I've had one inch sparks from the belt
to my hands while using it. Any suggestions?
It's chassis is connected to the power
plug ground.

"Jim Stewart" wrote in message ...

I've had one inch sparks from the belt
to my hands while using it. Any suggestions?
It's chassis is connected to the power
plug ground.

Either the belt's not at ground or your hands not at ground. Try connecting
a wire from your hand to the frame (might want to use a resistor to limit
current) and see if the sparks are stopped. If you are grounded and the
machine is grounded it is the electrical equivalent of a wire connecting you
to ground, the same potential (should be) as power plug ground.

RogerN

Jim Stewart wrote:

I've had one inch sparks from the belt
to my hands while using it. Any suggestions?
It's chassis is connected to the power
plug ground.
You get sparks ONLY when sanding something? The belt
is charging up the item being sanded! You need to ground that,
too. (Just a guess...)

Is this a hand-held or table-mounted sander?

And, yes, a belt sander really LOOKS like a Van de Graff,
so the problem is not too surprising.

Jon

I think the wire from you to the machine is good.

Further grounding of the machine is also advisable.
Don't trust the electric power wire.

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

"RogerN" wrote in message
m...

Either the belt's not at ground or your hands not at ground. Try connecting
a wire from your hand to the frame (might want to use a resistor to limit
current) and see if the sparks are stopped. If you are grounded and the
machine is grounded it is the electrical equivalent of a wire connecting you
to ground, the same potential (should be) as power plug ground.

RogerN

Jim Stewart wrote:
I've had one inch sparks from the belt
to my hands while using it. Any suggestions?
It's chassis is connected to the power
plug ground.

that's pretty amusing, like the lightning storm you can get with a C02
fire entinguisher.

You might try adding some type of grounded metal spikes pointing at the
surface of the belt in a couple places, as long as they're out of your
way.

This would bleed the charged off before it arcs over to you. The pointier
and closer to the belt, but not touching the better.

Even a chopped up pop can tin snipped into "spikes" and screwed into
something would probably work and cost nothing. Put some bends in the
metal so it's ridgid and doesn't flap around, tear off and fly into
your face.

Or just wet the belt, if you can.

"Jim Stewart" wrote in message
...
I've had one inch sparks from the belt
to my hands while using it. Any suggestions?
It's chassis is connected to the power
plug ground.

Get an ohmmeter and test the ground connection between the
chassis and the 3rd pin on the plug. Power cords have been known
to go bad. Less likely is a faulty ground at the outlet.
I assume you are not using a 2 wire extension cord - right?
Art

"Artemus" fired this volley in news:kef2tc$ik0$1
@dont-email.me:

Get an ohmmeter and test the ground connection between the
chassis and the 3rd pin on the plug. Power cords have been known
to go bad. Less likely is a faulty ground at the outlet.
I assume you are not using a 2 wire extension cord - right?


There's also the possibility that the non-driven pulley is framed in
plastic, and might not be grounded. That's not usually the case, since
there's almost always a metal tensioner bar pushing from chassis to
pulley.

Lloyd

On 1/31/2013 6:52 PM, Cydrome Leader wrote:
....
You might try adding some type of grounded metal spikes pointing at the
surface of the belt in a couple places, as long as they're out of your
way.

This would bleed the charged off before it arcs over to you. The pointier
and closer to the belt, but not touching the better.
...

This is the right answer. You want to conduct the charge from the belt
to the frame, to ground. So, the frame does need to be grounded.

I don't think that a gap is needed, in fact I think that direct contact
is better. If your sander has a metal platen, that should have an
electrical connection to the frame. Since it's likely that this
connection does exist, just through normal mounting hardware, it is even
more likely that you do not have a good ground on the frame.

Bob

Google:
static electricity shock from belt sander

---- and be prepared to spend an hour or two.

As others have said, an important clue is when it mostly happens on real
cold days, when the RH is quite low.

A point that many seem to miss is that it's the action of the belt rubbing
the rollers or the backing plates that rips electrons off the BACK of the
belt. This leaves the OTHER side of a non-conductive belt deficient,
creating the net charge on the side you are using.

We used to make a simple machine called an "Electrophorus" when we were
kids, that used this phenomenon to good advantage.

One way we bled off static on a particularly sensitive piece of microfilm
equipment was to wipe down everything with a weak solution of Dawn
Dishwashing soap. You might just try spritzing a little water into the air
around the sander.

Pete Stanaitis
---------------

On 2/1/2013 10:32 AM, Larry Kraus wrote:
It's static electricity. ... We solved it with an anti static wrist strap like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16899261001
Slip it on your wrist, clip it to ground and you will stop sparking.

That's weird: if you were the _source_ of the static, grounding yourself
would eliminate it. But when the static is jumping to you (you're the
_sink_), a strap wouldn't help. Might make it worse. Or that's what it
seems to me.

Bob

Is it practical to run a humidifier?
Or, that might create rust problems.

I suspct better grounding of the machine is needed.

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

"Larry Kraus" wrote in message
...

It's static electricity. My dad had that problem when sanding wood
pieces on a 1" Delta belt sander. It only happened in the dry air of
winter. We solved it with an anti static wrist strap like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16899261001
Slip it on your wrist, clip it to ground and you will stop sparking.

Jim Stewart on Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:09:38 -0800
typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:
I've had one inch sparks from the belt
to my hands while using it. Any suggestions?
It's chassis is connected to the power
plug ground.

Dry air where you are working? - those could be"static"
electricity.
--
pyotr filipivich
"With Age comes Wisdom. Although more often, Age travels alone."

On Fri, 01 Feb 2013 10:21:13 -0800, pyotr filipivich wrote:

Jim Stewart on Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:09:38 -0800
typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:
I've had one inch sparks from the belt to my hands while using it. Any
suggestions? It's chassis is connected to the power plug ground.

Dry air where you are working? - those could be"static"
electricity.

That's what it is ... charge builds up on the
outer surface of the belt, but the belt itself
is an insulator so the charge can't easily get
to ground until the voltage is high enough to
bore through the belt material.

The solution is to add a grounded metal brush
that just barely touches the belt. That'll drain
off the charge. If it doesn't ... well ... maybe
you're not as 'grounded' as you imagine. Get one
of those cheapo outlet testers.

Better ground the frame of the grinder!

Might become dangerous.

Martin

On 2/1/2013 11:14 AM, Bob Engelhardt wrote:
On 2/1/2013 10:32 AM, Larry Kraus wrote:
It's static electricity. ... We solved it with an anti static
wrist strap like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16899261001
Slip it on your wrist, clip it to ground and you will stop sparking.

That's weird: if you were the _source_ of the static, grounding yourself
would eliminate it. But when the static is jumping to you (you're the
_sink_), a strap wouldn't help. Might make it worse. Or that's what it
seems to me.

Bob

In article ,
Martin Eastburn wrote:

Better ground the frame of the grinder!

Might become dangerous.

Martin

On 2/1/2013 11:14 AM, Bob Engelhardt wrote:
On 2/1/2013 10:32 AM, Larry Kraus wrote:
It's static electricity. ... We solved it with an anti static
wrist strap like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16899261001
Slip it on your wrist, clip it to ground and you will stop sparking.

That's weird: if you were the _source_ of the static, grounding yourself
would eliminate it. But when the static is jumping to you (you're the
_sink_), a strap wouldn't help. Might make it worse. Or that's what it
seems to me.

Bob


Curious...[1] have you checked to be sure the machine is actually
grounded? As in have you tested it's outlet and ascertained that it
exhibits 'for real' electrical continuity to ground? Also, Is there
actual tested/confirmed continuity from the ground pin of the power plug
to machine frame?

It also seems to me that if the machine can't bleed off static charges,
some dramatic (and/or worse) shock scenarios could play out.

Erik

[1] Really haven't followed this thread closely as I should've before
posting... my apologies if this has been covered.

"Mr.B1ack" wrote in message
m...

The solution is to add a grounded metal brush
that just barely touches the belt. That'll drain
off the charge. If it doesn't ... well ... maybe
you're not as 'grounded' as you imagine. Get one
of those cheapo outlet testers.

My solution is to tap the work on the motor housing to release the
charge without feeling a shock.
jsw

On Sat, 02 Feb 2013 07:46:37 -0500, Jim Wilkins wrote:

"Mr.B1ack" wrote in message
m...

The solution is to add a grounded metal brush that just barely
touches the belt. That'll drain off the charge. If it doesn't ...
well ... maybe you're not as 'grounded' as you imagine. Get one of
those cheapo outlet testers.

My solution is to tap the work on the motor housing to release the
charge without feeling a shock.

Won't work. The charge is on the outer
surface of the belt, insulated from the
motor housing.

This may seem irrelevant, but if you are
grinding a lot of aluminum, creating a lot
of very fine powder, a serious static
discharge may ignite it - and aluminum
burns *very* hot.

Most belt grinders have a 'fence', a bar
or metal you hold what you're working against.
This is where the 'brush' needs to be.

"Mr.B1ack"
wrote in message
This may seem irrelevant, but if you are
grinding a lot of aluminum, creating a lot
of very fine powder, a serious static
discharge may ignite it - and aluminum
burns *very* hot.

Bull****! Mg yes, Alum no way.....

"Phil Kangas" wrote in message
...

"Mr.B1ack"
wrote in message
This may seem irrelevant, but if you are
grinding a lot of aluminum, creating a lot
of very fine powder, a serious static
discharge may ignite it - and aluminum
burns *very* hot.

Bull****! Mg yes, Alum no way.....

I just sprinkled fine aluminum grit from the bandsaw onto glowing
charcoal in the stove and watched Nothing Happen.

On 2013-02-03, Mr.B1ack wrote:

[ ... ]

This may seem irrelevant, but if you are
grinding a lot of aluminum, creating a lot
of very fine powder, a serious static
discharge may ignite it - and aluminum
burns *very* hot.

Even worse if you are alternating sanding aluminum and
iron/steel. The iron and steel dust tends to oxidize quickly when that
finely divided, and when mixed with aluminum powder, you have a pile of
thermite in wherever the dust collects. You really don't want that to
light off. :-)

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
Remove oil spill source from e-mail
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

On Feb 3, 11:03*am, "Phil Kangas" wrote:
"Mr.B1ack"

wrote in message
* This may seem irrelevant, but if you are
* grinding a lot of aluminum, creating a lot
* of very fine powder, a serious static
* discharge may ignite it - and aluminum
* burns *very* hot.

Bull****! Mg yes, Alum no way...

Yes it does. Aluminum dust is very explosive:

"On the evening of Oct. 29, 2003, a series of explosions severely
burned three employees, one fatally, and caused property damage to the
Hayes Lemmerz manufacturing plant in Huntington, Ind. The Hayes
Lemmerz plant manufactured
cast aluminum automotive wheels, and the explosions were fueled by
aluminum dust, a combustible by-product of the
production process. " (page 5)

-- http://www.nclabor.com/osha/etta/indguide/ig43.pdf

On Jan 31, 7:39*pm, "Artemus" wrote:
"Jim Stewart" wrote in message

...

I've had one inch sparks from the belt
to my hands while using it. *Any suggestions?
It's chassis is connected to the power
plug ground.

Get an ohmmeter and test the ground connection between the
chassis and the 3rd pin on the plug. *Power cords have been known
to go bad. *Less likely is a faulty ground at the outlet.
I assume you are not using a 2 wire extension cord - right?
Art

Yeah that was my thought. Any sparks should go to the metal frame of
the sander.

George H.