Para super Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 I know of one person setting off a tray full of primers with a static discharge. Cut up his hand pretty good. There should be some best practices written for this problem. Carpet in the area is a bad idea. Direct wiring the press to a ground is a bad idea. It can cause a static discharge with the high current spark. A better practice is to ground the press through a 1 Megohm resistor that limits the discharge current to a non dangerous value. It is better to dissipate the charge rather than a high current discharge. Having a bare concrete floor does help dissipate the charge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustybayonet Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 On Wednesday, December 20, 2017 at 4:05 PM, IGOTGLOCKED said: How do you ground your press or reloading area? I searched and the discussions found became a debate on US vs: UK voltage - blah, blah ,blah. No idea where that was going.. My 650 is mounted on a wooden bench, concrete floor, HVAC controlled environment, LED lighting if that makes any difference and I also have the LED lighting kit on my press Thanks in advance for any suggestions! Easiest thing to do is when loading primers, when primer tube is in position, touch the metal primer tube and a metal part on your press. The static charge will be equlized. If your press is near the earth, run a wire to a ground rod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sitw Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 On 12/27/2017 at 2:18 PM, 9x45 said: ^^^^^^ Oh yes it will. I know of at least 3 shooters that blew up the primer magazine on 550's from static discharge. One guy lost the very tip of his trigger finger. The federal government contracted with Sandia labs to study it. Your tax $$$ at work. https://www.osti.gov/scitech/servlets/purl/10131328 Great find, as I said, best way to determine for certain is test in a lab. Unfortunately even the Sandia test report is inconclusive. They state that even for the primers that proved sensitive, their test method was not representative of normal handling conditions. Guess it shows it is possible under perfect and extreme conditions. Anyone still worried, set your loading bench up like an electrical bench with a grounding strap and mat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lgh Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 If there is a grounded case feeder connected to the press, is the press grounded? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDA Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 Yes, which is exactly why the static charge jumps from you to the press! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lgh Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 6 hours ago, TDA said: Yes, which is exactly why the static charge jumps from you to the press! Never had it happen in 20+ years. My mat is on a concrete floor in the basement. Never too dry down there. Maybe that is why? I'm trying to determine if there is any reason for concern even after 20+ years. Probably not but wife would not be happy if I blew a load of primers! Neither would I. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sitw Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 4 hours ago, lgh said: Never had it happen in 20+ years. My mat is on a concrete floor in the basement. Never too dry down there. Maybe that is why? I'm trying to determine if there is any reason for concern even after 20+ years. Probably not but wife would not be happy if I blew a load of primers! Neither would I. From the report, quote: "Tests of the percussion primers generally show a sensitivity. The test configuration of injecting the spark into the interior of the primer is highly unlikely in an actual environment. The device may be insensitive due to its physical configuration of being enclosed in a metal case. Given this consideration, it is still evident that the materials used in some of these primers are very sensitive. It is possible, although unlikely, that a spark discharge to the exterior primer case might result in an initiation." The only primer similar to anything we would use or handle that they were able to ignite was a small pistol primer at the most severe level of their test configuration. They repeated 3 more times and could not duplicate the initiation after the first and only initiation. If anyone has a concern, they should read the report and decide for themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Scott Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 I grounded my press by attaching a wire to the water feed coming into my house. Didn't do it for safety, but to reduce powder cling in the hopper. Seems to have worked well for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IGOTGLOCKED Posted January 7, 2018 Author Share Posted January 7, 2018 On 12/22/2017 at 10:35 AM, 9x45 said: ^^^^ Yes, for a true earth ground, but you don't actually have to. All that is needed is to lower the potential that has built up on you before letting the primers drop in the magazine by touching the press. Static electricity discharge can cause primers to detonate Even if the press is not grounded? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IGOTGLOCKED Posted January 7, 2018 Author Share Posted January 7, 2018 On 12/25/2017 at 3:40 AM, CamboSoup22 said: Attach it to the press. Even if the press is floating it will make the potential of you and the press the same. Thus your interaction with the press should not have any static discharge. Otherwise you would have to derive an earth ground in one of the ways suggested and then ground your press. Then you would still want to touch the ground or connect yourself with an esd strap to that ground plane to prevent any static discharge. Maybe start with the first part and if it is still an issue then work on a better ground scheme. I do have a ground rod through the concrete in my shop which is the next room over. I could attach a wire to it and run it into my reloading room and attach it to my press and the mat on which I stand..? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IGOTGLOCKED Posted January 7, 2018 Author Share Posted January 7, 2018 On 12/25/2017 at 10:24 AM, 9x45 said: Correct, but it is of a lower potential. All that does is discharge you onto to the press so both potentials are of the same value. Thank you, I now understand... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamboSoup22 Posted January 7, 2018 Share Posted January 7, 2018 34 minutes ago, IGOTGLOCKED said: I do have a ground rod through the concrete in my shop which is the next room over. I could attach a wire to it and run it into my reloading room and attach it to my press and the mat on which I stand..? That should be good. Let us know how it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom S. Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Beneath the bench my 650 is bolted to is a 1/4" steel plate the press mounting bolts pass through. The plate is grounded via 12GA wire to the electrical ground about a foot away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IGOTGLOCKED Posted January 9, 2018 Author Share Posted January 9, 2018 1 hour ago, Tom S. said: Beneath the bench my 650 is bolted to is a 1/4" steel plate the press mounting bolts pass through. The plate is grounded via 12GA wire to the electrical ground about a foot away. Thx Tom, I was going to ask what ga wire... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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