I wonder if it was possible to create an ionised path in the flame of an alcohol or butane fire... (Just idle curiosity but could be an interesting experiment) On 8 Apr 2017 6:23 am, "Sean Breheny" wrote: > Some plastics used in electronics can carbonize into a conductive materia= l. > I've seen it happen in automotive blade fuses which have been run at 48V. > I've also seen it in connectors made from liquid-crystal polymers (relate= d > to but not the same as the substance in LCDs). Some backplane blind-mate > connectors are made from this plastic because it has very high strength a= nd > temperature resistance. In the experiments I did, alcohol or butane-fuele= d > fire wasn't hot enough to produce conductive carbon. An arc was required, > but I don't think the mechanism was deposition of metal because the resul= t > was a powder which was still conductive even if "mixed" around - the > surface didn't have to be undisturbed to preserve conductivity as you wou= ld > expect if the conductive path were confined to a thin surface layer. > > On Fri, Apr 7, 2017 at 10:54 PM, James Cameron wrote: > > > On Sat, Apr 08, 2017 at 12:16:14PM +1300, RussellMc wrote: > > > The Recognition of Fires Originatingfrom Photovoltaic (PV) Solar > > > Systems. > > > > Interesting, thanks. > > > > Reminds me of an investigation I did into an OLPC XO laptop with a > > charred battery connector. I proved from testing that the charred > > plastic separating the contacts was conductive, and I had theorised > > there was a layer of redeposited metal from an arc. > > > > The paper mentions a semiconductor effect; "As volatile compounds > > evolve from hydrocarbon based insulators, such as PVC, remaining > > materials have been seen to change their conducting properties ..." > > > > Makes more sense now. > > > > -- > > James Cameron > > http://quozl.netrek.org/ > > -- > > http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > > View/change your membership options at > > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > > > -- > http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > --=20 http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .