I wanted to illustrate this thread with an example of mains pass-through box, and I remembered that a section of the mains distribution of my lab was equipped with a filter, housed in such a box.
This section is unswitched, thus permanently connected to the mains, and I use it for low power, sensitive instruments, like active probes, distortionmeter, etc.
I thus removed the box to take a snapshot, and I noticed a funny smell.
I took the picture and left it on my desk, but the smell didn't go away and became more and more present.
In the end, suspecting an anomaly, I opened the box and here is what I found:
The filter has overheated, and the hot gases inside the case reached such a pressure that it visibly bulged:
Fortunately, the gases were able to escape through the wires passages, and the case didn't burst, which would have been catastrophic and could have caused a fire.
Yet, the filter is from a reputable maker:
I am almost certain that a paper cap caused the incident, which could have had dramatic consequences.
I have no idea when it happened, the smell was only noticeable from a very short distance.
Thus, beware of paper caps!
This section is unswitched, thus permanently connected to the mains, and I use it for low power, sensitive instruments, like active probes, distortionmeter, etc.
I thus removed the box to take a snapshot, and I noticed a funny smell.
I took the picture and left it on my desk, but the smell didn't go away and became more and more present.
In the end, suspecting an anomaly, I opened the box and here is what I found:
The filter has overheated, and the hot gases inside the case reached such a pressure that it visibly bulged:
Fortunately, the gases were able to escape through the wires passages, and the case didn't burst, which would have been catastrophic and could have caused a fire.
Yet, the filter is from a reputable maker:
I am almost certain that a paper cap caused the incident, which could have had dramatic consequences.
I have no idea when it happened, the smell was only noticeable from a very short distance.
Thus, beware of paper caps!
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