The article describes the principles of the method of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. There is described a method for the possible application of the XPS method in fire-technical expertise. There ar given criteria for determining the type of short circuit on electrical products removed from the fire. Depending on the conditions of the occurrence of the circuit of the conductors changes their chemical composition. There are describe of the implementation of existing methods of analysis used in fire laboratories. There given a brief description of the main components of the time-of-flight spectrometer, including an x-ray tube, time-of-flight energy analyzer, and the principles of their operation. Application of the principle of aggregation of spectrometer elements makes it possible to simplify the adaptation of the method of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to solving problems in the field of fire safety. There is describe experimental technique in the author’s spectrometer.

Keywords: X-ray spectrometer, x-ray tube, photoelectron spectrum, vacuum system, short circuit, fire-technical expertise, time-of-flight energy analyzer