We present an improved version of a heat‐conduction model which leads to better‐computed values of the anodic voltage drops for electric discharges in a liquid dielectric, with a short interelectrode gap (about 50 &mgr;m) and short duration (10–1000 &mgr;s). The results obtained show monotonic variations according to the duration of the discharge and peak current, and correspond to the measured value of the total interelectrode voltage drop.