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Shocking.....

Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2004 7:05 pm
by Lisa Allen
Well, I got 2 alligator clips and a length of ground wire and hooked one end up to my sandblasting cabinet and the other to the black iron piping system that I put up, but I am still getting the crap shocked out of me. What have I done wrong?

Lisa

Re: Shocking.....

Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2004 7:06 pm
by Brock
Lisa Allen wrote:Well, I got 2 alligator clips and a length of ground wire and hooked one end up to my sandblasting cabinet and the other to the black iron piping system that I put up, but I am still getting the crap shocked out of me. What have I done wrong?

Lisa
Unhook the battery.

Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2004 7:11 pm
by Ron Coleman
Try grounding yourself to the cabinet. Wrap some small bare wire around your wrist or arm and attach the other end to the cabinet.

Not sure this will work, but it should. There are special grounding wrist bands made that look like a wrist watch expansion band with a wire attached.

Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2004 7:15 pm
by Jackie Beckman
Hey Brock, do you remember that quiet, demure sweet lady who took one of the B&A classes here? She was very very nice and looked so conservative - wore her hair in a bun every day and was so soft spoken? Then we were outside on the patio having a drink after class and she matter of factly said, "I was so surprised when I was sandblasting - when I leaned up against the cabinet it just shocked the hell out of my tits." :shock: I about had wine shoot out my nose!

Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2004 7:21 pm
by Brock
Jackie Beckman wrote:Hey Brock, do you remember that quiet, demure sweet lady who took one of the B&A classes here? She was very very nice and looked so conservative - wore her hair in a bun every day and was so soft spoken? Then we were outside on the patio having a drink after class and she matter of factly said, "I was so surprised when I was sandblasting - when I leaned up against the cabinet it just shocked the hell out of my tits." :shock: I about had wine shoot out my nose!
Yeah, I actually have a little spiel abot it for women who haven't blasted before. It's very subtle. Brock

Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2004 7:26 pm
by nancyB inMD
There was a good discussion about metal cabinets , aluminum oxide and grounding on the sandcarvers group of yahoo several months back. I clipped the following, specifically about the wrist strap:

"Current seeks the most direct path to ground. So if a spark does jump
to an electrical wire it will aim for the ground wire and follow it to
the earth. lightening which can hit power lines will follow the power
lines through all your appliances to jump to the ground wire. The big
spark is only going through the power line to find ground, it would
much prefer to go there directly.

If you have no water pipe or easy way to pound a rod into the ground
and run a wire you can run 1 wire from your cabinet to the ground pin
of a wall plug and plug it into any 3 wire wall outlet. The amount of
current your generating with static is very small in terms of a ground
wire. Just be sure it is going to the round prong on the plug and not
either of the 2 flat ones.

The problem might also be that you, rather than the cabinet is getting
charged up and that the current is jumping from you to the cabinet to
find a ground. In that case the wrist strap that was mentioned would
be needed. If the cabinet is well grounded the best place to run the
wrist strap would be to the cabinet so that you and the cabinet would
have the same ground potential which would give the spark no reason to
want to flow between you and the cabinet since it has a much simpler
path with the wire."

hope this helps
nancyB

Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2004 7:50 pm
by Chip
Jackie Beckman wrote:Hey Brock, do you remember that quiet, demure sweet lady who took one of the B&A classes here? She was very very nice and looked so conservative - wore her hair in a bun every day and was so soft spoken? Then we were outside on the patio having a drink after class and she matter of factly said, "I was so surprised when I was sandblasting - when I leaned up against the cabinet it just shocked the hell out of my tits." :shock: I about had wine shoot out my nose!
And you just made water shoot out my nose!! :D :D :D

Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2004 7:51 pm
by Amy on Salt Spring
Jackie Beckman wrote:Hey Brock, do you remember that quiet, demure sweet lady who took one of the B&A classes here? She was very very nice and looked so conservative - wore her hair in a bun every day and was so soft spoken? Then we were outside on the patio having a drink after class and she matter of factly said, "I was so surprised when I was sandblasting - when I leaned up against the cabinet it just shocked the hell out of my tits." :shock: I about had wine shoot out my nose!
This made me laugh so hard! Is this something you can replicate for recreational purposes!?
Amy

Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2004 7:58 pm
by Brock
Amy on Salt Spring wrote:
Jackie Beckman wrote:Hey Brock, do you remember that quiet, demure sweet lady who took one of the B&A classes here? She was very very nice and looked so conservative - wore her hair in a bun every day and was so soft spoken? Then we were outside on the patio having a drink after class and she matter of factly said, "I was so surprised when I was sandblasting - when I leaned up against the cabinet it just shocked the hell out of my tits." :shock: I about had wine shoot out my nose!
This made me laugh so hard! Is this something you can replicate for recreational purposes!?
Amy
That's where the battery comes in! Brock

Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2004 8:03 pm
by Tony Smith
A couple of things to try: Since the charge is from the aluminum oxide particles traveling though the hose, take some light gauge copper wire and wrap it around the handle of the gun then stick it under the clamp where the hose attaches to the gun, then wrap it around the hose at a pitch of maybe a turn an inch until you get to the cabinet then wrap that end around a screw... make sure there's bare metal there. That should reduce the charge somewhat. It'll also ground the gun and one of your gloves. Then, take another piece of copper wire and connect the grid in your cabinet to the cabinet shell (or take an ohm meter and make sure there's very low resistance between them) then make sure the cabinet is grounded to a water pipe. With all that done, you should reduce your chance of shock significantly.

Tony

ps: as far as zapping my tits, I never had that problem. :?

Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2004 8:33 pm
by Ron Coleman
ps: as far as zapping my tits, I never had that problem.
If you dress like you did for the calender, you may find out the hard way.

Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2004 1:15 am
by Larry Lunsford
Make sure your iron pipe is grounded. You didn't say what the iron pipe is for (I'm guessing its your air supply). Hopefully, you're not trying to ground your cabinet to a gas line.

Usually copper water supply lines make a reliable ground point.

Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2004 1:28 am
by Lisa Allen
Larry Lunsford wrote:Make sure your iron pipe is grounded. You didn't say what the iron pipe is for (I'm guessing its your air supply). Hopefully, you're not trying to ground your cabinet to a gas line.

Usually copper water supply lines make a reliable ground point.
It is my air supply, Larry. How do I ground it?

My solution thus far is to wear enough layers that the shocks are dull, but I am going to be glowing soon if I don't get this taken care of...

lisa

Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2004 1:32 am
by Nickie Jordan
My question is ; Is Aluminum Oxide more 'shocking' than silicon carbide ? I've been using the stuff for years (silicon), never had a shock. I always wear cotton clothes and rubber soles - standing on asphalt. Never have I worn a ground wire.

Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2004 2:06 am
by frenchacidman
Getting shocked when blasting with aluminum oxide?
Hook a ground wire to the metal cabinet (Make sure to make contact with clean metal and not paint). Connect the other end to the blasting nozzle. Use a hose clamp or allegator clip. This will collect ALL the static charges caused by the abrasive grains and dry air racing through the rubber (and probably nylon composite) hose. This is where the static shock is generated, not the pot or air compressor.
Sometimes when blasting large mirrors on my steel sandblasting frame, I have had to use a ground wire to ground the plate glass mirrors to the steel frame during sandblasting, otherwise the static sparks, some better than 1" long will blow or burn the silver off the edges of the mirrors leaving a noticable black line or clear glass, ruining the mirror.

Pat

Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2004 7:02 am
by Tony Smith
Nickie Jordan wrote:My question is ; Is Aluminum Oxide more 'shocking' than silicon carbide ? I've been using the stuff for years (silicon), never had a shock. I always wear cotton clothes and rubber soles - standing on asphalt. Never have I worn a ground wire.
Yes, Aluminum Oxide is way more shocking than Silicon Carbide... it's just the nature of the beast. It also is more "clingy". Once it develops a static charge, it tends to cling to everything.

As far as grounding your black pipe, since your pipe runs outside onto the patio, it may be easiest for you to drive a grounding rod into the ground and attach it to your black pipe with a piece of #8 uninsulated copper wire. There are special pipe clamps available at electric supply houses or Home Depot for grounding pipes... just know what the diameter of your pipe is. In lieu of that, you could tuck the grounding wire under a hose clamp around the pipe.

Tony

Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2004 8:54 am
by Phil Hoppes
Jackie Beckman wrote:Hey Brock, do you remember that quiet, demure sweet lady who took one of the B&A classes here? She was very very nice and looked so conservative - wore her hair in a bun every day and was so soft spoken? Then we were outside on the patio having a drink after class and she matter of factly said, "I was so surprised when I was sandblasting - when I leaned up against the cabinet it just shocked the hell out of my tits." :shock: I about had wine shoot out my nose!
Jackie, Jackie, Jackie........Others have said it before...you need to write a book. You have such a great way of saying things either sensitive stories about those you care about or stories like the above. You are such a trip you bring a little joy to all of us every day. \:D/

Phil

Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2004 8:59 am
by Jackie Beckman
Phil Hoppes wrote:
Jackie Beckman wrote:Hey Brock, do you remember that quiet, demure sweet lady who took one of the B&A classes here? She was very very nice and looked so conservative - wore her hair in a bun every day and was so soft spoken? Then we were outside on the patio having a drink after class and she matter of factly said, "I was so surprised when I was sandblasting - when I leaned up against the cabinet it just shocked the hell out of my tits." :shock: I about had wine shoot out my nose!
Jackie, Jackie, Jackie........Others have said it before...you need to write a book. You have such a great way of saying things either sensitive stories about those you care about or stories like the above. You are such a trip you bring a little joy to all of us every day. \:D/

Phil
Gee Phil - that's such a nice thing to say. :oops: Thanks.