First of all, don't ever ground something to a gas pipe. In many locations the underground part of the pipe is plastic, and the part that goes into your house isn't grounded. The problem is that the mat is an insulator, so trying to ground it won't help. Maybe the wrist strap would be a good idea. Humidity would be too, and no polyester clothing is a good idea.
Yes, they do. This time of year, we have BIG troubles. We end up having to add significant moisture to the air in our house, to lessen the darned side effects. The presence of dust increases troubles so a heavy duty house cleaning, including carpets, helps reduce the zap, zap, zap.
My gas pipes are all metal, but a good point. I've also had the gas shut off for several years and last spring they actually was going to replace the meters. Since I didn't have gas, they just cut the pipe so there should be no chance of any explosions. As for the wrist straps, that would be a good option, but to try and train the crews to wear them and actually use them would be a another problem. There was something about trying to ground them never set right in my mind. Even clipping a grounding plug to them never seemed it would do the job. I think for the time being I'll just keep using the humidifier and keep some spray handy.
The problem with static electricity is it is in YOU, not the mats you put on the floor. What those mats are doing is allowing the static electricity to stay in you. You need a way to get that static to ground or at least to the same potential as whatever it is you are about to touch. That is how those ground straps work. Grounding rubber or insulating mats will do no good unless you step on the ground connection its self. Static spray works because it conducts, but that property wears off over time. The only true solution would be to put conductive material over the mats and ground that, giving you and your operators a permanent path for the static to ground.
Having the right amount of humidity in the air will go a long way in reducing static electricity. I have both carpeted areas and hardwood floors in areas of my home. I almost never have a static issue with the hardwood floor sections but certainly with the carpeted areas. Here in the spring and summer static is not an issue and usually in the fall not until a prolonged cold snap. Usually is about then during one of those cold snaps that I fire up the humidifier. As far as some statements by folks about grounding to a gas line it is a violation of code in pretty much every state to ground anything electrical to any pipe carrying a flammable, or combustible, gas or liquid. It is acceptable to ground to the water service.
Well I have to say that I have had the worst static in the last 6 months then I ever had in my life. It’s so bad that I have come to be conditioned to rubbing my arm up against things before touching anything because it’s just too painful anymore. Once in a while I forget like when someone rings the doorbell and I quickly grab the door knob which usually results in a lightning bolt coming out of my fingers and a loud scream from me scaring the hell out of everybody on the other side of the door. I don’t think I’ll ever touch a gas line, but I do have a problem at the gas station and usually have to discharge against the steel structure before grabbing the fill hose. I don’t know if the station would blow up or not, but I’m not going to try it.
Thanks, I understand that it's coming from me and that the mats are preventing the static to get to a ground. You're right it's not going to do any good to clamp a ground to the mats as they are not going to let the static get to the ground unless I make contact with it. I have given some thought to lay down some aluminum foil tape [the type that is used on furnace ducting, not the gray tape] along the edge of the mats where we would stand, then attach the grounding clip to that. Still not sure if that would work though. So far it seems to be working. I checked it again last night and still no sparks.
There is a simple, effective and low-cost approach to avoid destroying electronics with a static discharge from you. It is to get in the habit of touching a grounded metal object just before touching any exposed electronics or signal connections. Static discharges (somewhat like lightening) are never totally predicable. Sounds like you need self closing door with a grounded metal knob that has to be opened before the connection can be made or broken. This would have the added advantage of awakening:startled: the offending individuals. Bob
That's what I do now, but trying to get the crews to do that and remember that each time is the hard part. They are only exposed for a few hours every few months. I always remind them before the session. That would be great when it comes to plugging the throttles in, but not so good when something derails. Your first reaction is to grab and rerail it. Touching the rails accounts for most of the problem.
This sounds like a “static-discharge?” problem that should be resolvable to me. What sort or problem(s) are occurring? Bob
The main problem that has been occurring was I noticed that a lot, but not all, and not the same DCC chips or the same brands of chips were resetting. I'd get them set for speed matching, then a night or two later I'd notice some of them would be still matched, but they would be running about 30-40% slower and sometimes more. I didn't really come to a solid conclusion to what was causing this until this winter. Last summer I was installing a bunch of chips and programming them without any problems. Just last week I was staging the layout for a session this past weekend and I found a lot of them were running at a reduced speed again. The only thing I could confirm was I had been getting static discharges recently so this time I bought a humidifier and got some static guard spray and when we held the session, NOTHING! So it has to do with dry weather and those mats.
I'm still brainstorming how to get the ESD from the crew member through to the wire, but you can ground to the center screw on outlet covers until they start making outlets completely from plastic... Sent from the magical mystery box
Allen, I believe that the decoder-reset problem you are describing is real. But, I suspect that the static-discharge is affecting the DCC short-circuit-detection-protection process of the DCC power which is then producing a waveform(s) that is actually causing the resets. Given the way a lot of DCC decoders are designed, implemented and tested, you are most likely pursuing the best solution for this particular problem. My DCC controller’s short-circuit-detection-protection process can become so confused that it will produce a continuous DC like signal that will cause a near full speed runaway. I have also had to add an “unnecessary” diode to protect a motor control circuit from reverse-voltage spikes coming out of a full-bridge-rectifier when the DCC signal is turned on. Bob
Thank you Bob. Have encountered this problem as well? The Humidifier and the spray seems to have cured it, at least for now. I thinking it will take some more time to fully assess these actions. I have not seen this happen, but there is a chance that this could be some or part of the problem as well. Thanks for the input.
