Flame-Retardant PC: A Reliable Material for Power Strips

Though small and seemingly simple, a power strip contains over 50 components. Its quality is directly related to electrical safety, and the choice of housing material is a key factor in ensuring safety. Bida is here to explain the preferred material for power strip housings and its importance.

Some manufacturers, in an effort to cut costs, use materials without flame-retardant properties to make housings. Such power strips are highly prone to catching fire in case of a short circuit or when near a fire source. Additionally, some products use inferior thin copper wires as conductors; once overloaded, they can instantly cause short circuits or electric leakage, hiding serious safety hazards. In contrast, flame-retardant PC materials, with their excellent fire-resistant performance, have become an ideal choice for power strip housings — their flame-retardant rating can reach UL94 V0, the highest level in fire safety standards, making them difficult to burn even in high-temperature environments. Take Changsu PC-180 as an example: it not only meets the V0 flame-retardant requirement but also has properties such as high impact resistance, high gloss, and easy injection molding, which can meet processing and appearance needs while ensuring safety.

The flame-retardant grades of plastics increase in the order of HB, V-2, V-1, and V-0:

HB is the lowest grade, requiring that the burning rate of samples with a thickness of 3-13 mm is less than 40 mm/min (for samples with a thickness of less than 3 mm, it is less than 70 mm/min), or that the flame extinguishes before reaching the 100 mm mark.
V-2 grade needs to pass two 10-second burning tests, with the flame extinguishing within 60 seconds, and burning debris is allowed to fall.
V-1 grade also requires the flame to extinguish within 60 seconds but does not allow burning debris to fall.
V-0 grade requires the flame to extinguish within 30 seconds with no burning debris falling, and its safety is significantly better than other grades.

In addition, flame-retardant PC materials have excellent aging resistance. They are not prone to problems such as discoloration and deformation during long-term use, and can maintain the appearance integrity and structural stability of the housing. Bida reminds that the normal service life of a power strip is usually 3-5 years, which may vary according to product quality and frequency of use. If there are signs of aging such as damage, it should be replaced in time to avoid safety risks.