ELECTRAGUARD ESD EPOXY WEAR RESISTANCEMission Critical Conductive Floor PaintClick Here for the ElectraGuard Main Page
The most recent ANSI/ESD S 20.20-2007 standards for the testing of esd flooring clearly favors materials that fall in the static conductive <1.0E06 versus the static dissipative (>1.0E06 and <1.0E09) range of electrical conductivity. Due to the recent changes in the S20.20 Standards, testing of anti-static (static dissipative) esd flooring has become more cumbersome and time consuming.
Slightly compromised (dirty) anti-static esd flooring materials often fail the (97.1) combination resistance testing of a technician in heel grounders in conjunction with the flooring. And, due to the high resistance levels of some anti-static floors, carts, chairs and trolleys (in conjunction with the static dissipative flooring) are often not conductive enough to pass the new ISO / ANSI / ESD and JEDEC Standards.
Quantum Storage Devices of Colorado Springs, CO anticipated these changes early in 2006 and began evaluation of esd flooring options as a replacement for their static dissipative esd rubber flooring. In addition to conductivity, Quantum's needs dictated a flooring material that was economical, easy to clean and could handle rolling loads without mechanical failure (the original esd flooring was rubber and failed miserably in this respect). Their choice: 72,000 square feet of ElectraGuard Epoxy ESD Floor Paint (3 coats) top coated with two thin coats of ElectraThane Epoxy Sealer followed by one coat of ElectraGlaze sacrificial esd floor Finish. Prior to using the system in the entire 72,000 sf area the products were thoroughly evaluated for wear using the following study. The following data documents the initial as well as long term wear performance of The ElectraGuard Tri-Layer System.
Testing location Forklift Warehouse Portal. Typical traffic: Fully loaded Industrial Fork Lifts. Estimated weight of fork lifts (fully loaded) 2,300 pounds Estimated trips over test area per day: 237
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09/12/06. Preparation of the concrete slab was intentionally kept to a minimum. The oil and grease from the heavy forklift traffic was removed via a light damp mopping of the concrete with ElectraClean esd floor cleaner diluted with water. The dirty solution was mopped up with dry paper towels and the concrete substrate was allowed to dry 2 hours prior to application of the ElectraGuard ESD floor Paint. Masking tape was applied to the substrate. The ElectraGuard base was catalyzed, mixed and applied in 2 thin coats to the concrete substrate allowing approximately 3 hours between coats. The following day, United SCP applied two thin coat of ElectraThane followed by 1 thin coat of ElectraGlaze sacrificial esd floor finish with 30 minute drying time allowed between each coat. Electrical testing was performed utilizing ANSI ESD S 7.1 parameters with results as follows: Resistance to Ground 5.3E05, Resistance point to point; 6.3E05 @ 23% rH and 68.7 deg F.
10/14/11. Well bonded, limited wear on the ElectraGuard epoxy floor paint coating. Conductivity remains at <1.0E06, no flaking breaking or delamination is evident in the coating. The ElectraGuard has now been worn to a shiny gloss, 2 small sections of the concrete have now broken free (minor concrete spalling is typical for this portion of the concrete).
10/14/2011: The above photo's represent 5 years worth of wear to the ElectraGuard ESD floor paint system. The system has intentionally received no maintenance over the course of this testing procedure other than sweeping and occasional damp mopping.
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