLyons · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Hindsight's 20/20.

      Horsepuckey. Not having fire alarms isn't a "hindsight 20/20" moment (I.E. something no one could have foreseen a need for), it's a "WTF were you *thinking* you blithering idiot" moment.

    5. Re:Not again... by Man+On+Pink+Corner · · Score: 1

      For what it's worth, fire alarms and large Tesla coils don't mix.

    6. Re:Not again... by iplayfast · · Score: 1

      I watched the video, and he seemed to be handling the situation as well as anyone could. What exactly do you think he should have done. They cleared the building of people, and animals. Found that the fire was in the other end of the building so went and retrieved the expensive cameras. Helped the firemen as best they could, and assessed the damage. He obviously had a plan in place, since they were talking about head counts, and the time it took to evacuate (2 minutes).

      I don't think he was out of his league. He was just in a tight spot. Anyone trying to do anything difficult will occasionally get in tight spots. That's just life.

    7. Re:Not again... by BlacKSacrificE · · Score: 1

      Paul Tertuit says:
      January 3, 2014 at 9:56 am

      Why is it that every couple of years something catastrophic happens to the group that severely impacts their progress, and trivializes the hard work of many contributors? And, why does it *have* to be something that’s amplified by the group’s “quirky” management who are clearly out of their league?..

      Why didn't you put your name to your comment here like you did on HaD?

      --
      [Sorry, this signature is unavailable in your country/region]
  2. Add to the heap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    There's been a lengthy discussion over at HaD regarding the fire:

    http://hackaday.com/2014/01/03/fire-at-the-geek-group/#comments

  3. This fire was.. by Anubis350 · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...Shocking! I'm positive the emergency contacts for the lab blew their fuse when they heard. Nothing like getting such negative reports to ground you in the harsh reality of life's load.

    --
    "goodbye and hello, as always" ~Prince Corwin, from Zelazny's Amber series
  4. Saw the vid earlier by kilodelta · · Score: 1

    It's a shame. I would imagine that's all insured and such. But they're going to need cleanup supplies, etc. Just go hit their amazon page to donate those.

  5. 25,000 members by BringsApples · · Score: 1

    So each throw in $2.00, fix the lab.

    --
    Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
    1. Re:25,000 members by MattskEE · · Score: 2

      I doubt they really have 25,000 members, that's probably the number of people who have signed up on their forums at one point or another. Active membership is surely much smaller.

    2. Re:25,000 members by BringsApples · · Score: 1

      Geeks build labs and test things, like high-voltage. You thinking of pirates.

      --
      Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
    3. Re: 25,000 members by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Correction... Geeks pay for quality like the lab, not quantity like CDs or blueray, so shove it

    4. Re:25,000 members by grub · · Score: 2

      Maybe that's how the fire started. All 25,000 soldering irons plugged in.

      --
      Trolling is a art,
    5. Re:25,000 members by BringsApples · · Score: 1

      ha! That would explain why they're using so much electricity.

      --
      Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
  6. Oregon State University by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The High Voltage Lab at OSU is nearly 100 years old, and they have never had a fire. Wonder why...

    1. Re: Oregon State University by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Washington State University has a great one too. As an undergrad, I played in there a bit. In the power lab, I got in trouble for experimenting with seeing how many devices I could cascade before I couldnt get useful power out the other end. I started with a 10HP DC-AC motor-gen set and did a bunch of three phase transformer connection to a couple other gensets and all kinds of other stuff in series until I could only power a 100W lightbulb at the end. The prof came in and made me calculate the efficiency and verify all my other connections and told me he would give me extra credit if everything was perfect and none of the equipment was being operated outside its nameplate ratings. It was all good and I aced the class but went into RF and analog design anyway because power engineering was dead at the time.

  7. Re: Ohh.. high *voltage*! by O('_')O_Bush · · Score: 2

    Orignlinally this *was* a high current lab, but work there faced a lot of resistance from OSHA.

    --
    while(1) attack(People.Sandy);
  8. Hackerspaces.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    So my local hackerspace basically went quasi bankrupt once or twice, they sent out emails asking people to fundraise to pay the rest. Prior to that they had a brief legal battle with their landlord about rent/improvements they made to offset rent and so on. Do I want to get involved in this? .... No. So I'm kitting out my garage long term as a maker space for myself and my kids. Maybe if we had a maker space with like a minimum age of 30 or something.....

    1. Re:Hackerspaces.... by Lehk228 · · Score: 1

      I'm kitting out my garage long term as a maker space for myself

      it's called a workshop

      --
      Snowden and Manning are heroes.
  9. Re:Ohh.. high *voltage*! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    They couldn't have faced that much resistance.

  10. Never heard of them by RedBear · · Score: 2

    It's very weird to me that I've been reading /. and other geeky websites for a decade and a half and I've never, ever heard of this "The Geek Group" with 25,000 members and a 42,000 square foot headquarters/lab facility. What is their purpose? Should I have heard of them? Where would I hear about them, if not here? Am I supposed to turn in my geek card if I have no idea who these people are? Are they the ones that issue geek cards in the first place?

    Questions abound.

    1. Re:Never heard of them by Obliterous · · Score: 3, Informative

      Disclaimer up front: I am a IRC moderator and web volunteer for the Geek Group.

      Remember the shrunken quarters that you used to be able to get over at thinkgeek? Yeah, The Geek Group made them. you can still buy them over at thegeekgroup.org/store

      I'll be the first to admit that a lot of people don't like Chris Boden, but really, what large organization DOESN'T have a personality conflict or two?

      Yeah, Chris can be kind of a dick at times, but this whole thing started as his dream, and still is. You'd be a dick too, if people were fucking with or fucking up YOUR dreams.

      Please keep in mind, tho, that every story has more than one viewpoint, and there's more than one person that has been asked to leave and never come back, and some of them stir up shit as often as they can.

      As for the clutter in the room, the area has been used to store a lot of spare parts, both new and used, like high voltage power supplies, actuators, and parts for various future projects.

      So Yeah, lessons have been learned, the cleanup has already started and plans for rebuilding are being made and executed. Maybe they'll even be able to find a smoke detector that can handle being next to a 100KW arc.

      If you're interested in helping out, chatting, or just seeing what the Geek Group is all about, I suggest you watch their videos on youtube, visit their web page, and/or come join us in IRC @ irc://irc.thegeekgroup.org/#thegeekgroup

    2. Re:Never heard of them by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      25,000 is how many people they have "worldwide". Physically, they only have like 20 people. Chris, the owner has managed to swindle lots of donations out of people since he has been in this business (I met him in 1997), so he bought an old YMCA after a long line of other locations.

      No need to turn in your geek card or anything else. It's a group of 1 guy who cycles through volunteers on a very regular basis who sucks $$ of out the community that could be much better spent on the real makerspaces around town. He posts videos and counts followers on his videos as "members".

      Look up his history. He actually burned down his first building in Grand Rapids. He then moved to Kalamazoo and got run out of that town. He's on a first-name basis with his entire insurance company (not just the agent) because of all the incidents they've had to pay out for. He says he teaches kids and teens (he does hold workshops on occasion), but the amount of money he burns through could be much better spent on real community projects -- not his pet projects.

    3. Re:Never heard of them by slewfo0t · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Obviously this was posted by someone from the "Other" makerspace in town. Physically we have much more than 20 people, there are several hundred working directly with The Geek Group on a daily basis. Anyone can become a member - just visit the website and sign up it's free. If you want to work on projects at the lab, it's $40/month. The Geek Group is much more than a physical building, it's a community. It's geeks online and at the multiple facilities around the globe. It's crowd sourced engineering and science. It's a place to learn and teach technology. The Geek Group isn't just a makerspace, it's an entire community of folks trying to learn and teach technology. The fire here at the lab is a huge blow to what we've been working so hard on for so long. To sit on your armchair soapbox and dismiss it as you do and post as an anonymous coward speaks volumes as to the type of person you are. I'm sorry you hold so much contempt for such a great place. If you had any kind of soul, you would come out and help out with the rest of community. The Geek Group will get the mess cleaned up and get back open to the public. In the meantime, come volunteer at the greatest hackerspace around and show what your made of. Slewfoot

    4. Re: Never heard of them by assassinator42 · · Score: 1

      I'm from Grand Rapids and studied CS here. Still haven't heard of them. Or if I did I've forgotten.

  11. Grand Rapids? by realinvalidname · · Score: 1

    As a Grand Rapidian geek, I had no idea we had something like this in town. I must check this out once they're back on their feet.

    1. Re:Grand Rapids? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Me too. I didn't know about it either. How about you join me helping get them back on their feet?

    2. Re:Grand Rapids? by wannabe1987 · · Score: 1

      Or you could check out the 'other' space in town, GRMakers.com

  12. There was another odd fire in Grand Rapids by __aasehi2499 · · Score: 1

    The Fifth Third Ballpark went up in flames mysteriously as well yesterday.

    1. Re:There was another odd fire in Grand Rapids by realinvalidname · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but the fire department attributed the ballpark fire to a work crew knocking over a space heater, starting a fire, putting it out, and then walking away, exacerbated by the sprinkler system being turned off. That's not mysterious so much as it is just plain foolish.

    2. Re:There was another odd fire in Grand Rapids by __aasehi2499 · · Score: 1

      That seems akin to the situation in this story where they ran the equipment right before the fire to show off to a potential employee and then locked it up and walked away.

    3. Re:There was another odd fire in Grand Rapids by __aasehi2499 · · Score: 1

      Work without leisure makes a life without balance.

  13. Small Faraday Cage? by BuildMonkey · · Score: 1

    Seems like a small Faraday cage around each battery powered smoke detector would work. I have experience with high powered RF (VHF through 2.4GHz, 125W of emitted RF power) and smoke detectors never had a problems with this equipment.

    1. Re:Small Faraday Cage? by Man+On+Pink+Corner · · Score: 1

      The thing is, fire alarms are more than just battery-powered smoke detectors. The alarm sensors are wired to a central control unit, and shielding the wiring is tricky. If you're unlucky enough to have problems, you end up needing to individually RFI-proof all of the sensors as well as the main box.

      Either that, or downsize the Tesla coil, and that's no fun...