Static electricity question

[higgite]

I wonder why people working on things like MOSFETs [IIRC] are grounded during the time they are in the assembly room ?
I wonder why police are warned not to carry loose batteries in the same pocket as live rounds ?
I wonder why walking across a rug ,especially in dry times , will create a spark if they ground themselves to conducting things , even other people .
I wonder how amateur radio people have so many problems when all their equipment is connected to the same ground [equipment ground ] and that is connected ,in turn to the earth ground ?
Just askin' ??

A static spark is created when a "charged" person touches a grounded object such as a MOSFET or a ham radio or another person who hasn't walked across the same rug. If such a spark is likely and would cause damage, you ground the person before he touches the grounded object. The OP was holding a hand held priming tool, not a bench tool. Nothing was grounded. You can't get a static spark from yourself to yourself.

Not carrying batteries in the same pocket as live ammo has nothing to do with static. It has to do with the possibility of ammo, keys, pocket knives, coins and such bridging across the battery terminals and setting up an electrical circuit through a live round.

 

[DaleA]

I'll play.

If the static electricity thing could happen at all there must be some 'chance' that it could happen. Figure 1 in 100 million as a silly wild guess.

Now with all the BILLIONS of rounds produced and handled by hand loaders, the military and law enforcement and shooters EVERY YEAR, well we'd be hearing about it. There'd be a hundred or so instances of it every year. The military would probably warn its soldiers about the problem.

So I don't think it's a thing. Unless it's a one in a trillion thing. In that case, I still don't think it's a thing.

Just my $.02 worth.