P = I^2R, so power squares against the current, while it’s linear to voltage.
This means current causes more heat dissipation in the wire, which has risks, potentially fire if you really go too far, this is why breakers trip.
But what really causes fires (again, outside of crazy overcurrent) is Arcing, from basically either bad connections or bad insulation, OR, from an inductive load that gets disconnected, so the current tries to stay constant in the coils, which leads to massive voltage spikes.
The recent technology connections video cited a lot of statistics on this topic, and at least household fires are primarily caused by overcurrent, not by arcing.
You probably know more than me — I only studied compsci with ee as minor — but from my personal experience, I’ve seen many cases where overcurrent caused damage, burns or fire, but I can’t remember a single case where arcing caused actual damage.
Even in cheap chinesium powerstrips, the primary cause of fires is overcurrent due to AWG 22 copper clad iron wire, not arcing. (Though the switches usually weld themselves together after a few dozen uses).
No it’s not, I’m an ee.
P = I^2R, so power squares against the current, while it’s linear to voltage.
This means current causes more heat dissipation in the wire, which has risks, potentially fire if you really go too far, this is why breakers trip.
But what really causes fires (again, outside of crazy overcurrent) is Arcing, from basically either bad connections or bad insulation, OR, from an inductive load that gets disconnected, so the current tries to stay constant in the coils, which leads to massive voltage spikes.
The recent technology connections video cited a lot of statistics on this topic, and at least household fires are primarily caused by overcurrent, not by arcing.
You probably know more than me — I only studied compsci with ee as minor — but from my personal experience, I’ve seen many cases where overcurrent caused damage, burns or fire, but I can’t remember a single case where arcing caused actual damage.
Even in cheap chinesium powerstrips, the primary cause of fires is overcurrent due to AWG 22 copper clad iron wire, not arcing. (Though the switches usually weld themselves together after a few dozen uses).