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Aging electronic instruments - are they a fire hazard?

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chris_topher

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Hi all, great site.

At work today we had a 25 year old constantly running oscilloscope start cooking that much it set off the fire alarms. So now my company is worried about all our other old electronic instruments. I've tried finding out if electronic components have a life span before they become a potential fire hazard.

My question is can anybody say how long we should use electronic instruments for? Items such as scopes, psu's, amplifiers, recievers, transmitter etc
 

I think you should also check the sesitivity of fire alarm. Maybe you are not allowed to smoke in the lab and you are misleaded. Old machines run more hot because they consume more current. at that time small computer cooling fans were were also not available which are now seen in every machine. If you have to constantly let it on, put it in properly ventilated area.
See if it is properly installed with fuses. Most of the times risk of fire is due to electical shortages which can't be detected by fire alarms before hand.
 

Catching fire is a rare failure mode, but it does happen. One thing to always look for in old gear is the
condition of the electrolytic capacitors. When in doubt, recap the device (if economically feasible).

Replacing Capacitors in Old Radios and TVs
 

Old big instruments have almost no plastic inside and big metal chassis. They can survive a fire and seldom by them self causes such things. However can it becomes very hot due to dying cooling fans. It can then make some smoke due to all dust that have been collected inside the instrument during the years.
Open it up and remove big dust-rats once a year. Replace noisy cooling fans. If you intend to run the instrument 24/7, buy cooling fans that also can do so. Looks like computer fans but is all metallic and individual balanced.
 

ALERTLINKS said:
I think you should also check the sesitivity of fire alarm. Maybe you are not allowed to smoke in the lab and you are misleaded. Old machines run more hot because they consume more current. at that time small computer cooling fans were were also not available which are now seen in every machine. If you have to constantly let it on, put it in properly ventilated area.
See if it is properly installed with fuses. Most of the times risk of fire is due to electical shortages which can't be detected by fire alarms before hand.
Click to expand...


Thanks for this. However this old scope was definately cooking - the smell of burnt out components was obvious. Does this mean all the other kit of this age could be a potential fire hazard?
 

If power transformer is heated and some of pimary winding loops are shorted, now it ouputting more voltages. everything is heating up now. i mean to say it may be a job for repairman. Every old gadget does not necessarily behave like this.
 

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