Dust collection grounding of duct tubing, is it necessary??

[Duane Bledsoe]

I read the following statement on another site.....

"Good grounding of dust collection ducting is essential to reduce the risk of static discharge, which can cause a dust explosion under some conditions."

Is this a real concern?? The guy who did this grounded the wire inside the flexible tubing so as to take care of it, but this to me seems like it wouldn't help a lot since the wire itself is encased in plastic and never actually in contact with the static charge build up. Then, later the same guy made a new system from PVC piping, 4" diameter stuff, and drilled a series of holes every 4" along the pipe, put a screw in them, and strung a new wire from screw to screw wrapped in a spiral around the whole thing to repeat what had been done in the first set up.

I'm planning to run 4" PVC around my shop for dust collection, but I didn't know this much detail was necessary to pipe dusty air into a containment unit.

[Van Huskey]

Not an issue an any situation we can create in our hobby or light commercial shops.

[Duane Bledsoe]

So then, if I just run the pipe like normal and do nothing to ground it at all, it will be fine??

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi, there isn't an explosion hazard, however there is a static shock issue.

I had a section of plastic flex on my planer that would discharge to my head when I bent over to pick up the wood.

I replaced it with a section of aluminum flex to stop the static issue...........Rod.

[Duane Bledsoe]

Hmm....sounds like a ground wire might not be that bad of an idea. I don't want that happening to me every time I get near it.

[Van Huskey]

Hmm....sounds like a ground wire might not be that bad of an idea. I don't want that happening to me every time I get near it.

Most of the time it doesn't fix that issue anyway.

[glenn bradley]

In the dry months I would get a bit of a shock about like when you reach for the light switch and one of the plate screws discharges through you. No danger and not near as annoying as the shock I get off my car door in similar weather. I had some wire and so attached one end to my conduit ground and wrapped it along about 1 turn per foot till I got near the cement floor. I stuck some foil tape there and clipped the wire to it. I have never gotten a shock since but, I did it more out of curiosity than need. I wouldn't pay for a kit to do it but, if you want to cobble something together I see no harm.

[paul cottingham]

It boils down to this. You can't ground an insulator. Do it if it will make you feel better, but I wouldn't spend too much time or money on it. As I've said before in other threads, if the myth busters can't make dust explode with a spark, I doubt any of us can.
My spiral pipe coming from my planer makes my hair stand on end when I get too close to it while using it, but I'm not worried about an explosion, just a little shock.
That being said, if it gives you peace of mind....

[Alan Lightstone]

It boils down to this. You can't ground an insulator. Do it if it will make you feel better, but I wouldn't spend too much time or money on it. As I've said before in other threads, if the myth busters can't make dust explode with a spark, I doubt any of us can.

You just beat me to it. Do it if it makes you feel better, but it won't help, can snag sawdust on the wire, and the simple fact is that you can't ground an insulator.

[Dan Friedrichs]

You just beat me too it. Do it if it makes you feel better, but it won't help, can snag sawdust on the wire, and the simple fact is that you can't ground an insulator.

+1. You may be able to slightly reduce the accumulated static charge on the insulator, but unless you really go crazy with the wire, there will still be plenty of area for charge to build. Not worth it...

[Rod Sheridan]

Exactly, that's why I replaced it with a length of aluminum flex...........Rod

[Myk Rian]

I wrapped wire around the PVC to reduce static. The hair on my arms don't stand up now.
An explosion from static is a myth.

[Matt Mackinnon]

Glenn, from your photographs, it looks like you took a green wire, with it's protective insulated jacket still on, and wrapped it around the pipe. How it an insulated wire wrapped around a pipe going to provide any sort of ground?

Wouldn't that be like saying that sleeping with garlic around your neck protects you from vampires... I've been doing it for years and I have not been bitten yet.

If you had run a bare copper wire, then it could be deemed as possibly providing some protection, but I'd think it's more that something else changed in the shop as the insulation around the wire should not allow any conductivity through it.. hence being called an insulator.

correct me if I am wrong.

[Myk Rian]

Glenn, from your photographs, it looks like you took a green wire, with it's protective insulated jacket still on,

I missed that. Yes, bare wire.

[Duane Bledsoe]

After the first couple of answers I figured the explosion wasn't much of a possibility, but I don't want to get a shock every time I get near the thing. I hate that when it happens around here on light switches, or petting the cat, or especially on the car doors in the winter, that's the worst of all.