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Posted: 2/6/2011 10:10:10 AM EDT
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Ran into a strange situation yesterday. I pulled a used jug of Universal Clays of the shelf that still has about a pound and a half or so left in the bottom. I have been using this jug over the last several years on my 9mm loads. ( 8# goes a long, long way on 9mms)
The powder was sticking to everything....especially the plastic powder pan on my scale. As I was loading I noticed powder was spilling badly around the shell plate on my 550 even though I was going at a rather slow pace. The 4.5 grain charge only filled the case about 2/3 full. No excuse I could find for the excess powder flying around. The shell plate was collecting enough powder underneath to lock it up every 100 rounds or so. I have not seen this situation before in the 20+ years I have been reloading on these presses. I honestly suspect static electricity has built up in that powder. I have had no problems what so ever loading WST, 231 or several other powders under the same conditions. Likewise, I have never had a problem with this powder until just recently. Anybody else ever experience this? |
| If your worried you could always get some copper cable and larger copper aligator clips make a bonding cable. Then ground your machine. Drive a steel rod deep in the ground couple feet. Attach one end to your machine and one to the rod. You can use multiple rods aswell to decrease the resistance path. |
| I have noticed that when powder containers are left open static electricity builds up. It may be the humidity or the volatiles evaporating. Or it may perhaps be the press itself. Degrease and spray dry lubricant where the powder touches. You may also want to try grounding the press and see if that helps. |
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Quoted:
Rubber band a dryer sheet to the jug and another to the powder measure. Your suggestion will not work. Dryer sheets work by releasing lubricating surfactants onto clothes to prevent the buildup of static electricity while tumbling. Merely wrapping a dryer sheet around an object will not reduce or prevent static electricity... grounding or antistatic coating sprays are the way go for this. |
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I live in the Denver area where it's common in the winter with the heater on to have humidity levels at 5% inside the house. Yep, single digit humidity levels! I just took an old electrical cord, wrapped it around one of my press' mounting bolts underneath my bench, added a jam nut to connect it, ran the cord back to an electrical outlet, and then attached the cord to the green ground post inside the box. I've never had any problems with static electricity since. |
| I know at work we are required by law to ground all flamable cabinets. Some of these cabinets contain just grease. The facility was built with copper grounding rails inside the chemical rooms. You ground the cabinet to the rail. The rail is grounded to the earth. |
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