Reloading Kaboom Yesterday - Please Learn From This

[HighLander51]

In addition to wearing full coverage polycarbonate safety goggles, electric ears, and Kevlar gloves, I'm just going to pull some Kevlar roving over the primer tubes. We have this stuff at work.

[spencerhut]

First, glad the OP is alive and recovering. Hearing stories like this is what pushed me to get the RCBS Pro2000. Granted most of the tube explosions I've heard and read about are different than this one, but the Pro2000 has no tubes and isolates each primer from the others making the setting off of more than one primer about impossible. I've never heard of a Pro2000 primer system KB.

[Dutch3]

We have voltmeters, thermometers, you name it, we have meters.......

Is there a meter that detects static? It would be nice to know that once you ground, that you have in fact dissipated the static electricity.

You can get one on Amazon, but they are a bit pricey at $500+

[grant22]

You can get one on Amazon, but they are a bit pricey at $500+

Dutch, thanks for that......I'm going to bLowes's today and I'll see what they have there.

Highlander, is that like a hollow kevlar rope??? Does it slip over the aluminum tube like a cond.....ahem.....sock? That would be a seriously good ticket!

[HighLander51]

Highlander, is that like a hollow kevlar rope??? Does it slip over the aluminum tube like a cond.....ahem.....sock? That would be a seriously good ticket!

Yes, a roving is a kind of tube sock. This product is also available in Nomex, about a dollar a foot commercially. It's also used to bundle electrical wiring.

[HighLander51]

I've never heard of a Pro2000 primer system KB.

A tube priming system, instead of a tray system, is optional on the RCBS units, but you have to consider the overall number of shooters who run Dillons. In competitive shooting, more than 95% of reloaders run Dillons for pistol and rifle. And consider that competition burns 300-500 rounds a week, or considerably more, depending on how much you practice. As posted earlier, I have only known one other shooter in 40 years who has blown up a primer tube, and this was during primer pickup.

[grant22]

Not to over do it, but I was just looking at my Dillon and thinking it REALLY could have sucked if the powder measure was full of powder. Just something else to think about.

[Brian1979]

Powder will just flash burn and you may loose some hair but it wont just explode unless placed in a device as if to make a bomb.

The tube you were holding was essentially like a small bomb and its walls ruptured causing your injury. Plain old powder in a hopper will just burn up but eye protection would be a wise idea being our faces are really close to it. Also if I am not mistake powder is pretty stable vs primers.

[NoJoke]

Working on grounding my LnL.
Would attaching a ground wire on the mounting bolt of the press, be considered acceptable?
Would grounding the other end of the wire into an electrical outlet, to the ground wire - also be considered acceptable? Risky?

I'm not an electrician.

My press is in set up in an outdoor shed - I have PVC conduit power to the shed. http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s...&postcount=114

[Cokebottle]

The electrical outlet (assuming the house is wired properly, stop by Radio Shack and get an outlet tester to confirm) is a perfectly acceptable ground.

However, I would not directly connect the equipment or myself to the ground, for a couple of reasons.

Grounding wrist straps, mats, and other ESD equipment have a small resistor in their grounding wires. In the event that there is a charge, the resistor allows it to drain slowly. That can be the difference between a spark and a light current that you can't feel or see.

Even if you are grounded to the floor, and the benchtop is grounded to the outlet, it is still possible for a lethal potential to exist across two locations on actual earth ground in as little as 6 feet.
Remember, the outlet is grounded to a ground rod near the main panel.

Ground the bench to the outlet, through a 1 meg resistor.
Mark out a touch zone on the bench away from the powder, and snaps to attach ESD wrist straps.
Sit down, touch the "zone", and while maintaining contact with the zone, attach your wrist strap to the snap on the bench.

[grant22]

Working on grounding my LnL.
Would attaching a ground wire on the mounting bolt of the press, be considered acceptable?
Would grounding the other end of the wire into an electrical outlet, to the ground wire - also be considered acceptable? Risky?

I'm not an electrician.

My press is in set up in an outdoor shed - I have PVC conduit power to the shed. http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s...&postcount=114

Short answer, yes.

I'm going to try this: 10-12' of wire. On the machine end, I'll crimp on a terminal end and it'll go where a bolt is on the machine. The other end is going to an outlet plate screw (the screw that holds the switch plate on). I'm going to double check it, but that screw should be grounded since it screws into the receptacle box.

[HighLander51]

Ground the bench to the outlet, through a 1 meg resistor.

You are going to confuse these guys. I just spent 30 minutes trying to get Brian 1979 to understand what an actual earth ground means. Now you go and throw in an resistor. And if 1 meg ohms is good at .25 watts, they will think that 10 times that is better. Next I will have to explain resistivity of materials, and current flow, and potential, not to mention capacitance and inductance.... The questions will never end. Next thing you know someone will want to know the difference between relative humidity and specific humidity, or why can't I measure current (amperes) with my volt-ohm meter. You know the really cool thing about electrical units is they are mostly named after Italian scientists, not Americans. Otherwise amperes would be William's, and volts would be Smiths, and ohms would be Johnson's, or something.

[Cokebottle]

LOL!

Well... there wouldn't be anything wrong with using a 1 meg 2.5w or 250w resistor (and a 10m resistor would still work).

Of course, a 1 meg 250w resistor would be a bit bigger than your picture

Ya... the real answer is, if you get shocked on your car door or when grabbing a doorknob, don't reload.
This isn't something that you MUST do for a living. It's a hobby, and it can wait.

[Sub95]

why cant he just get a grounding rod and stick it in the ground then wire it to the press,bench and him?.

[grant22]

He could but most people arent goint to want to drill 3 feet into the ground when there are already tons of grounded locations throughout the house/garage.

The house's electrical is grounded, that's why I'm going that route.