Dealing with some static electricity in the shop.
Requesting help from all sources on how to counter this issue.
Too keep it short and simple, I understand some concepts and ideas of such a thing, but I have never dealt with or experienced any issues regarding static itself or the solutions to preventing static electricity as it stands.
Been doing some research myself but with a situation as serious as this I wanted to reach out to community and seek consult from those who have experience and expertise in such fields that I have minimal experience in.
Wear static resistant clothing, ground your equipment, ground the actual booth if possible, have a grounded door or table or something where people can discharge static before they enter the booth, no carpet anywhere near/around/in the booth.
Having a spot to discharge it before being around gas and having your equipment grounded are the 2 most important.
put in order to sport the crew with full bodied retardant jump suits, and anti static shirts from sheared, ESD shoes, ESD Mats before all doors and in front of system(s). Along with grounding all racked units.
Higher humidity is better for static, but worse for extracts, iirc somewhere around 75% humidity is ideal. Although, in a C1D1 booth there isn’t much in the way of controlling humidity other than controlling the intake air.
If you’re running outside, which, without a booth you absolutely should be, then you can’t really control that.
You need to change tables, chairs, flooraterial.amd practically anything and everything to remove this issue. It won’t go away with a prayer it buying a magic wand.
Nitrile gloves and a lot of plastics can quickly work up a lot of static. Especially in dry climates. Adding humidity can be tough if you have high air turnover. There are grounding mats too for like $100
You need below 40% RH to form a static arc. You can still form a charge between 40-60%, but it usually grounds out using the moisture in the air.
I always have an alarm set at 35% (since there is always saw in how your HVAC will work). Set it for 45% - stop work if it alarms at 35% and fix the issue, then start work again.
Everything else about static mats, wristbands, shoes, etc. sure sure, PPE is good for people. Start with the engineering controls so in case someone isn’t using the PPE correctly you have a reduced risk right off the bat.
Before my life in cannabis I worked with explosive powders with MIE of less than 0.5. Humidity was the key to maintaining our safety.
Was in touch with BHOgart about their full bodied jump suits… rather the only thing I’ve ever been attracted too from them… any response as to the quality and effectiveness of their retardant suits?