Self-Install ESD Flooring Kits

Electronics and PCB facilities require ESD flooring to prevent erroneous charges from damaging sensitive equipment. Daily testing ensures proper function and resistance levels. Some sections of the floor wear more quickly based on foot traffic volume or equipment use. Over time, an ESD floor will incur wear and eventually require replacement. A contractor will likely recommend that the entire floor is replaced. But is there a better way? 

What is ESD flooring?

To learn more about the differences between conductive and dissipative flooring, see our previous post.

Steps for ESD Flooring Installation

Lay Down Edge Tape and Adhesive Flooring

  1. Starting with a clean dry floor, add conductive edge strips to the border of the room.
  2. The tape is applied to clean sub-floors adhesive side down 1′ from the walls on the entire perimeter of the installation and every 30 ft. approx. across the seams. Tails of copper tape are provided in a number of locations for connection to ground by electricians according to local building codes.
  3. Next, lay down strips of dry adhesive, taking not to create air bubbles, folds, or wrinkles
  4. For ease, get help from a partner. One person holds and lines up the roll across the floor while the other person uses a flat and wide pressing tool to flatten the adhesive layer and make any final alignment adjustments.
  5. Trim any overlapping adhesive layers to create a snug final fit.

Bring in ESD Flooring Material and Ensure Proper Dimensions and Fit

  1. DO NOT PEEL OFF THE PAPER BACKING of the adhesive layer, yet.
  2. Bring in your ESD flooring rolls, and lay them flat over the top of the adhesive backing
  3. Once all the ESD flooring has been staged on the floor, you’ll know that it fully covers the floor and that it’s cut properly.
  4. Now pull back your staged ESD flooring halfway to expose the adhesive paper (Stand on the ESD flooring)
  5. Now, its time to the remove the paper backing to expose the adhesive.

Remove Adhesive Paper and Apply Flooring

  1. VERY DELICATELY, being careful not to cut through the subflooring, slice the adhesive paper down the middle line toward the center of the room with a sharp carpenters blade.
  2. Pull the adhesive paper off the backing starting from the other edge of the room toward the center.
  3. Now lay your ESD flooring over the adhesive with a slow and steady motion.
  4. Rollout the flooring across the adhesive paper. Make sure not to create air bubbles, folds, or wrinkles.
  5. Use a weighted roller to ensure all air bubbles are removed and flooring has firmly adhered to the existing floor.

Repeat Steps for Each Side of the Room

  1. Now repeat steps 7-13 for the other side of the room.
  2. Use a hot welder to connect the flooring seams together.
  3. Trim any excess flooring around the room edges making sure not to cut through lower layers.

Dissipative ESD Flooring

Recommended Applications Electronics Manufacturing; ESD sensitive medical instrumentation; laboratories; aircraft control towers. Also used in military applications, explosives, and munitions manufacturing. 

Conductive ESD Flooring

Features

  • Non-glare surface with an attractive natural stone pattern helps hide stains and scuff marks.
  • Easy to maintain, never needs conductive wax.
  • Resistant to chemicals and hot solder.
  • Slip resistance exceeds ADA guidelines.
  • Ideal for use in areas where static cannot be tolerated under any circumstances.

StatPro aisle-safe mats and runners provide the ultimate in Class Zero ESD protection for the most ESD-sensitive environments. It is the only conductive rubber product meeting both the recommended system resistance of ANSI/ESD S97.1 and the Body Voltage Generation for ANSI/ESD S97.2. Manufactured to meet Class Zero ESD applications.

This product is not compatible with StatPro Dry Adhesive.
  • Ideal for explosives applications per NAVSEA OP 5 and DOD 4145.26M.
  • Ideal for R&D labs, computer rooms, clean rooms, munitions, electronics manufacturing, and test and repair areas.
  • Meets IBM 2011 guidelines for use as a grounded anti-static floor in a data center.
  • Non-glare surface with an attractive natural stone pattern helps hide stains and scuff marks.
  • Easy to maintain, never needs conductive wax.
  • Resistant to chemicals and hot solder.
  • Slip resistance exceeds ADA guidelines.

Manufacturing Technology
Co-extrusion process with full surface conductive backings

Recommended Applications
Microchip and Electronics Manufacturing; Explosives and Munitions manufacturing; Military applications; Airport control towers Computer data centers, ESD sensitive areas in medical facilities.

StatPro is a full surface textile re-enforced double sided self-stick roll flooring adhesive. It is VOC free, free of odors, carcinogens, out-gassing and is totally safe for people. The adhesive is acrylic based, plasticizer resistant, contains no formaldehyde and has an unrestricted waste disposal. StatPro has a lower adhesive strength to the old flooring and a high strength adhesion to the new flooring. Installations (i.e. carpet tile over access floors, trenches, or old carpet) are releasable.

After laying StatPro Original, Six-inch strips of this conductive tape is required every 10 feet crossing the seams between rolls of adhesive. 1.6″ x 82’6″

StatPro copper tape is a roll of an adhesive backed strip of copper. It is used in three different applications:

When installing ESD conductive carpet or ESD conductive vinyl with water based acrylic conductive adhesive, copper tape is applied to clean sub-floors adhesive side down 1′ from the walls on the entire perimeter of the installation and every 30 ft. approx. across the seams. Tails of copper tape are provided in a number of locations for connection to ground by electricians according to local building codes. Water based acrylic conductive adhesive UZIN KE 2000 SL is then troweled at the recommended spread rate above the copper tape and ESD flooring is applied.

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Mitch Walleser

Mitch Walleser

Mitch is a contributing writer for Production Automation Corporation. PAC is a factory-direct distributor of products and environmental solutions for industrial and critical requirements within electronics, medical device, life science, pharmaceutical, and general manufacturing industries. Mitch has worked with manufacturing engineers, in-house specialists, and factory experts to highlight and uncover manufacturing solutions. His background includes 3D printing, electronics, and cleanroom manufacturing.

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