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Bare Foot

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Sam Scripter

Bare Foot

Re: Effectiveness of going Bare Foot?

I'm writing in search of technical opinions. Am I in the right place? ; )

I am _not_ writing about running a rig "barefoot", without an amplifier.

I am writing about building my K2 and add-on kits _with one foot bare_ --
bare foot skin in direct contact with a linoleum-tile floor, and _never
while on a carpet_. I do this in addition to having an anti-static mat
and a wristband attached thereto.

My questions are the following:

Does the bare foot on the bare floor provide any protection
at all?

Does it provide protection without a mat?

Does a bare foot on a non-carpeted floor add to the protection
provided by an anti-static mat.

I first began employing this practice in the 1980's, when I was
building and frequently working on my own desktop PC "clones".

73 Sam KN7C
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Don Wilhelm-4

Re: Bare Foot

Sam,

I lack proof, but I believe that the only thing that bare foot technique
provides is one cold foot.
Spray your clothing and the immediate area with "Static Guard" will
provide greater protection than the anti-static mat and wrist strap alone.

73,
Don W3FPR

Sam Scripter wrote:

> Re: Effectiveness of going Bare Foot?
>
> I'm writing in search of technical opinions. Am I in the right place? ; )
>
> I am _not_ writing about running a rig "barefoot", without an amplifier.
>
> I am writing about building my K2 and add-on kits _with one foot bare_ --
> bare foot skin in direct contact with a linoleum-tile floor, and _never
> while on a carpet_. I do this in addition to having an anti-static mat
> and a wristband attached thereto.
>
>
>

n7ws

Re: Bare Foot

In reply to this post by Sam Scripter

It's (at least was when I was still working) common to use heel straps as part of ESD protection in industry. These were of similar material to wrist straps and contacted the sweat layer inside the shoe on one end and the floor on the other. The floor had to be treated with an ESD safe coating, however. Likewise, ESD mats were only cleaned with an approved cleaner and smocks that didn't generate static charges were worn over street clothing.

Modern linoleum (the real stuff) often has a coating on the surface which is likely to be some kind of plastic and if you're using "linoleum" generically, then you might have vinyl that is also plastic and potentially an ESD generator, albeit probably not as bad as carpet.

You will no doubt get an argument from some saying being connected to the floor is an unsafe thing while working on things electrical. This is true if you stand a chance of coming in contact with the A/C mains.

That said, I use the bare foot technique sometimes, although the floors in my house are brick and not plastic.

Wes N7WS

--- On Sun, 3/28/10, Sam Scripter <[hidden email]> wrote:

>
> I'm writing in search of technical opinions. Am I in
> the right place? ; )
>
> I am _not_ writing about running a rig "barefoot", without
> an amplifier.
>
> I am writing about building my K2 and add-on kits _with one
> foot bare_ --
> bare foot skin in direct contact with a linoleum-tile
> floor, and _never
> while on a carpet_. I do this in addition to having an
> anti-static mat
> and a wristband attached thereto.
>
> My questions are the following:
>
> Does the bare foot on the bare floor provide any
> protection
> at all?
>
> Does it provide protection without a mat?
>
> Does a bare foot on a non-carpeted floor add to the
> protection
> provided by an anti-static mat.
>
> I first began employing this practice in the 1980's, when I
> was
> building and frequently working on my own desktop PC
> "clones".
>
> 73 Sam KN7C

Mark Bayern

Re: Bare Foot

> It's (at least was when I was still working) common to use heel straps as part of ESD protection in industry.

Last time I saw heel straps in use was in the late 80s at a site that
builds solid fuel rocket motors for military and aerospace uses. They
also had testing equipment to check that your shoes really would
dissipate any static charge. When you are in a bay with a booster
containing 600,000lbs of fuel, static discharges are discouraged.

Mark AD5SS

On Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 9:42 AM, Wes Stewart <[hidden email]> wrote:

> It's (at least was when I was still working) common to use heel straps as part of ESD protection in industry. These were of similar material to wrist straps and contacted the sweat layer inside the shoe on one end and the floor on the other. The floor had to be treated with an ESD safe coating, however. Likewise, ESD mats were only cleaned with an approved cleaner and smocks that didn't generate static charges were worn over street clothing.
>
> Modern linoleum (the real stuff) often has a coating on the surface which is likely to be some kind of plastic and if you're using "linoleum" generically, then you might have vinyl that is also plastic and potentially an ESD generator, albeit probably not as bad as carpet.
>
> You will no doubt get an argument from some saying being connected to the floor is an unsafe thing while working on things electrical. This is true if you stand a chance of coming in contact with the A/C mains.
>
> That said, I use the bare foot technique sometimes, although the floors in my house are brick and not plastic.
>
> Wes N7WS
>

WB8ENE

Re: Bare Foot

I work for a PCB assembly contract manufacturer, and we use foot straps to dissipate static charge. Of course, as mentioned previously, the floor must be treated to make it conductive.

Art WB8ENE

hf4me

Re: Bare Foot

In reply to this post by Mark Bayern

The heel straps we wore in the factory had a strap that went up your leg and
connected to bare skin above your socks with a conductive band with velcro.
There wasn't any expected conductivity through your shoes. And for
additional information, they were only valid on floors with conductive mats
or floors that had been modified with concuctive surfaces that were
connected to the ground network. The pain was leaving the protective areas,
we had to remove them so they wouldn't "get dirty".

Static damage generally isn't immediately detectable and will fail later or
cause degraded performance. Just becaues it "still works" doesn't mean you
don't have static damage. We had electron microscopes (the company, not my
job but we got to look at the damage) they used in diagnosing cause of
failures and it was easy to see damage.

73, de Jim KG0KP

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Bayern" <[hidden email]>
To: "Wes Stewart" <[hidden email]>
Cc: "Elecraft List" <[hidden email]>
Sent: Monday, March 29, 2010 10:04 AM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Bare Foot

> It's (at least was when I was still working) common to use heel straps as
> part of ESD protection in industry.

Last time I saw heel straps in use was in the late 80s at a site that
builds solid fuel rocket motors for military and aerospace uses. They
also had testing equipment to check that your shoes really would
dissipate any static charge. When you are in a bay with a booster
containing 600,000lbs of fuel, static discharges are discouraged.

Mark AD5SS

On Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 9:42 AM, Wes Stewart <[hidden email]> wrote:

> It's (at least was when I was still working) common to use heel straps as
> part of ESD protection in industry. These were of similar material to
> wrist straps and contacted the sweat layer inside the shoe on one end and
> the floor on the other. The floor had to be treated with an ESD safe
> coating, however. Likewise, ESD mats were only cleaned with an approved
> cleaner and smocks that didn't generate static charges were worn over
> street clothing.
>
> Modern linoleum (the real stuff) often has a coating on the surface which
> is likely to be some kind of plastic and if you're using "linoleum"
> generically, then you might have vinyl that is also plastic and
> potentially an ESD generator, albeit probably not as bad as carpet.
>
> You will no doubt get an argument from some saying being connected to the
> floor is an unsafe thing while working on things electrical. This is true
> if you stand a chance of coming in contact with the A/C mains.
>
> That said, I use the bare foot technique sometimes, although the floors in
> my house are brick and not plastic.
>
> Wes N7WS
>

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George & Jan

Re: Bare Foot

In reply to this post by Mark Bayern

Actually - About a year ago, I saw both ankle & wrist straps in use at a
microwave manufacturing company, in both the production & service areas.
When I asked about the ankle straps use I was informed that the proper use
of both straps was a condition of continued employment as well as the daily
testing of both.
But I guess when dealing with radios retailing for $30,000 and more per unit
the owner can be a bit fussy.
George
AI4VZ

> It's (at least was when I was still working) common to use heel straps as
> part of ESD protection in industry.

Last time I saw heel straps in use was in the late 80s .....

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Matt Palmer-4

Re: Bare Foot

Foot straps are pretty common , but are useless unless you have
conductive floors (always get in arguments with QA as my lab has non
conductive floors, and they want to get rid of all the chairs without
draggers).

Matt
W8ESE
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Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ

Re: Bare Foot [ END of thread]

Administrator

In reply to this post by hf4me

Folks - Lets end this thread (and the associated anti-static mat
threads). Looks like it has been beaten into submission, and the number
of posts on the subject are above the list pain threshold ;-)

73, Eric WA6HHQ
List Moderator.

On 3/29/2010 8:53 AM, Jim Miller KG0KP wrote:
> The heel straps we wore in the factory had a strap that went up your leg and
> connected to bare skin above your socks with a conductive band with velcro.
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Edward R Cole

Re: Bare Foot

In reply to this post by Sam Scripter

Just wondering on the wisdom of attaching a "wire" to one's ankle and
then contacting live voltage with your hand! As an EMT that was the
worst scenario for Cardiac Shock and Death due to electrocution. The
ankle and wrist straps are supposed to have added resistance to avoid
this, still...??? I know that when I work on my 4kV QRO power
supply, that I will not be wearing any conductive bracelets, rings,
watch bands, etc. But that is a different subject ;-)

Most of us probably have the ham shack in a spare bedroom with
carpeting (I do), so using an anti-static mat when working with
sensitive devices is just being smart with your money. I bought mine
from a regional electronic supplier for $29.95 (came with a coiled
cord with alligator clip). I had a wrist strap, already. I did not
bother with tying this into my home safety ground. But humidity is
above 35% and not experiencing any static shocks that are typical in
winter's low humidity. I think I will bring my radio ground to the
work bench instead of using house wiring (shorter run to earth-ground).

73, Ed
The K3 is like the proverbial onion, got a lot of layers to peal!

>------------------------------
>
>Message: 37
>Date: Mon, 29 Mar 2010 10:04:55 -0500
>From: Mark Bayern <[hidden email]>
>Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Bare Foot
>To: Wes Stewart <[hidden email]>
>Cc: Elecraft List <[hidden email]>
>Message-ID:
> <[hidden email]>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> > It's (at least was when I was still working) common to use heel
> straps as part of ESD protection in industry.
>
>Last time I saw heel straps in use was in the late 80s at a site that
>builds solid fuel rocket motors for military and aerospace uses. They
>also had testing equipment to check that your shoes really would
>dissipate any static charge. When you are in a bay with a booster
>containing 600,000lbs of fuel, static discharges are discouraged.
>
>
>Mark AD5SS
>
>
>
>On Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 9:42 AM, Wes Stewart <[hidden email]> wrote:
> > It's (at least was when I was still working) common to use heel
> straps as part of ESD protection in industry.? These were of
> similar material to wrist straps and contacted the sweat layer
> inside the shoe on one end and the floor on the other.? The floor
> had to be treated with an ESD safe coating, however. ?Likewise, ESD
> mats were only cleaned with an approved cleaner and smocks that
> didn't generate static charges were worn over street clothing.
> >
> > Modern linoleum (the real stuff) often has a coating on the
> surface which is likely to be some kind of plastic and if you're
> using "linoleum" generically, then you might have vinyl that is
> also plastic and potentially an ESD generator, albeit probably not
> as bad as carpet.
> >
> > You will no doubt get an argument from some saying being
> connected to the floor is an unsafe thing while working on things
> electrical. This is true if you stand a chance of coming in contact
> with the A/C mains.
> >
> > That said, I use the bare foot technique sometimes, although the
> floors in my house are brick and not plastic.
> >
> > Wes ?N7WS
> >

73, Ed - KL7UW, WD2XSH/45
======================================
BP40IQ 500 KHz - 10-GHz www.kl7uw.com
500-KHz/CW, 144-MHz EME, 1296-MHz EME
DUBUS Magazine USA Rep [hidden email]
======================================

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