Creepage vs Clearance: The Two Distances That Stop Electricity Jumping

Two distances decide whether a circuit board is safe at high voltage: clearance, the shortest path through the air, and creepage, the shortest path along the surface. They are not the same, and the surface one is usually the problem.

The video shows arcing through air, tracking along a contaminated surface, and why slots and ribs on a board make the creepage path longer without making the board bigger.

In this video

• Clearance versus creepage
• Why surfaces fail before air does
• Pollution degree and material tracking index
• Slots, ribs and conformal coating