I ran into a fellow that I know only casually on Saturday at the local hardware store. I was purchasing some 4 inch pipe hangers and he asked if I was by any chance installing a DC. I wasn’t- I was just anchoring some “iffy looking” duct work, but, in any case the conversation was on. Eventually he asked me if I was using plastic duct and, if so, he wanted to come over and see how I had grounded it. I explained to him that I had NEVER grounded it and that I have virtually NO static buildup. He was incredulous, and insisted to come and look at my set-up. After I demonstrated the absence of static, he mentioned that in his shop when he uses the same identical DC I own, the static charge on the ungrounded ducting and hose is so bad he becomes frightened.

So here is the question- how can this be? It can’t be climate/humidity differences because we only live about 5 miles apart. Both our shops are stand-alone and both use propane heaters (which tend to raise humidity when in operation). It looks to me like we both used similar ducts and the total runs are about the same length. The only thing I can see that is really different is that almost every one of the tools I have are hooked to the DC are resting on cabinets with rubber casters. Could this be the reason I have never had static problems with my DC?