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I'm about to buy a standard 6-litre powder fire extinguisher. However, in the description, they all say:

Suitable for [blablabla...] and for electronic devices up to 1000 V.

Up to 1000 Volts? But then what about the information here:

https://hypertextbook.com/facts/2000/MichelleHong.shtml

The lowest numbers are "3–6 kV", meaning far, far beyond the maximum supported by the product.

But what exactly does this mean? It won't work (the fire continues) if there's too many Volts flowing about? Or is it even more sinister? Does it cause an explosion?!

I don't understand this at all. Why is there a limit to when it works at all? And what exactly uses 1000 V or more?

Aljandro Barbone
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  • Electrocution hazard: https://www.creativesafetysupply.com/qa/fire-safety/which-fire-extinguisher-is-used-for-electrical-fire – DKNguyen Nov 22 '22 at 15:14
  • CO2 are much neater. – blacksmith37 Nov 22 '22 at 15:27
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    I'm not sure what you mean by "not good for". Dry powder fire extinguishers are "not good for" a lot of things in the sense that the powder does a lot of damage. Take a perfectly good monitor, squirt it full of dry powder, and it's now an expensive mess. In the sense of putting out a fire -- sure, they'll do that just fine. – TimWescott Nov 23 '22 at 04:11

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A dry powder extinguisher will absolutely work great for CRT TV's or monitors. I suppose it might short out the HV capacitor, but why would anyone care? There is enough power in the cap to hurt you if you touch it but not nearly enough to make it a danger otherwise, and much less of a danger than a burning set. A firefighter wouldn't hesitate to throw a hose stream on a set on fire.

High voltage dangers are really those around switchgear and transformers. I assume that high voltages can break down some powders and lead to a short which is an exciting event to be sure at very high voltages. You will never see these voltages outside of an industrial or power transmission setting.

Note that generally, using powder on electronics means the device is scrap.

Tiger Guy
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