Shop Vac hose/container grounding necessary?

[leehljp]

A friend (not on this forum) asked me if "grounding" a shop vac hose and container was necessary. He lives in a dry climate where static is common.

I told him I didn't think a 5 gal shop vac needed it but I would ask. He has two 5 gal shop vacs and wants to dedicate one to his lathe for pen turning.

Your suggestions? And how would you go about this if you DID suggest grounding it?

Thanks

[Tom Slick]

I don't believe it is an issue, if it were it would already be grounded. The volume of air/wood dust is very low in a 5 gal vac.

[LinuxRandal]

For explosion purposes, it has been shown that a shop vac, won't obtain the correct particle mixture to explode. Now, if he is just wanting to decrease the odds of him getting zapped when he goes to empty it, run a couple of screws through the hose, and run a wire to the cold water ground, by the meter.

[LCHIEN]

i don't think so, the ignition hazard from a shop vac due to arcing is very low - non-existent.
Since the hose is plastic some static will be generated, but the conducting area is small so the arc won't be significant (e.g. not much charge can accumulate).

explosion = sufficient energy (ignition) + sufficient fuel (explosive dust mixture) + oxygen.

lacking the first two in sufficient quantity to worry.

[GoFish104]

I can sympathise w/ your friend. I also live in a very dry climate & use a shopvac for dust collection. Let me add you could electrocute me w/ a 9V battery. I have a tiny, 10'X12' shop & what I do is raise the humidity. I "borrow" 1 of my wive's spray bottles & set it on mist. Couple of sprays & my static goes away for an hr. or so. Pretty simple & the price is right for me. Jack

[dbhost]

I knew living in muggy Hurricane prone coastal Texas had its advantages... I very rarely experience Static even pulling LOMLs sweaters out of the dryer...

I DID have a shop vac that I used for clean up / dust collection when I lived in Tucson years ago. I can't imagine why I would want to ground the hose / canister. Sure you would get static on the hose, but there isn't enough dust a vac will hold to pose any sort of threat... Unless you are vacuming up gun powder that is...

[Mr__Bill]

but there isn't enough dust a vac will hold to pose any sort of threat... Unless you are vacuming up gun powder that is...

Did you ever hear the story of the guy who dropped a screw down the carburetor of his car? Used a shop vac to suck it out........kaboom!

My shop vac has a grounded power cord, if one were to ground the canister I would think using the electrical ground would be the most convenient.


Bill, on the Sunny Oregon Coast

[SARGE..g-47]

I have 5 in various spots through-out the shop and no issue. I believe if this was an issue it would have come to light long ago and I monitor 3 forums and have done several for around 10 years. It's the first time I have seen the question ask and have never seen any mention of it.

I would run it and if for some reason the dry climate gives him a small shock.. then ground it but.... I doubt that will happen personally.

[GoFish104]

The dry climate will give you a jolt. Not enough to be dangerous unless it caused you to jump in the wrong direction but still enough to sting. If I work at it I can get spark enough that I can hear it, even w/ sander & shopvac running. Fot grins I rub the cat & then touch his ears. He don't like it at all lol. Jack

[cgallery]

Did you ever hear the story of the guy who dropped a screw down the carburetor of his car? Used a shop vac to suck it out........kaboom!

And I'll bet he was patting himself on the back for being clever right up to the end there.

[Jim Frye]

A friend (not on this forum) asked me if "grounding" a shop vac hose and container was necessary. He lives in a dry climate where static is common.

I told him I didn't think a 5 gal shop vac needed it but I would ask. He has two 5 gal shop vacs and wants to dedicate one to his lathe for pen turning.

Your suggestions? And how would you go about this if you DID suggest grounding it?

Thanks

Quite a few years ago, I was cutting some wood on my BT3K and I could hear an intermitent ZAP every few seconds. I shut the saw off and discovered the noise was coming from the shopvac. I turned off the lights and could see a 2 inch long spark jumping from the canister of the vac to a leg on my Workmate that was nearby. In a 12' x 12' shop everything is nearby! I had just recently emptied the vac canister and the little bit of dust circulating around the steel canister from sawing was causing a static build up large enough to arc to the nearby steel leg. Once the amount of dust built up enough to quell the spinning, the arcing stopped. I have since replaced the old ShopVac with a new one that has a plastic canister and no arcing since.