Statguard Flooring - Questions And Answers

Can an ESD charge be induced during a demagnetization process? Will ESD penetrate through the case? How would you ground to prevent stray voltages - while generating a magnetic field via induction? (i.e. demagnetizing a motor case, demagnetization is 60 Hz half-wave rectified, current amperage through wrapped coils 3000 amps or higher) - Anonymous, Grand Prairie, TX

It would be very rare to induce an ESD event from a demagnetization process. If the field collapses rapidly and is large enough, you can create a large EMI which can couple into a nearby conductor and turn into a charge. The field has to be huge and receiving area large to get something measurable in the way of charge. If the case is a conductor, most likely an ESD event will not penetrate. Again, if the ESD event has a large amount of energy and the conductive case is thin and dielectric strength low, there may be penetration….like with a 75kV high energy pulse through a light shielding bag. In the case of the motor, shielding may be more relevant for protection. This type of shielding is more in line with EMI shielding. All outer conductive cases or chassis, if practical, should be grounded if there are sensitive ESD devices within or nearby. The safety of the operator always comes prior to the safety of the devices. If there is sufficient high energy equipment that could compromise the safety of an individual, then every precaution should be taken for their safety.

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