Shocking Technique

[Mayo]

I've discovered this doesn't take any special skill or training.

If you want lightning bolts of static electricity to jump from your toes through your shoes and into the concrete floor, just use a shop vac to clean up the shavings and dust from cutting Azek PVC sheets.
I can't imagine what the voltage is when this happens but the spark has to travel at least two inches.

I've also discovered that even though my Shopbot is grounded, if I attempt to do any manual cleaning of the PVC chips while the machine is running (I do not have vacuum dust/chip removal at the router) and static discharges from my arm or hand to the rails, it can cause the steppers to hiccup. This happened while using a metal handled broom (not the shop vac) on the material while the machine was cutting.

I ruined about 10 parts and 3/4 sheet of material because it changed the Z height, I didn't realize the parts were not completely cut through, and I removed the sheet from the machine. It was impossible for me to register it in the exact same position because I use screws to hold down the sheet, and tabs to hold the parts.

I'm just glad I didn't blow out any drivers!

So now I don't clean up anything near the machine while the job is running and when I do clean up, I shut off the control box.

[Chuck Keysor]

Yikes Mayo! I think I saw that spark all the way up here in Elgin! I'm glad you didn't get hurt!

I just got done posting a question about cutting PVC, so your question may save me from getting shocked.......... Chuck

[scottp55]

Thanks Mayo, BUT think I'll PASS on your technique
(Hate when I don't notice parts aren't cut all the way through!!)
scott

[Brady Watson]

Mayo,
My big PRT used to zap me like that all the time. The solution was to always have my left hand touching one of the rails to ground out, while vacuuming at the same time. The static goes where it needs to. Static has a way of reminding you to do this when you forget! You can also use a ground clip from your wrist to the machine, but you have to wear a pocket protector too, as to not create a fashion faux pas...

There are such things as 'static guns' like the ZeroStat, which are familiar to LP audiophiles. Not sure how useful they are for our work, since their output may not be high enough. I'm pretty sure they make higher output ion generators for industrial use, but I don't think the investment justifies the cost unless you are cutting 20+ sheets a day, every day.

Static guard spray? Yeah...works for like 5 min, then you have to spray it all over again. Makes the shop smell 'all pretty' but that's about it.

-B

[ssflyer]

Brady,

That's exactly what I do - leave a hand on a rail, while vacuuming.
I also have a nice pair of boots with carbon fiber throughout that my last company bought me, so I didn't have to wear a wrist or ankle static strap while working on PC boards.

I had a ZeroStat - worked well for vinyl records, but was a really localized.

[David Iannone]

Static Sucks....This time of year I get zapped all the time.

Sometime in about 1995 I was working for a Fastsigns franchise in DE. One of the designers went to load vinyl in the plotter and got zapped and fried the board. The owner bought a bracelet to put on your arm with a wire that went to the plotter. (you can imagine how everyone liked that)

I make sure now a days when static it in season, I touch something not important before I go to load my plotters or printer, its just become a weird paranoid thing.

Here is a question about static though. One day I was grabbing a 2'x4' sheet of IPI plastics engraving stock out of the rack. Mirror gold and it was rubbing against mirror gold sheet right next to it. That stuff will hit you pretty good. All it takes is the two moving against each other to get you. A friend of mine saw it happening and said he has NEVER got a static shock. I told him OK, you rub the sheets together and show me. He did and no shock. He said something about the chemical makeup in peoples body is different......? I was never good in science. IS there any truth to that? Are some people immune to static electricity shocks?

Dave

[Brady Watson]

Are some people immune to static electricity shocks?

Every living thing has an electrical field around it. This is how you know when someone is standing too close behind you etc. Yes, some people's chemistry is different than others. Things like diet can affect this. Someone with a high electrolyte intake would be 'more electric' than someone else.

There are a few of us on here who KNOW that touching the Zzero plate while it is working can cause it to fail some days. Repeatedly...YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!! (and no...that doesn't make you crazy...but something else might)

-B

[scottp55]

Could have been his footwear too? I know in the wheelchair I don't seem to get as many as many shocks as others.

[steve_g]

There are a few of us on here who KNOW that touching the Zzero plate while it is working can cause it to fail some days. Repeatedly...YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!! (and no...that doesn't make you crazy...but something else might)

This time of year I can't touch the Z-zero plate... It WILL fail! Is this not a universal experience?
SG

[Brady Watson]

This time of year I can't touch the Z-zero plate... It WILL fail! Is this not a universal experience?

No...You are one of the 'special' ones

SB Support will put you in the 'X-Files' if you ask about it...

Ever have the experience of missing time? Ever drop everything and just sculpt Devil's Tower for no apparent reason?

-B