Make
no mistake! To achieve
the electrical specifications for the ESD Flooring
Materials you have selected your floor must be grounded.
Proper grounding techniques are important in even the
most basic of environments, and critical in explosive,
ordinance and munitions environments. Every installation
is different! We generally supply (at no charge with
your flooring order) a quantity of grounding hardware
appropriate for basic grounding in non-critical standard
environments. Further, the quantity of grounding hardware
we provide is for use with installations utilizing
one of our conductive adhesive floor bonding mechanisms
applied to concrete substrates. Using more (or less)
grounding locations and hardware will allow you to "fine
tune" your conductivity (if required). Conditions
such as highly insulative substrates (wood, carpet,
etc) that you wish to cover with your new ESD Flooring
or environments encountering extreme sensitivity to
ESD "events" (hard drive manufacturing, raw
sensitive electronic component handling, explosive,
munitions etc) may require increasing your grounding
hardware requirements. Clients are urged to evaluate
their conditions and environment and contact us as
needed if additional grounding may be required. Sections
One and Two of this Document encompass the use of two
types of standard grounding hardware provided by Ground
Zero ElectroStatics. While Drawings and Overviews in
Section Three provide information on the quantity of
grounding required for the following environments.
- Basic: Office, Telecom, many manufacturing environments.
- Advanced
(or for insulative substrates): Raw component handling,
hard drive mg, etc.
- Critical: Ordinance and explosive
environments.
OVERVIEW ESD Carpeting and Vinyl Flooring (marketed under
the trade names of X-O Stat, ZeroStat Carpet, PolyStat,
ZeroStat Vinyl, UltraStat and Euro-Stat) must be
grounded to provide reliable elimination of electrostatic
potential. These instructions are designed to provide
a comprehensive overview for the majority of environments
utilizing our static dissipative and conductive flooring
materials. Our ESD Flooring materials are designed
to work in conjunction with either our liquid conductive
adhesive (GZ C-2000) or our unique releasable adhesive "Tape" (URAS).
Both adhesives provide reliable anchoring of the
flooring, as well as a conductive media allowing
equalization of electrostatic potential for subsequent
elimination via ground mechanism(s). Two Types of
grounding mechanisms are available from GndZero.com.
Grounding suggestions for both types of adhesives
and GZ Grounding mechanisms are similar, however
the quantity of grounding hardware and connections
are increased for Advanced and Critical applications
see Section Three).
Goal: To provide a reliable mechanical connection
from your ESD flooring and adhesive to a dependable
earthed electrical ground in your building.
Section One of Three
INSTALLATION AND USAGE OF FLOOR GROUNDING PLATES:
USGZ ESD Floor Grounding Plates (PN: SP-GNDPLT-ASM)
are manufactured in a 2.625 wide X 3.625 heavy gage
stainless steel. These devices are supplied complete
with a conductive adhesive backing and heavy gage
test lead wiring terminated with a #10 ring terminal.
The plates are designed to be placed on top of ESD
flooring materials and attached to flooring by removing
the adhesive liner (on the underside of the plates)
and pressing firmly in place. The attachment of ground
terminal wire (#10 ring terminal eyelet) to center
screw of AC electrical face plate cover is compliant
with most state and local codes and provides a good
mechanical connection of flooring to the electrical
grounding system of your building (see figure 1).
If your grounding requirements mandate a "attachment
to AC Electrical Ground" we recommend utilizing
a local electrician to ground terminal wires. In
Basic environments, these plates may be used without
a copper (or brass) foil underlayment, however best
results are generally obtained by placing a small
3' long piece of copper (or brass) onto the substrate
edge and up a wall (by a wall outlet preferably)
prior to applying the adhesive. The foil is subsequently
folded over the top of the flooring (for about 2")
and covered with a grounded plate. The Plates should
always be used in conjunction with the a more extensive
foil grounding tape underlayment when installing
in Advanced or Critical Environments or when applying
static dissipative or conductive materials on top
of highly insulative surfaces such as wood or carpeted
substrates. When used with copper foil grounding
tape, the function of the plate is to provide a mechanically
reliable attachment of copper foil flooring underlayment
grid to ground. Simply fold terminated copper foil
strip over the top of the flooring (trim if necessary
to a length of about 2 inches), remove adhesive liner
from plate, place plate over foil "tab," press
firmly in place and ground. Further details for recommended
usage of foil grid tape can be found in section Two
with appropriate diagrams listed in Section Three.
Section Two of Three
Installation and usage of USGZ Copper (or Brass)
Foil Grounding Grid Tape.
This .500 wide X 108 foot long Copper (or Brass)
foil, adhesive backed tape is supplied in roll form
(PN: TP-7521) and is extremely useful for pre-placing
a grid or ground strap beneath your ESD flooring
material. The function of the tape is to provide
a strap, pattern or grid underlayment beneath the
ESD floor prior to covering with the appropriate
conductive adhesive. The foil is subsequently attached
to multiple permanently grounded objects (such as
water pipes, building superstructures, metal beams,
building electrical conduit systems, etc). To apply,
sweep substrate to remove loose dust and abrasives.
Using the diagrams below decide on the appropriate
quantity for your environment (please contact our
Engineering Dept if you have any questions). Remove
the adhesive liner (backing) from the Foil and press
firmly in place on substrate. Gently pull tape as
you unroll (to keep from puckering), smooth the tape
in place with foot or towel. The tape may be attached
to ground by simply (with liner removed), running
the tape up (or on) the permanently grounded object.
More secure mechanical connections may be achieved
by using the tape in conjunction with our USGZ ESD
Floor Grounding Plates listed in Section One.
Section Three of Three
Copper or Brass Foil Grounding Grid Recommendations:
Basic: |
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Advanced:
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Critical: |
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