DOES ANYONE WORRY ABOUT STATIC ELECTRICITY??

[74man]

Does anyone worry about static electricity when reloading? My brother in law mentioned it the other day and I had no reply because it is the first time I have even considered it when reloading. I guess it could happen, but I have never thought about it. Should I ground the equipment, Press, Powder hopper or anything else? I am confused cause I don't really know anything about electricity, please advise me about static electricity when reloading. Thanks from I need to know!!!

 

[Hugger-4641]

Grounding your press or other equipment is never a bad idea, but for reloading with a manual press, static is more of an inconvenience than a fire hazard. Powder sticking to the funnel or other plastic parts is the main annoyance. Aluminum funnels solve this problem. Yes, theoretically you could scuff your rubber soled shoes across the carpet and then touch off some powder, but from normal powder dropping and case charging, you aren't moving enough material to build up a spark producing charge. Pouring large quantities of powder from one container to a hopper or another container is probably where the most risk is.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

https://www.shootingtimes.com/editorial/static-electricity-and-the-reloader/99537

 

[Another_Kelley]

https://www.ctmuzzleloaders.com/ctml_experiments/sparks/sparks.html

 

[Palladan44]

I've heard some people of using dryer sheets to prevent static cling. I've never found it a problem enough to worry about it. I've never personally heard of an ignition occurring to a reloader due to static electricity, however I know enough about physical science to know it IS possible.
If I wear wool socks and drag my feet in winter at my folks house in this specific room with carpeting, then touch the doorknob.....sometimes a visible spark occurs that's visible in low light. It only ever happens to me after walking across carpeting..... theres another reason to not have carpeting in and around your reloading bench.

 

[derek45]

My DILLON XL650 is Earth grounded.



I read years ago, to counter static cling on the DILLON powder measure, remove the clear plastic tube.

wash it with DAWN dishwashing detergent.

don't rinse it well, leave a small film of wet soap on it.

allow to dry.

seems to work better than BOUNCE dryer sheets

 

[Frulk]

I replaced a couple of plastic hoppers on the little dandy powder measure with Pyrex. Static cling problem SOLVED.

 

[74man]

Very informative article Kelley, I sent it to my Brother in Law alias KNOW IT ALL, It might teach him something, if he even reads it. The floor around where I do my reloading is concrete so I guess I don't have to worry!!

 

[joneb]

I thought this was just a black powder thing?

 

[kalielkslayer]

My DILLON XL650 is Earth grounded.



I read years ago, to counter static cling on the DILLON powder measure, remove the clear plastic tube.

wash it with DAWN dishwashing detergent.

don't rinse it well, leave a small film of wet soap on it.

allow to dry.

seems to work better than BOUNCE dryer sheets

Damn! That Dawn is like magic!

I use it for my wet tumbling. I use it to clean my K&N air filters on 3 of my vehicles. I did not know it could save my life if I used it on my powder drop tube.

I’ve been using Bounce dryer sheets.

 

[CQB45ACP]

Damn! That Dawn is like magic!

I use it for my wet tumbling. I use it to clean my K&N air filters on 3 of my vehicles. I did not know it could save my life if I used it on my powder drop tube.

I’ve been using Bounce dryer sheets.

Cleans ducklings after oil spills—Saves their lives too.

 

[CQB45ACP]

My DILLON XL650 is Earth grounded.



I read years ago, to counter static cling on the DILLON powder measure, remove the clear plastic tube.

wash it with DAWN dishwashing detergent.

don't rinse it well, leave a small film of wet soap on it.

allow to dry.

seems to work better than BOUNCE dryer sheets

Lee gives same advice.

 

[rdnktrkr]

My wife keeps used dryer sheets for me (puts them in empty Kleenex boxes) and I use them a lot in the reloading room. anything plastic gets a quick wipe and then I cut it and put it in the tumbler, they also start a fire easily

 

[tightgroup tiger]

I read somewhere that Black powder has salt peter in it and it conducts electricity so it is more prone to ignition than smokeless which doesn't conduct it.
Smokeless acts as a faraday cage and just lets the current pass over it without creating heat.
The salt peter conducts electricity and and offers resistance so it is more prone to heat and igniting.
Salt is a known conductor and this also supports why black powder devises have to be non sparking material and also that the manufactures of powder measures don't worry about smokeless powder in them.
I tend to believe this theory is the right one.

 

[jmorris]

My bench is steel and grounded via the metal boxes that contain the outlets that provide power to the various things on it but no. Other than powder flakes sticking to the walls of a powder measure, it’s a non issue.

 

[ParallelCode]

I don't think about it much in regards to powder. I do try to equalize my potential with whatever conductive container a primer is in before touching it directly though.

 

[gwpercle]

I've been reloading over 50 years and never had any problems with static electricity .
My Pacific Super Deluxe doesn't have a ground wire ... I wouldn't know what to connect it to anyways . If it makes you feel better run ground wires from each piece of equiptment and run them to a copper ground rod driven into the ground .
I'm still too busy worrying about the rouskies dropping the Big Bomb ... they been telling me to drop , duck and roll since 1955 ... this takes up a lot of my worry time .
Gary

 

[Bob Willman]

Static electricity requires two objects to be a different voltages in order to cause a spark to occur. Grounding all the equipment on the bench may not be a bad idea. If the unwanted ignition of powder is the concern, the human operator is most likely to be one of the objects to accumulate enough charge to cause a spark. Unless the operator is also grounded to the same ground as the equipment, a spark can occur.
When I worked for IBM we had field replaceable electronic parts worth several hundred thousand dollars each. To handle these parts required a conductive mat with wires connected to the conductive shipping container and to a wrist strap so that all items were at the same voltage. Once the part was out of it's container and in hand, the ground wire was connected to the machine so that the part, the machine and I were all at the same voltage and the part could be installed safely.
The static charge that causes powder grains to adhere to plastic parts is probably not high enough to be of much concern.

NRA Benefactor Golden Eagle

 

[entropy]

I've never worried about static igniting powder, (OTOH, I've never loaded BP cartridges either) but a dryer sheet pulled through the drop tube of my MEC keeps light powders(Like the Ramshot Competition I'm currently loading) from sticking to the inside of the tube, keeping drops more consistent. I also use it on the inside of the hull I drop test weight charges into, so I weigh all of the charge.

 

[Bcwitt]

I dont worry about it until it starts sticking to all the polymer parts. A damp rag w dish soap fixes it.

 

[Bcwitt]

My DILLON XL650 is Earth grounded.



I read years ago, to counter static cling on the DILLON powder measure, remove the clear plastic tube.

wash it with DAWN dishwashing detergent.

don't rinse it well, leave a small film of wet soap on it.

allow to dry.

seems to work better than BOUNCE dryer sheets

Yep.

 

[Palladan44]

Another interesting thing is static cling seems inversely proportional to temperature and (mostly) humidity, the problem seems the worst here in the dead of winter.
This might mean this becomes less of a problem the farther south/east you go? Thoughts?
Again, just an observation from my bench, and my bench only......

 

[mshootnit]

So reloading in a carpeted room is perfectly OK?

 

[Atavar]

Do remember that if you ground your bench or equipment to do it through a 1MΩ resistor. If you ground with a continuous copper wire you are actually increasing your odds of a static spark. With a direct ground there is no resistance to current making it easier to draw an arc.

 

[Atavar]

So reloading in a carpeted room is perfectly OK?

As long as you have an explosion proof vacuum to collect dust and spills, sure. And a shop vac with a gallon of water in it is not explosive safe v