Static Bonding of converyors and hoppers.

Status
Not open for further replies.
tadavidson

tadavidson

Senior Member
Location
Georgia
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
I was told a conveyer would zap you pretty hard and was asked to "bond" them together and to the "hoppers" and then to the Structural Steel. Any one have opinions regarding this?
 
What material was the conveyor used for? Did you make sure it was a static shock you were recieving and that is isn't a ground fault in the machine itself?

I used to be an electrician at a chemical plant. Our urea line had a ~50' conveyor feeding 2 stainless steel hoppers. They would both develop a nasty static charge. We eventually bonded each machine frame to building structure. Sometimes a ground strap just resting on the floor is good enough.




Sent from my VS987 using Tapatalk
 
tadavidson said:
I was told a conveyer would zap you pretty hard and was asked to "bond" them together and to the "hoppers" and then to the Structural Steel. Any one have opinions regarding this?
Click to expand...
A Van deGraaf generator is a static electric generator, seen often in science experiments, that uses a moving belt to pump electrons from one place to another, building up tens of millions of volts.

An ordinary conveyor whose belt is an insulator can do the same thing, but at a lower voltage.
 
We recently installed the power to the motors for this machinery. It's not shocking any one yet but the owners asked us to bond it because, apparently, they know it's coming.
 
Assuming that the conveyors and hoppers are metallic and physically connected together, I don't see any need for bond. If there are any discontinuous parts, they need to be bonded together.
 
tadavidson said:
They do not make physical connection.
Click to expand...

With metal rollers supporting a non-conductive belt, static charges can build up between separate support units that are neither grounded nor bonded to each other.
With non-metallic rollers supporting the same belt, there may or may not be a possibility of static buildup.
 
tadavidson said:
........ and was asked to "bond" them together and to the "hoppers" and then to the Structural Steel. Any one have opinions regarding this?
Click to expand...

If the man who asked writes the check I'd simply ask him how big a conductor he wished for you to use :D

"If a man wants a blue suit, turn on the blue light"
 
augie47 said:
If the man who asked writes the check I'd simply ask him how big a conductor he wished for you to use :D

"If a man wants a blue suit, turn on the blue light"
Click to expand...

I told him to draw me a picturegram of what he wants on the back of a blank check. ;)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top