Testing Conductive Floors

Conductive floors measure below 1 0 x 10e6 ohms to ground.

Testing conductive floors. The ability of the floor to dissipate a charge on a person and limit the ability of a person to generate a charge are critic al to a floor s ability to maintain an equipotential balance between all items and personnel. Electrically conductive flooring is sometimes referred to as anti static conductive flooring defined by an electric resistance of between 10 4 and 10 15 ohms. Technically conductive and static dissipative are descriptive terms defined by the electrical resistance of the floor as measured by an ohm meter according to ansi esd standard test method 7 1. Some static dissipative and conductive flooring materials produce widely varying results when tested with different types of esd footwear.

Next electrical testing is performed to ensure that flooring meets the required standard which shall be esd s20 20 nfpa99 or dod 4145 26 resistance to ground of a conductive epoxy floor is defined as 25 000 ohms to 1 0 x 10 6 1 million ohms. The resistors protect the wearer from electrical shocks by compensating for an overly conductive floor. Types of esd flooring and prices esd flooring has multiple construction and configuration options each of which varies in price anti static properties and conductivity including. The flooring material passed body voltage generation parameters but was tested with a particular type of footwear.

Testing surface resistivity which became the accepted test method for esd flooring for many years only tells part of the story. These liabilities can be avoided through proper carpet design and verification testing the finished installation with a meg ohm meter and a. A static control floor is specified on the basis of controlled resistance values. However many testing devices trigger a failure mode if the footwear measures below 750 000 ohms meaning the protective gateway is insufficient in which case the wearer would not be allowed on the floor.

Always test floors per ansi esd s20 20 recommendations before they are installed. Conductive and static dissipative floors static control flooring serve as a convenient means of electrically connecting persons and objects together to prevent the accumulation of electrostatic charges. For conducting special tests in a laboratory etc. In terms of personal safety flooring such as overly conductive esd electrostatic discharge grade carpet tile can result in painful shocks if there were ever a short circuit in the electrical system.

These rooms are regarded as an electrically safe area and the walls and floor should be made of non conductive materials. Standard test method for electrical resistance of conductive and static dissipative resilient flooring astm f150. Static dissipative floors measure above 1 0 x 10e6 and below 1 0 x 10e9 ohms to ground.