ESD Systems - Questions And Answers

I have seen Continuous Grounding Monitors made of plastic installed on a grounded work station. Plastics do generate static field when there is friction. Will the static charge be drained off through the grounded work station? - Anonymous, Melaka, Malaysia

NO. In general, if the plastic is insulative, the only practical way to quickly remove a stored charge on this insulative surface is to ionize it with an ESD ionizer (one that floods the affected area with multitudes of both positive and negative charged air ions). If the plastic case is conductive (say in the dissipative range) and is in direct contact with a grounded ESD mat, then any charge generated on the plastic surface will dissipate to ground via the grounded mat. You can determine if your monitors are dissipative or not by measuring their surface resistance with a megohmeter to determine which method to use in removing any charges generated on its surface.

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