# Dust in Electrical Equipment: A Hidden Hazard



## Oxnard_Appliance_Repairman (Jul 29, 2019)

Very informative article. Although I have never witnessed a dust fire or explosion, I have often seen large deposits of dust buildup in many of the appliances I service. I will definitely think twice about using compressed air to remove any dust, thank you for clarifying that, I had no idea how much of a threat that could impose. Prevention of dust buildup could extend the longevity of electronics, from my experience this is the most overlooked area of maintenance.


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## rltomkinson (Aug 6, 2011)

I didn't witness it, but we got a contract one time to replace three 15KV switches and five 2,000KVA substations because of dust. The dust had built up over decades to the point it was causing arcing between the busses and tripping breakers. The on-call maintenance person was HVAC guy, not an electrician, and he kept resetting the breaker. Apparently, after he reset the breaker for the 4th time in one shift, it blew up. Massive hole in the front of the breaker can.


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## Sweetgum (14 d ago)

ElectricianTalk.com said:


> For a lot of people, dust is an inconvenience that just needs to be cleaned up. If you’re an electrician, though, you know that a significant amount of dust can be something much more dangerous. Under the right conditions, certain fairly common types of dust can actually catch fire. As if that wasn’t bad enough, there are even conditions in which the dust can explode!
> 
> Electricians need to take extra care when dealing with dust. While it may be tempting to just blow the dust out of certain pieces of equipment, if precautions aren’t taken, then something this simple can lead to a major blow-out. This danger is why flammable dust is used to define Class II hazardous locations by the National Fire Prevention Association.
> 
> ...


We need to clean many pieces of equipment with a vacuum cleaner. Like you suggested we use vacuum cleaners with filters but an anti-static or discharge system to prevent high voltage buildup when cleaning circuit boards especially around MOSFETS.


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## SWDweller (Dec 9, 2020)

I worked on a flash over in 15kv switch gear. A mess for sure. The idiot mechanical engineer ducted the electric room with a 24" fan. Then cut a hole in the door so that the dust the weight lifters used for gripping got sucked into the electric vault. Lost the PT's for the controls and metering. Removed the panels, power washed them dried them then painted Glyptal on the metal and then added 1/8" sheet of glastic on top of the flash over areas.


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