Running a ground wire to a press

[acekc]

I have my reloading bench in my basement. I've secured it to the wall and am generally happy with the setup but I do notice indications of static electricity in the powder measure for example. I've seen the dryer sheet suggestion but I'd rather ground the press once than monkey around with dryer sheets on multiple powder measures etc.

The house is only a few years old so all the outlets have a proper ground. Would the following work? Take a power cord with a three-prong plug (computer power supply cord for example) and cut off the end opposite the plug that goes in the wall. Use the continuity function of a multimeter to find the wire connected to the round ground pin on the plug. Cut the other two wires back shorter and seal the ends of each with heatshrink tubing to ensure they never contact each other or anything else. Connect the ground pin wire to the press and then plug it into a power strip.

If that wouldn't work for some reason I'd appreciate alternate suggestions on what would. I've seen passing references to ground wires on presses before but never any explanation of how it's done.

[Babaganoosh]

You don't have to go thru all that to ground the press. Do some google searches. People ground Pc's all the time.

[KentG]

I used a ring terminal to the bolts under the bench. I also put a small resistor inline as well.

[Dangasaur]

I have my reloading bench in my basement. I've secured it to the wall and am generally happy with the setup but I do notice indications of static electricity in the powder measure for example. I've seen the dryer sheet suggestion but I'd rather ground the press once than monkey around with dryer sheets on multiple powder measures etc.

The house is only a few years old so all the outlets have a proper ground. Would the following work? Take a power cord with a three-prong plug (computer power supply cord for example) and cut off the end opposite the plug that goes in the wall. Use the continuity function of a multimeter to find the wire connected to the round ground pin on the plug. Cut the other two wires back shorter and seal the ends of each with heatshrink tubing to ensure they never contact each other or anything else. Connect the ground pin wire to the press and then plug it into a power strip.

If that wouldn't work for some reason I'd appreciate alternate suggestions on what would. I've seen passing references to ground wires on presses before but never any explanation of how it's done.

Just get a copper wire, speaker or otherwise, and attach a "banana plug" to it. That will fit in snugly with the grounding pin in a 3 prong socket. Now you don't have to worry about any hot wires.

Also, this all sounds like a lot more work then wiping down a powder measure with a dryer sheet. My press was grounded for a while but I found that it was no substitute for the dryer sheet workover that the powder measure gets a couple times each season.

[KentG]

I have my reloading bench in my basement. I've secured it to the wall and am generally happy with the setup but I do notice indications of static electricity in the powder measure for example. I've seen the dryer sheet suggestion but I'd rather ground the press once than monkey around with dryer sheets on multiple powder measures etc.

The house is only a few years old so all the outlets have a proper ground. Would the following work? Take a power cord with a three-prong plug (computer power supply cord for example) and cut off the end opposite the plug that goes in the wall. Use the continuity function of a multimeter to find the wire connected to the round ground pin on the plug. Cut the other two wires back shorter and seal the ends of each with heatshrink tubing to ensure they never contact each other or anything else. Connect the ground pin wire to the press and then plug it into a power strip.

If that wouldn't work for some reason I'd appreciate alternate suggestions on what would. I've seen passing references to ground wires on presses before but never any explanation of how it's done.

Just get a copper wire, speaker or otherwise, and attach a "banana plug" to it. That will fit in snugly with the grounding pin in a 3 prong socket. Now you don't have to worry about any hot wires.

Also, this all sounds like a lot more work then wiping down a powder measure with a dryer sheet. My press was grounded for a while but I found that it was no substitute for the dryer sheet workover that the powder measure gets a couple times each season.

Grounding has helped mine to the point I dont need the dryer sheet and I usually batch reload in the winter when humidity is low and static is higher. Once its grounded its done so you can still do the dryer sheet. I just used a piece of 18 ga MTW and snaked it under the outlet cover to the ground. Still get to use both outlets. Its behind the bench so the cosmetic issue of the wire going in the outlet is not a issue. Good luck.

Edited March 1, 2012 by Kent Grewe

[TCBDoubleTap]

Would the following work? Take a power cord with a three-prong plug (computer power supply cord for example) and cut off the end opposite the plug that goes in the wall. Use the continuity function of a multimeter to find the wire connected to the round ground pin on the plug. Cut the other two wires back shorter and seal the ends of each with heatshrink tubing to ensure they never contact each other or anything else. Connect the ground pin wire to the press and then plug it into a power strip.

I would not recommend your suggested approach. If you're going to use the ground wire in a power cord, you should cut off the prongs of the plug so that the only part left that goes into the outlet is the ground pin. Otherwise the wires in the cord are still hot.

A better way - as others have recommended - is to run a separate ground wire from your press to the center screw on an outlet cover. I grounded my press by running a ground wire with a spade connector on the mounting bolt under the bench over to a grounded electrical conduit. That way I don't have any wires across the top of my bench.

Tom

[NoSteel]

Most water or gas pipes are grounded. I just ran mine from the press to a water pipe since I'm in a basement anyway.

[snake32]

if you are going to ground a press buy a ground rod, place it into the ground and run your wire to that. do not ground to your existing electrical circuit. think about this, if you ground your press to your electrical circuit and have a short some where in your house it can put positive power to your press. i seen a problem in a house where the water lines were used for the grounding source. a clock in an oven shorted out. the water at every faucet had 118 volts on it. you could take a meter put one lead to ground and the other in the running water and it would read 118v. be safe and ground properly if you are going to use a ground. btw a resister inline on the ground wire is a good idea.

[Rotisiv]

if you are going to ground a press buy a ground rod, place it into the ground and run your wire to that. do not ground to your existing electrical circuit. think about this, if you ground your press to your electrical circuit and have a short some where in your house it can put positive power to your press. i seen a problem in a house where the water lines were used for the grounding source. a clock in an oven shorted out. the water at every faucet had 118 volts on it. you could take a meter put one lead to ground and the other in the running water and it would read 118v. be safe and ground properly if you are going to use a ground. btw a resister inline on the ground wire is a good idea.

Ground is ground don't use the cold water line for ground. All grounds run back to the distribution panel ground buss which is bonded to the ground rod outside your house. The neutral is connected to the neutral buss which is bonded to the ground buss in the distribution panel. All appliances are grounded unless double insulated. If a fault occurs in an appliance (not double insulated) an the appliance is grounded the fault goes to ground and trips a breaker in the distribution panel. If you have a appliance that faults and because of the fault there is 120 vac nominal at the faucet's get an electrician you have a problem your ground isn't ground. Don't use the cold water for ground because newer homes use pvc for piping or if metal there might have been a break in the cold water piping and pvc was used to repair the break. PVC piping is not a conductor of electricity. I have a dillion square deal b if I were going to ground the press I would put a ground strap to the charge handle, press frame, powder measure and my wrist. The source of static electricity is probably the person operating the press not the press. Ground straps can be purchased at electronic supplies stores. They are used when working on electronic components so the static electricity build up on the person’s body doesn't discharge to the component and fry it.

[snake32]

what Rotisiv said is partially true. or should i say true in theory. electricity goes to ground in the shortest most direct manner.

as he said "Ground is ground don't use the cold water line for ground. All grounds run back to the distribution panel ground buss which is bonded to the ground rod outside your house."

well most grounds that are tied to a water pipe do not have a ground rod. electrical 101 they relie on the grounding surface of the steel pipe in the ground which in most cases is not set deep enough to provide a proper ground.

The neutral is connected to the neutral buss which is bonded to the ground buss in the distribution panel.

very true

All appliances are grounded unless double insulated. definately not true. is only true to newer appliances.

If you have an appliance that faults and because of the fault there is 120 vac nominal at the faucet's get an electrician you have a problem your ground isn't ground. true get an electrician but remember electricity takes its path to ground in the shortest most direct path. if you are the shortest most direct path then guess where its going.

Don't use the cold water for ground because newer homes use pvc for piping or if metal there might have been a break in the cold water piping and pvc was used to repair the break. PVC piping is not a conductor of electricity. true always use a ground rod never existing plumbing.

[TMC]

I have mine grounded to a foundation bolt for wall.

[GT1]

Yes, grounding to your wall outlet doesn't seem like a great idea to me. If you happen to have contact with a hot source you are going to be an unrestricted path to ground. Zzzzap! Not pretty I'd guess.

Have something inline that will pop before you do?

I don't know, I'm not a sparky, I'll stick to dryer sheets for now.

[DsWright]

Most water or gas pipes are grounded. I just ran mine from the press to a water pipe since I'm in a basement anyway.

this isn't really true anymore. Especially in Homes newer than 20 years. You might want to make sure it's grounded to be sure. Even in older homes all it takes is one section repaired with PVC or PEX, or even Sharkbite fittings to ruin your ground. Cost of copper and convenience/cost of PEX has made it the choice to use. Not to mention less people breaking into home construction sites to strip your copper

Just a PSA =)

Edited March 15, 2012 by DsWright

[Ming the Merciless]

Since you are grounding the press to eliminate static electricity, grounding to the water pipes or any other large metal body will suffice to drain off any static build-up on the press because there is no large current flow compared to grounding electrical circuits. All you are trying to do is bleed off stray electrons, not a continuous flow of electrical current so all the extreme grounding requirement for your entire homes electrical load is not required.

[JimmyZip]

Since you are grounding the press to eliminate static electricity, grounding to the water pipes or any other large metal body will suffice to drain off any static build-up on the press because there is no large current flow compared to grounding electrical circuits. All you are trying to do is bleed off stray electrons, not a continuous flow of electrical current so all the extreme grounding requirement for your entire homes electrical load is not required.

+100. This is it.

[Ming the Merciless]

I also recommend that you use very small gauge wire and install a 1 megohm resistor inline for your safety. This is what I use:

ESD Ground Cord

[RGinIdaho]

what Rotisiv said is partially true. or should i say true in theory. electricity goes to ground in the shortest most direct manner.

You are correct, partially. In the event of a short circuit, current will follow all paths to ground at pretty much at the speed of light. The path with the lowest impedance will carry the most current but all paths will carry some. Think about parallel circuits.

The human body limb tip to limb tip is generally assumed to be about 1k ohms.

How much fault current is available at your panel or outlet?

I=V/R

Remember about 100milliamperes of current is generally consider lethal.

I would imagine the current would be quite small in most applications but I wouldn't put money on it.

Just some fun stuff. I wouldn't let it worry you but it does help to understand what risk you might encounter should you make the wrong choices...

I'm not real keen on grounding my presses. I figure that in the event that I am the object carrying a static charge and touch the press I may create an arc that ignites something. A little sticky powder on a piece of plastic has never seemed to be a safety issue to me and I haven't noticed it impacting charge weights.

Someone above mentioned a grounding strap from the wrist to the machine. That seems like it would solve the human to press static issue by creating an equipotential condition.

[TCBDoubleTap]

I also recommend that you use very small gauge wire and install a 1 megohm resistor inline for your safety. This is what I use:

ESD Ground Cord

Just curious - why do you recommend a very small gauge wire - and how does adding a resistor improve safety?

Thanks!

Tom

[jiw275]

I also recommend that you use very small gauge wire and install a 1 megohm resistor inline for your safety. This is what I use:

ESD Ground Cord

Just curious - why do you recommend a very small gauge wire - and how does adding a resistor improve safety?

Thanks!

Tom

Increases impedance and limits current.

Mike

[jmorris]

Now I'm generally one to be accused of over thinking a project but just how much current are you guys running into your presses? FWIW an easy way is to use a metal bench and have at least one of your presses autodrive/pluged in.

[Rolex]

Well you all have given me something to think about!

I have been reloading since 1988, and have never

grounded my press.

Think I'll call my electrician and see what he has to

say about this issue.

Are any of you posters electricians? Just wondering.

[snake32]

i never have grounded a preas but do know the proper way to do so. i dont see the advantage of it. if you are trying to reduce static electricity in your press then why not insulate it from ground and wear rubber gloves while loading. that way there is no transfer of static so no spark. wouldnt it being grounded cause the transfer and a spark? im not an electricion but i have done electrical work all of my life. just dont have the papers. personaly my presses are mounted to a wood bench and i load normaly without a ground and always have.

[RGinIdaho]

Sparky here but can't say I know it all...

[Ming the Merciless]

Well you all have given me something to think about!

I have been reloading since 1988, and have never

grounded my press.

Think I'll call my electrician and see what he has to

say about this issue.

Are any of you posters electricians? Just wondering.

Don't call an electrician, you're not trying to hook up an electric dryer, call an electronics technician, they know how to deal with ESD (static electricity)