grounding

[thorn949]

we have a sig pac machine at work and the foil (the film) has static on it. my supervisors want me to install a ground rod? i siad no since supplemental grounds are useless and the earth is not an effective fault current path. the machine is already grounded and the roll of film should be discharged at the factory or something should be placed to discharge the static.so i guess i will try it to see what happens since the boss is always right ? any suggestions?

 

[infinity]

They are now called Auxiliary electrodes. If they're paying I would install it anyway even if it does nothing. A EGC is still required to be run with the branch circuit conductors. Here is an older graphic:

 

[LarryFine]

What, eactly, would they have you connect the wire for this extra rod to, and why wouldn't bonding that same surface/item it to the supply EGC suffice?

 

[eric9822]

Is this a packaging machine? If so winding or unwinding films frequently have issues with static electricity that needs to be dealt with. Do a search for "converting static control" and you will find a lot of vendors that deal with this problem.

 

[SG-1]

The aux electrode can provide a new path for a transient overvoltage event ( lightning ) - through this machine.