I’ve read a lot of posts around anti-static and vacuums, but as you go through them, I haven’t found one with a good photo to show exactly what has been done. Additionally, there are a few different schools of thought. With that, I have tried to depict what I intend to do to prevent disconnect issues.
Here are my questions (please keep in mind this is based on Shapeoko Pro with a Makita Router);
Questions:
Can I use solid gauge copper wire or do I need to use the stranded copper wire?
What is the minimum Gauge wire required?
Can I run the copper wire on the inside of the hose (vs Outside) as I have seen people do different things?
Do I need Copper in both Section 1 and Section 2 of the hose? If not, which section do I need it in?
The copper starts just above sweepy. Is this correct? Do I need to have it also touch the router or any other part of the Shapeoko?
The copper terminates just before it gets in the vacuum, is this correct, or should I be running it into the actual shopvac and then running it to a ground?
Is there any other parts of the Shapeoko that I need to ground that I have not covered?
With regards to the hose, there is limited value in trying to ground something that is not conductive. You can’t usefully ground plastics unless they are deliberately made to be slightly conductive or ‘anti-static’. If you could then plastic insulation on mains wiring would not be very useful.
Wherever possible I use a proper anti-static hose;
These don’t just have a metal wire running through them, they contain a conductive material in the mix of the plastic. This is just enough to allow the static charge to be drained away easily to the wire, which you then ground to drain all the charge away.
I made sure my Shapeoko was well grounded;
I use an anti-static hose from my cyclone to the dust hood on the spindle, this is grounded at the spindle end because the Shapeoko is where my star-ground is located.
I have not bothered using anti-static between the vacuum and the cyclone, it’s not given me any trouble so far.
