Planer Shock / Static Charge

General Discussion
1

Hey Sways…

 Anyone ever get a shock from their planer? More like a static charge Shock?

Ive been getting one from mine lately. Its a Clark Hitachi hooked to dust collection.

I get it usually from the hose or the cord, wich is wrapper around the hose. Sometimes from the planer body itself.

1 time while cleaning out my dust tubes I actually got it bad enough to where it numbed my arm, like getting shocked from a dryer or something.

 

Only happens with my Hitachi, the only one hooked to dust chute.

Ive checked the cord all the way from wall to inside planer. no nicks cuts or loose wires.

Anyone ever experienced this? And how did you remedy it?

Thanks

Matt

 

2

Hey Matt,

I receive shocks from my my slinky hose as it hits my bare arm.  It does feel like a static zap.  I would like to know if is caused by moving foam dust through a plastic hose.  The hose seems to zap me when it hits my arm while I am making multiple passes. 

Like Matt I wonder if this is simply a static electricity issue or an indicator of something more serious.

bluenose

3

I stripped some speaker wire to bare copper and ran it through my clark slinky hose wrapped the far end around a screw on a framing stud. seems to work - been a long long time since I got any jolts from static

4

It’s static charge from the hose.  If your hose has a metal spring inside, you can connect it to the planer and ground the other end with some short wires.  If no spring inside, run an uninsulated wire inside the hose and connect one end to the planer and the other to ground.  The wire doesn’t need to be huge, 18-20 gage is fine.  Use stranded wire for more flexibility.

5

Thanks for the tips Bud and petec.  I will have to try one of these grounding methods.

6

I had a Makita that would shock me constantly using the tool. Sort of a really quick, low voltage, machine gun… “zap-zap-zap-zap-zap-zap…” as I held the trigger. No hose attached. Some guys couldn’t even feel it, but it drove me nuts.

7

I shape with a makita no hose and I also get minor shocks.  My thoughts are as follows.  First,  as the machine passes over the foam static builds from the friction of the blades and the foam as well as friction between the base and the foam.  Think about the effect you got when you were a kid and scrubbed your feet along a carpeted floor wearing socks and shocked a sibling.  Good times :).  Second,  the electrical system your machine is connected to is poorly grounded.  Finally, the machine itself, is not correctly grounded internally.

     I attached ground wire to my planer body,  ran it along the power wire then attached it to the water main where it enters my house .  Works like a champ.  I used lamp cord from home depot, it’s cheap and its flexible.  I peeled the two strands apart because I only need one.  Used a crimp connect, which accepted a screw, I then zip tied the ground to the power cord.

This has remedied the problem for me.  I am not an electrician, so I couldn’t tell you where the problem came from.  But the solid ground has fixed it.