ESD Systems - Questions And Answers

We currently use modified pallet racks to store PC boards. These steel racks are painted and modified to hold boards contained in antistatic bags standing on there sides. Now we can not ground the rack because of the paint, but we still need to provide a grounding solution without: 1. Spending a lot of money on conductive containers. 2. stripping the paint off the racks then grounding the racks. Is there other ways to solve this solution? - Anonymous, Carlsbad, CA,

You don’t need to remove all of the paint to ground the racks. You just need to remove the paint where contact is made with the ground cord and with each segment of the rack that contacts each other. You can also electrically couple each rack segment with either a bolt or screw that makes contact with each part. Use an ohmeter to check the continuity of the racking system to ground after adding a ground cord and making sure each segment is electrically coupled. You can also tap a ground cord to each segment, in either case, the contact point of the cord or bolt needs to be clean (free of paint, etc) for a good electrical contact. We have several ground cords and grounding kits.

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