Go-C Graphics 856 Posted October 1, 2013 So I've come up with another way of grounding your cutter to help prevent static. Alittle background. I'm a Clinical Engineer for a hospital. My primary goal it to make sure medical equipment is safe to use in a hospital. One of the things we do is check electrical safety of every piece of equipment annually and sometime twice a year. Well often we see equipment failing due to a bad power cord or just from a poor design from the manufacture. I'm thinking that if very expensive medical equipment can fail electrical safety who's to say these value cutters are any better. I haven't brought home my testers from work but I'd be willing to bet they don't have the best ground specs.. One of the things we do is install a redundant ground on equipment and that'a what I've done. You can get one of these from any hardware store. You use it to replace a broken plug but I only used the ground prong from it. Than you simple use a wire from your cutter to the stand and then wire in this plug end. After that you simple plug it into another wall outlet. This will provide a another direct ground from your cutter to the outlet. Just an idea if anyone is having static problems. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SeeJaysPlace 476 Posted October 1, 2013 OMG.. I actually thought about this one time when i first got my cutter but never did it.. even tho i have wasted a power board for my MH721 due to static i think.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mabscotthandyman 1,410 Posted October 1, 2013 Simple and effective. In some of the older houses i work on you can actually find items that has a electrical current running through them when ever you touch them you can become the ground abd get a shock. These are homes that were built before grounding became code and some have even been up graded to a grounded outlet but still lack a ground wire and can still give you a jolt. If you live in an older home and are not sure about grounding you can buy a simple tester that shows if the polarity is correct and if the outlet is grounded some even have a feature to check gfi circuts. It is a cheap cost to protect your electronics and more importantly your loved ones. Just because the plug has a ground plug does not absoutley mean it is grounded......especially in older homes. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jaybyrd 3,770 Posted October 1, 2013 When I was maintaining rental properties I got a call because every time they turned on the kitchen faucet they'd get zapped. I thought they were just trying to get out of paying rent until that sucker lit me up. Turns out the connections in the breaker panel were corroded and it was backfeeding through the copper water lines. Like Dan said you can get a tester pretty cheap at any home improvement type store. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slice&dice 2,450 Posted October 1, 2013 This puppy has a grounding problem. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ravenwind / One Off Grafx 187 Posted October 1, 2013 This puppy has a grounding problem. OMG TOO FUNNY Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mabscotthandyman 1,410 Posted October 2, 2013 When I was maintaining rental properties I got a call because every time they turned on the kitchen faucet they'd get zapped. I thought they were just trying to get out of paying rent until that sucker lit me up. Turns out the connections in the breaker panel were corroded and it was backfeeding through the copper water lines. Like Dan said you can get a tester pretty cheap at any home improvement type store. Jay i have found as much as 90 volts running through the plumbing. All of our rebtals have upgraded wiring, plumbing, windows and mostly new ranges. So the maintenance on them is minimal which i like as i get older. I have spent whatever time i could remodeling the exterior of our old house...new windows, siding and soffits, guttering and paint on the deck all i want to do from now on is to spray it down with a hose once a year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jaybyrd 3,770 Posted October 2, 2013 Up north a lot of the rentals were converted single families from the mid 1800's and some of the stuff I ran into was downright scary. I had a few owners that would have me gut rehab and update everything but for the most part all I heard was how cheap can we get by. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OWJones 1,981 Posted October 2, 2013 My best friend bought an old house that had been in his wife's family for a couple of generations - hand built by her grandfather. When he went into the attic he discovered that the electrical wiring consisted of long stretches of parallel BARE COPPER wires wrapped around porcelain insulators with loose, blown-in insulation covering everything. Had been that way for 50+ years... He got zapped while crawling around up there and nearly came down through the ceiling... He couldn't get out of that attic and get to the fuse box fast enough... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snapper 30 Posted October 2, 2013 My best friend bought an old house that had been in his wife's family for a couple of generations - hand built by her grandfather. When he went into the attic he discovered that the electrical wiring consisted of long stretches of parallel BARE COPPER wires wrapped around porcelain insulators with loose, blown-in insulation covering everything. Had been that way for 50+ years... He got zapped while crawling around up there and nearly came down through the ceiling... He couldn't get out of that attic and get to the fuse box fast enough... It is referred to as knob and tube. I have seen it coupled with Federal Pacific panels. Scary stuff when a resistant load is applied and the wires glow orange and the sag way before the breaker snaps off. Nothing due to the K&T but the FP. But yep most folks don't know not to touch and in many old structures can still be live. As far as the grounding just make sure the frame is grounded good. Remove the paint from under the eyelet is a good idea as and a bonding jumper from your stand to your cutter frame. You can test your cutter cords ground with a ohm meter to see if you have good continuity between the frame and grounded plug pin. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mabscotthandyman 1,410 Posted October 3, 2013 It is referred to as knob and tube. I have seen it coupled with Federal Pacific panels. Scary stuff when a resistant load is applied and the wires glow orange and the sag way before the breaker snaps off. Nothing due to the K&T but the FP. But yep most folks don't know not to touch and in many old structures can still be live. As far as the grounding just make sure the frame is grounded good. Remove the paint from under the eyelet is a good idea as and a bonding jumper from your stand to your cutter frame. You can test your cutter cords ground with a ohm meter to see if you have good continuity between the frame and grounded plug pin. Almost all the old houses was knob and tube but at that time probably the most load was maybe from a refridgerator. Along with a few 25 watt bulbs hanging from a porcelain tube with 2 braided wires with a pull chain light socket. The fancy houses had porcelain surface mounted switches with a roatry switch. The house i live in was knob and tube with a 60 amp fuse box that had about a 150 amp load on it. That was one of my first upgrades to a 200 amp 40 space box. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dawn's Design 403 Posted October 3, 2013 That's not a bad idea. I'm fixing to buy my first cutter. This could help down the road. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
