ANTI-STATIC FLOORING OVERVIEW

As an innovator of new technological advances in the field of anti-static coatings and overlays, the following information is presented to provide the elementary knowledge needed to understand, specify, and install the newly developed products. Whether your restoration needs call for a 6 mil antistatic sealer or a quarter inch overlay system, EP Floors has the products to achieve all your specified needs. Even more important is the certainty that these products are not surface modified coating systems; the same technology that makes them work, will not wear off or degrade with time. Once installed, these products provide permanent anti-static properties for the lifetime of the coating system. Now you can beautify while you protect with colors ranging from pastel grays to deep vivid blues, reds and greens. We even offer semi-transparent one coat sealers to meet the challenges of any environment.  

ELECTROSTATIC CHARGES:  Electrostatic charges can be induced from friction between two different kinds of material (between two non conductors or simply by common surface contact). Such charging takes place readily when most flooring material is walked on or driven over and these discharges can often be accompanied by sparks. As everyone is aware, in some industries, sparks can have devastating consequences. This hazard can be eliminated if our anti-static flooring system is the choice of the specifying engineer. These products meet the requirements of electrical conductivity as well as a high resistance to chemical attack and are designed for applications in such places as laboratories, chemical plants, painting manufacturers and anywhere where solvents are used. Additionally, some industries such as the computer trade, require anti-static coatings for protecting sensitive electrical components from failure. When all else has failed, you will find that the use of the EP Floors product line will not be a shocking experience.  

LEAKOFF OF ELECTROSTATIC CHARGES:   The electrical discharge capacity of synthetic resin flooring is determined by measuring the ohmic resistance. As a rule, floors with a leakage resistance of 10⁺⁶ ohms are considered to be electrically conductive. However, each country has its own standards for how they rate this discharge capacity. For instance DIN 51953 applies in Germany, UL 779 applies in the United States and the British standard is 3398. However, many engineers have requirements far below those that are certifiable by organizations such as the Underwriters Laboratories, depending on the protection needed for their prospective environments. Although it is widely recognized in the industry that less than 10⁹ ohms of resistance is considered to be anti-static, the majority of our systems far surpass those requirements. As a matter of fact, the majority of our systems will provide anti-static characteristics in the range nearing that specified for UL certification. UL certification requires a discharge capacity of <1,000,000 ohms (10⁺⁶ ohms resistance) for conductive certification.

 OUR NUMBERS AND WHAT THEY MEAN:

*For our ESD144C/324C our resistance average as tested = 1.72e⁺⁶

*For our ESD145CP sealer our resistance average as tested = 1.80e⁺⁵

                                     *1.72e⁺⁶ ohms = 1.72 x 10⁺⁶ ohms = 1,720,000 ohms

                                      *1.80e⁺⁵ ohms = 1.80 x 10⁺⁵ ohms = 180,000 ohms

*Tested on a 4'x4' plywood panel with spacing from 1-4 feet. 

The Underwriters Laboratories standard specifies:

*<1.0e⁺⁶ ohms or <1.0 x 10⁺⁶ ohms or <1,000,000 ohms

* testing to be done on 4'x4' plywood panel at three feet.

SOME THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW:  *Concrete is conductive because of the moisture content present in the concrete. However, the moisture content can be highly variable. That is why a primer such as our ESD142, ESD144C, ESD145CP or ESD163CP must be used to achieve proper anti-static characteristics below 1.0e⁺⁹ ohms. The primer increases the conductivity by decreasing the ohmic resistance. Although the ESD324C has anti-static characteristics, the full potential is not achieved without an appropriate primer. 

SO HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT NUMBERS ARE THE BEST ??   First, the best possible conductive floor would be a metal floor such as copper. The ohms of resistance for a metal floor would be zero. Thusly the numbers could be viewed as follows. 

RATING                 FLOOR STATUS                             RESISTANCE (ohms)

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best                              conductive                                        0.0 ohms

very good                    conductive                                        >zero but <1.0x10⁶ (0.0 to 1,000,000)

good                             anti-static                                         >1.0x10⁶ but <1.0x10⁹ (1,000,000 to 1,000,000,000)

poor                              not rated                                           >1.0x10⁹ (> 1,000,000,000)

Finally, it should be pointed out that grounding the anti-static conductive system does improve the performance of the system by decreasing the ohmic resistance and charge buildup. The conductive primer is the product that should be grounded and not the topcoat or any underlayment placed prior to the primer. This is easily accomplished by grounding the coating with strips of copper or grounding straps connected to a water pipe or neutral conductor in the electric wiring system. Two earthing points normally suffice for a single room. One ground point per 200 square meters of floor space is the general rule for large areas when all individual slabs are connected with conductive copper strips or tape.

RESTORING ANTI-STATIC CHARACTERISTICS:   However, for the same reasons that make the conductive primers work, the conductive primers can be used over a non-conductive overlay such as our ESD120/ESD94 power troweled formula to impart significant anti-static properties. This allows the installation of high build concrete restoration that would reduce the ohmic resistance of the concrete substrate to an often acceptable level of ohmic resistance. For instance: ESD120 (natural) power troweled, topcoated with ESD95, then coated with ESD145CP and ESD183C will provide anti-static performance. 

Generally speaking, when an anti-static system is placed over a non-anti-static coating system, the numbers (ohms of resistance) will increase by a factor of about 10 to 100. This means that a system that had customarily been tested over concrete at 1,000,000 ohms will yield a system of about 10,000,000 to 100,000,000 ohms (ie, will go from 1.0x10⁶ to between 1.0x10⁷ ohms and 1.0x10⁸ ohms).  

RECOAT TIMES:   It has been ascertained that recoat times can affect the overall floor resistance. All of our conductive primers have shown a tendency in some applications to not reach the full resistance potential until 20-24 hours after application. This in turn can affect the overall performance for the complete system. In standard applications over concrete, the primers have developed good resistance characteristics long before 24 hours; however, when the primer is placed directly on a non-porous substrate, the cure times to reach full resistance can be in the 20-24 hour range. Based on our findings, we have not listed a recoat time on the technical data. Instead we have instructed the user to not topcoat the conductive primer until the electrical resistance is 10⁶ ohms of resistance or lower. In some instances it will require up to 24 hours for the primer to reach proper conductivity before topcoat placement can begin. It is best to test the primer before topcoating as this will eliminate any chances for a system failure. If testing equipment is not available, then it would be advised to wait 24 hours before recoating. In all testing, we have found the material to be within the established parameters within the 24 hour time period at normal room temperatures.