calculating minimum air gap

[cowboyengineer]

Mechanical engineer here, so sorry if this is a an easy question, or in the wrong forum. I need to determine the minimum air gap between two voltage carrying terminals, in order to prevent arcing. The terminals are parallel, with no protruding shapes in the direction of the other terminal. The circuit voltage is 14v dc with very low current Assume the nominal air condition is low humidity and high temperature (>130 degrees C). Hope this is enough information. Thanks

 

[nbucska]

IRstuff:
The gap can be narrowed by contamination. Was this a new
PCB or an old one ?

<nbucska@pcperipherals DOT com> subj: eng-tips
read FAQ240-1032

 

[IRstuff]

Brand-spanking new

TTFN

 

[electricpete]

tracking? transient voltage spikes? contaminants in the air? radiation environment? unfavorable geometry?

Do you have an explanation for the arcing? Why did you call it badly designed?

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[IRstuff]

Standard hi-pot design rules were not followed, so the power planes went to the edge of the board.

Bad design for a number of reasons.

TTFN