ESD Systems - Questions And Answers

We only use Heel grounders in our clean room because our operators need to be mobile. If I purchase your nitrile gloves and use them in conjunction with a heel grounder, on a combo tester, will my heel grounder and glove fail high or will the application pass. I will not be using any wrist strap, and the operator will have made all preparations to pass without using gloves, such as hand lotions etc.

Likely would fail high. The test would be using a regular Combo Tester with person wearing foot grounders and at least one glove. Test the foot grounders in the normal way, the only difference is to press the Combo Tester contact electrode with a gloved finger.

To pass this test depends on the RTT [resistance point-to-point] of the glove material, and the upper limit set on the Combo Tester.

See our Dissipative Glove and its Technical Drawing at our website. The drawing lists resistivity at < 1x10E10 ohms/square. So even if the Combo Tester upper limit is 100 megohms or 10E8 ohms, the test should result in failing high.

You might consider testing the foot grounders using the Combo Tester and using other test methods, like a surface resistance test kit.

If the glove is less than 1 x 10E11 ohms, it is dissipative. Per ANSI/ESD S541 section 7.2.2 Resistance of Dissipative Materials “A static dissipative material shall have a surface resistance of greater than or equal to 1.0 x 10^4 Ohms but less than 1.0 x 10^11 Ohms.”

Related Categories:

If you have found this Q/A useful, please rate it based on its helpfulness.