Checklist for choosing static control flooring

Design Editorial

Wednesday, 07 May 2008 12:36

Written by David H. Long

• Only conductive floors can be grounded. Standard flooring installed with ground strips or conductive adhesive will not offer any static protection.
• Any effective conductive floor can be verified with an ohm meter to determine the electrical resistance of the material. If the material does not pass the ohm meter test than it cannot be grounded.
• Conductive floors should never require any antistatic sprays or waxes to enhance or maintain performance. The conductivity should be achieved by the actual permanent physical composition of the material.
• The floor should reduce static electricity regardless of relative humidity. Ask the supplier specifically about performance in very dry conditions.
• The floor must prevent static buildup in real world conditions without special conductive shoes or shoe straps. When in doubt, ask for independent test data verifying this property. It should be available. The data should come from an installed floor and not from a lab test of new flooring.
• Never assume that a shock-free environment means a static-free environment. A shock-free environment only means that static charges are below 3500 Volts.
• Do the homework up front. It is much more costly to remove an ineffective floor and replace it than it is to do it right the first time. Any mission-critical space is only as secure as its Achilles’ heel.
• Even if your present electronics are immune to static, if at some point in the future they will be upgraded or replaced with state-of- the-art equipment, then static will be a problem. As with any potential security breach, it is always best to plan ahead.

About the Author: David H. Long is with Staticworx www.staticworx.com

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed