| Show causes cause s of electrical fires by J R nelson fort lewis college the more frequent causes of ele electrical fires may be listed under three classes arcs sparks and overheating avei heating if an electric circuit vh ch is carrying current is interrupted by a knife switch which opens slowly an arc is produced the intensity of the arc of course depending on the amount of voltage and amperage ampe raga n the line the temperature of this are arc y very high and anything combi cocot tible in the immediate vicinity may maj f be ignited or if the air should happen to be ba filled with explosive dust the result would be bad apparatus and appliances which utilize an electric eles elez conductor as a heating element or which use tile the electric arc for the generation of heat are liable to be a fire hazard unless properly installed andusen and used overheating of the conductors can be prevented by using g proper fuses or circuit breakers and thus avoid overloading overl abing ading the line if the line is too small to carry the load with proper fuses do not use fuses ofton of too large capacity as this will deteriorate the insulating covering of the wires and create a hazard ard through the excess of heba hegg generated the fuse and cir cuSp k breaker is your safety valve L some of the most common hazards to be found in protective devices are as follows pennies have been inserted in blown plug fuses or the metal df the fuse holder has been cut bak back or a wire inserted in cartridge fuses which have blown are to be found nails wire and other metals this must NEVER be done in refillable fuses never put more than one strip of the right size s i z e and kind of fusing material keep your fuses and circuit breakers in good condition keep your fuses enclosed in the vicinity of combustibles busti bles and be sure the fuse box doors are kept closed keep your fuses and circuit breakers free of corrosion ar to be continued next week |
