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ESD mats - when is grounding not required?

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steaky1212:
Hi all,

I've been having a disagreement with someone at work about whether or not some ESD floor matting needs attaching to a ground point, and was hoping some collective wisdom would shed some light one way or another.

- His view is that connecting to ground is not required as it is so big that it should dissipate constantly.
- My view is that BSEN 61340-5-1 clearly states that flooring system needs to be attached to the common ground point. I've never heard of the argument of large mats not requiring grounding.

Is there a case that can be made, that says that if the matting is large enough then a connection to ground is not required?
I could probably use a flash tester to measure the resistance, but we are all in lockdown so it's very difficult for me to perform any sort of testing.

Other notes: The matting is on painted concrete floor - the floor paint isn't anything special. However, I did conduct some burn-in breakdown tests elsewhere in the factory (so may have had a different floor paint) and noticed some arcing to the floor - so maybe there is something there? I can't remember what values I was running through, but it was arcing from black nylon wheels so must've been fairly high.

Any insight is greatly appreciated, thanks.


EDIT: This is in a production environment where the electronics are installed inside the product next to a row of benches. It is impractical to use to use wristbands, so we have implemented matting/floor paint and footwear.

Elasia:
double sided copper tape to whatever grounding point if you are in an industrial/commercial setting.. its cheap insurance

Thing is, its a risk control product.. not a guarantee you wont zap something, same reason you use the wrist guard when working on someone elses item

Now beyond that, i've never connected a floor mat to direct ground myself in my labs.. only time you even really need a floor mat is if carpet *or* like the above and you need to par down your risk on sensitive items

wraper:

--- Quote from: steaky1212 on May 28, 2020, 10:41:02 am ---- His view is that connecting to ground is not required as it is so big that it should dissipate constantly.

--- End quote ---
So big that it might act as capacitor plate.

thm_w:

--- Quote from: steaky1212 on May 28, 2020, 10:41:02 am ---- My view is that BSEN 61340-5-1 clearly states that flooring system needs to be attached to the common ground point. I've never heard of the argument of large mats not requiring grounding.

--- End quote ---

Well if you can quote from the spec and they cannot, then it sounds like you know what you are talking about.

This page says: "The EPA ground provides a low resistance path (<2 ) to ground, usually to mains protective earth. A single EPA ground must be used within one EPA facility. "
http://www.compliance-club.com/archive/old_archive/030923.htm

So question is what ground is, if its defined in the spec somewhere.
Maybe they just mean alternative to mains earth would be a grounded rod, pipe, etc.

tooki:
Why not have proper ESD floor paint applied? That just needs one ground point, and then just equip everyone with ESD footwear and that’s all you need. (That’s how my workplace is set up.)

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