Re: [Elecraft] Bare Foot
Sam, I lack proof, but I believe that the only thing that bare foot technique provides is one cold foot. Spray your clothing and the immediate area with Static Guard will provide greater protection than the anti-static mat and wrist strap alone. 73, Don W3FPR Sam Scripter wrote: Re: Effectiveness of going Bare Foot? I'm writing in search of technical opinions. Am I in the right place? ; ) I am _not_ writing about running a rig barefoot, without an amplifier. I am writing about building my K2 and add-on kits _with one foot bare_ -- bare foot skin in direct contact with a linoleum-tile floor, and _never while on a carpet_. I do this in addition to having an anti-static mat and a wristband attached thereto. __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Bare Foot
It's (at least was when I was still working) common to use heel straps as part of ESD protection in industry. These were of similar material to wrist straps and contacted the sweat layer inside the shoe on one end and the floor on the other. The floor had to be treated with an ESD safe coating, however. Likewise, ESD mats were only cleaned with an approved cleaner and smocks that didn't generate static charges were worn over street clothing. Modern linoleum (the real stuff) often has a coating on the surface which is likely to be some kind of plastic and if you're using linoleum generically, then you might have vinyl that is also plastic and potentially an ESD generator, albeit probably not as bad as carpet. You will no doubt get an argument from some saying being connected to the floor is an unsafe thing while working on things electrical. This is true if you stand a chance of coming in contact with the A/C mains. That said, I use the bare foot technique sometimes, although the floors in my house are brick and not plastic. Wes N7WS --- On Sun, 3/28/10, Sam Scripter moscow...@verizon.net wrote: I'm writing in search of technical opinions. Am I in the right place? ; ) I am _not_ writing about running a rig barefoot, without an amplifier. I am writing about building my K2 and add-on kits _with one foot bare_ -- bare foot skin in direct contact with a linoleum-tile floor, and _never while on a carpet_. I do this in addition to having an anti-static mat and a wristband attached thereto. My questions are the following: Does the bare foot on the bare floor provide any protection at all? Does it provide protection without a mat? Does a bare foot on a non-carpeted floor add to the protection provided by an anti-static mat. I first began employing this practice in the 1980's, when I was building and frequently working on my own desktop PC clones. 73 Sam KN7C __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Bare Foot
It's (at least was when I was still working) common to use heel straps as part of ESD protection in industry. Last time I saw heel straps in use was in the late 80s at a site that builds solid fuel rocket motors for military and aerospace uses. They also had testing equipment to check that your shoes really would dissipate any static charge. When you are in a bay with a booster containing 600,000lbs of fuel, static discharges are discouraged. Mark AD5SS On Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 9:42 AM, Wes Stewart n...@yahoo.com wrote: It's (at least was when I was still working) common to use heel straps as part of ESD protection in industry. These were of similar material to wrist straps and contacted the sweat layer inside the shoe on one end and the floor on the other. The floor had to be treated with an ESD safe coating, however. Likewise, ESD mats were only cleaned with an approved cleaner and smocks that didn't generate static charges were worn over street clothing. Modern linoleum (the real stuff) often has a coating on the surface which is likely to be some kind of plastic and if you're using linoleum generically, then you might have vinyl that is also plastic and potentially an ESD generator, albeit probably not as bad as carpet. You will no doubt get an argument from some saying being connected to the floor is an unsafe thing while working on things electrical. This is true if you stand a chance of coming in contact with the A/C mains. That said, I use the bare foot technique sometimes, although the floors in my house are brick and not plastic. Wes N7WS __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Bare Foot
I work for a PCB assembly contract manufacturer, and we use foot straps to dissipate static charge. Of course, as mentioned previously, the floor must be treated to make it conductive. Art WB8ENE -- View this message in context: http://n2.nabble.com/Bare-Foot-tp4816301p4818793.html Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com. __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Bare Foot
The heel straps we wore in the factory had a strap that went up your leg and connected to bare skin above your socks with a conductive band with velcro. There wasn't any expected conductivity through your shoes. And for additional information, they were only valid on floors with conductive mats or floors that had been modified with concuctive surfaces that were connected to the ground network. The pain was leaving the protective areas, we had to remove them so they wouldn't get dirty. Static damage generally isn't immediately detectable and will fail later or cause degraded performance. Just becaues it still works doesn't mean you don't have static damage. We had electron microscopes (the company, not my job but we got to look at the damage) they used in diagnosing cause of failures and it was easy to see damage. 73, de Jim KG0KP - Original Message - From: Mark Bayern plcm...@gmail.com To: Wes Stewart n...@yahoo.com Cc: Elecraft List elecraft@mailman.qth.net Sent: Monday, March 29, 2010 10:04 AM Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Bare Foot It's (at least was when I was still working) common to use heel straps as part of ESD protection in industry. Last time I saw heel straps in use was in the late 80s at a site that builds solid fuel rocket motors for military and aerospace uses. They also had testing equipment to check that your shoes really would dissipate any static charge. When you are in a bay with a booster containing 600,000lbs of fuel, static discharges are discouraged. Mark AD5SS On Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 9:42 AM, Wes Stewart n...@yahoo.com wrote: It's (at least was when I was still working) common to use heel straps as part of ESD protection in industry. These were of similar material to wrist straps and contacted the sweat layer inside the shoe on one end and the floor on the other. The floor had to be treated with an ESD safe coating, however. Likewise, ESD mats were only cleaned with an approved cleaner and smocks that didn't generate static charges were worn over street clothing. Modern linoleum (the real stuff) often has a coating on the surface which is likely to be some kind of plastic and if you're using linoleum generically, then you might have vinyl that is also plastic and potentially an ESD generator, albeit probably not as bad as carpet. You will no doubt get an argument from some saying being connected to the floor is an unsafe thing while working on things electrical. This is true if you stand a chance of coming in contact with the A/C mains. That said, I use the bare foot technique sometimes, although the floors in my house are brick and not plastic. Wes N7WS __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Bare Foot
Actually - About a year ago, I saw both ankle wrist straps in use at a microwave manufacturing company, in both the production service areas. When I asked about the ankle straps use I was informed that the proper use of both straps was a condition of continued employment as well as the daily testing of both. But I guess when dealing with radios retailing for $30,000 and more per unit the owner can be a bit fussy. George AI4VZ It's (at least was when I was still working) common to use heel straps as part of ESD protection in industry. Last time I saw heel straps in use was in the late 80s . __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Bare Foot
Foot straps are pretty common , but are useless unless you have conductive floors (always get in arguments with QA as my lab has non conductive floors, and they want to get rid of all the chairs without draggers). Matt W8ESE __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Bare Foot [ END of thread]
Folks - Lets end this thread (and the associated anti-static mat threads). Looks like it has been beaten into submission, and the number of posts on the subject are above the list pain threshold ;-) 73, Eric WA6HHQ List Moderator. On 3/29/2010 8:53 AM, Jim Miller KG0KP wrote: The heel straps we wore in the factory had a strap that went up your leg and connected to bare skin above your socks with a conductive band with velcro. __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Bare Foot
Just wondering on the wisdom of attaching a wire to one's ankle and then contacting live voltage with your hand! As an EMT that was the worst scenario for Cardiac Shock and Death due to electrocution. The ankle and wrist straps are supposed to have added resistance to avoid this, still...??? I know that when I work on my 4kV QRO power supply, that I will not be wearing any conductive bracelets, rings, watch bands, etc. But that is a different subject ;-) Most of us probably have the ham shack in a spare bedroom with carpeting (I do), so using an anti-static mat when working with sensitive devices is just being smart with your money. I bought mine from a regional electronic supplier for $29.95 (came with a coiled cord with alligator clip). I had a wrist strap, already. I did not bother with tying this into my home safety ground. But humidity is above 35% and not experiencing any static shocks that are typical in winter's low humidity. I think I will bring my radio ground to the work bench instead of using house wiring (shorter run to earth-ground). 73, Ed The K3 is like the proverbial onion, got a lot of layers to peal! -- Message: 37 Date: Mon, 29 Mar 2010 10:04:55 -0500 From: Mark Bayern plcm...@gmail.com Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Bare Foot To: Wes Stewart n...@yahoo.com Cc: Elecraft List elecraft@mailman.qth.net Message-ID: 20b22a251003290804y510496bbt4cebaa026f7d1...@mail.gmail.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 It's (at least was when I was still working) common to use heel straps as part of ESD protection in industry. Last time I saw heel straps in use was in the late 80s at a site that builds solid fuel rocket motors for military and aerospace uses. They also had testing equipment to check that your shoes really would dissipate any static charge. When you are in a bay with a booster containing 600,000lbs of fuel, static discharges are discouraged. Mark AD5SS On Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 9:42 AM, Wes Stewart n...@yahoo.com wrote: It's (at least was when I was still working) common to use heel straps as part of ESD protection in industry.? These were of similar material to wrist straps and contacted the sweat layer inside the shoe on one end and the floor on the other.? The floor had to be treated with an ESD safe coating, however. ?Likewise, ESD mats were only cleaned with an approved cleaner and smocks that didn't generate static charges were worn over street clothing. Modern linoleum (the real stuff) often has a coating on the surface which is likely to be some kind of plastic and if you're using linoleum generically, then you might have vinyl that is also plastic and potentially an ESD generator, albeit probably not as bad as carpet. You will no doubt get an argument from some saying being connected to the floor is an unsafe thing while working on things electrical. This is true if you stand a chance of coming in contact with the A/C mains. That said, I use the bare foot technique sometimes, although the floors in my house are brick and not plastic. Wes ?N7WS 73, Ed - KL7UW, WD2XSH/45 == BP40IQ 500 KHz - 10-GHz www.kl7uw.com 500-KHz/CW, 144-MHz EME, 1296-MHz EME DUBUS Magazine USA Rep dubus...@hotmail.com == __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
[Elecraft] Bare Foot -- Thank you!
RE: Bare Foot Thank you to all of you who took time to keyboard thoughtful, informative, reasoned, and experiential replies to my questions about building gear with one foot bare to the floor. I did build my K2 on top of an anti-static mat, tied to the attachment screw of a wall receptacle cover plate, and with a wrist band attached to my mat. But, every once in a while, I run into seriously given advice about employing a bare foot when working on the innards of a PC. I wondered why the bare foot was never mentioned in the prolonged antistatic mat thread, here. Now I know. Thank you, again. Topic now DONE! Sam I am in Moscow KN7C __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
[Elecraft] Bare Foot
Re: Effectiveness of going Bare Foot? I'm writing in search of technical opinions. Am I in the right place? ; ) I am _not_ writing about running a rig barefoot, without an amplifier. I am writing about building my K2 and add-on kits _with one foot bare_ -- bare foot skin in direct contact with a linoleum-tile floor, and _never while on a carpet_. I do this in addition to having an anti-static mat and a wristband attached thereto. My questions are the following: Does the bare foot on the bare floor provide any protection at all? Does it provide protection without a mat? Does a bare foot on a non-carpeted floor add to the protection provided by an anti-static mat. I first began employing this practice in the 1980's, when I was building and frequently working on my own desktop PC clones. 73 Sam KN7C __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
