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Originally Posted by MRX37
It's kinda funny to me that they would use WAX and PAPER in a component that has the potential to arc and catch fire.
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Actually, both of those materials are excellent insulators. And, remember, sixty years ago, modern synthetic epoxy resins did not exist.
Flybacks can catch fire, this is true. But, aside from making a lot of nasty smelling smoke, they shouldn't cause much else to catch fire. The chassis is made from metal. And I seriously doubt that a burning flyback would be able to make a large enough (or hot enough) flame to be able to catch the inside of the cabinet on fire.
A larger problem with the old wax and paper components (flybacks, capacitors), isn't so much that they could theoretically catch fire, but that they have a tendancy to be affected my moisture. The wax/paper combination is OK at sealing out moisture, but not as good as, say, plastic. The moisture gets into the component, corrodes/breaks down the dielectric properties of the materials, and the component fails.
Wax also melts fairly easily. So, if the flyback gets too hot (caused perhaps by a HO section drawing too much current), the insulating wax melts away, then a partial short forms - then you get an arc, and burning.
-Ian