I rub the plastic reservoir on my Redding powder measure with dryer sheets.  Otherwise ball powders and small flake powders like to stick.

I took a couple empty black plastic powder canisters to work one day and tested them on our Shoe Tester.

This was a pair of platforms with an ohm meter between them.  You stood on the platforms in your conductive safety shoes and if the impedance was less than 5 ohms, you were OK to work with energetic materials.  If it was more, you had enough dirt on the shoe soles, weren't wearing the proper cotton socks, or whatever, and the situation needed to be corrected before you could work in the labs.

One canister had held Swiss black powder, and the other one was a round Hodgdon smokeless canister.  The Swiss container read less than 5 ohms, the Hodgdon read infinity.  So I figured the Swiss packaging had been done in accordance with their safety practices (and had, of course, added to the cost) while the Hodgdon containers reflected the lower  sensitivity to electrostatic initiation that smokeless powder has.

Olde Eynsford didn't exist back then and all other black powders from Goex came in metal cans, so I never repeated the test.

MartiniBelgian wrote on Aug 30^th, 2024 at 2:14pm:


Not true.  Black powder kernels are ignitable by static discharge.

steveu wrote on Aug 29^th, 2024 at 1:12pm:


Steve,

The containers are made of antistatic plastic.  Although antistatic plastic can be made in many colors, clear, red, etc., the plastic containers BP is shipped in are typically black and contain small amounts of carbon to make the plastic slightly conductive to electricity (antistatic).  So, pouring BP out of the containers cannot build up a static charge.

The development of antistatic plastic was the result of the semiconductor industries need to reduce the cost of shipping integrated circuits (ICs) in the 1980’s, which were commonly shipped in “conductive” aluminum tubes at the time.  Some ICs are sensitive to even low levels of static discharge.  Most of my career was spent in the semiconductor industry and I remember reading at the time that materials with a surface resistance of as much as several hundred thousand ohms per square inch would drain away any static charge.  Using a standard VOM (volt ohm meter) or multi-meter, one can actually determine if the plastic used in BP shipping bottles is antistatic.

To verify I grabbed a black plastic bottle of Swiss 1.5Fg and my handy Harbor Freight multi-meter, the one they use to give away if you purchase anything at the store.  With the meter set on ohms and the sharp-tip probes inserted into the plastic about an inch apart, the resistance was around 300,000 ohms, sufficient to eliminate a static charge buildup.  Just to double check, I also used an expensive multi-meter with the same results.

Wayne

MartiniBelgian wrote on Aug 31^st, 2024 at 2:11am:

 
This is why I don’t usually comment on stuff like this.  There’s always an expert on the internet who contradicts hundreds of thousands of lab tests.

I’m not talking about discharging through the plastic powder container.  It only takes less than 0.5% carbon black to make an HDPE container a very dark black color, so I don’t know what you mean by “all that charcoal.”  Velostat, or similar plastic containers are different.  How they are different?  Ask a polymer chemist or polymer engineer.  But they are different.  That’s why they are used for static sensitive materials.  That’s already been engineered out.  All the other plastic in your loading room hasn’t necessarily been thought of.

When you rub your feet on the carpet and shock someone, that’s well below the ignition energy for black powder.  You deliver much more energy when discharging than a barbecue lighter with the spark igniter.  Black powder is well into the sensitivity range for primary explosives.  So, can you set off a kernel of black powder sitting in a container?  Possible?  Yes.  Probable?  If the sun, the moon, and the stars align.  We all assume some level of risk when loading.  I’m ok with the low probability, but the probability is not zero, and definitely not only for clouds of dust above the LEL.

GunBum wrote on Aug 31^st, 2024 at 10:16am:

Yup, from the guy who sent quite a lot of time making explosion safety files in industry.

Be sure to empty and clean/blow out the BP when not in use, especially if you’re in a humid area. The powder or powder dust will suck up the moisture and cause you unwanted issues. Ask me how I know…….