Problem with ESD shoe testing in the winter season

Technical Questions
#1

Hello everyone,

I would like to ask you for help.

During the winter season we have a problem with ESD shoe entrance testing. As the temperature and humidity drop in the morning, some people have a problem with the first morning ESD test. We tried to use some kind of water spray to “help” with the connection, but many times it doesn’t help at all.

We are using only maximum limit 1.0 x 10^8 Ohm (no lower limit)

I know there is a recommendation to use ESD shoes at least 10 minutes before the first check, but you can’t command people to go to work sooner because of that. (Operators must get into production as soon as possible)

We are using ELITE Botron turnistiles system. Verification was perfomed by me in the summer (used Decabox for verification)

The problem occurs only in the morning during the first test, during the day it is already fine

Many thanks

Best Regards

David

//Edit

It does not matter if we use new or old ESD shoes or different brands

#2

Thank you for your question. It is fairly common that winter dry air increases the difficulty for some people to meet the resistance requirements through their footwear. It often takes longer to establish enough moisture between feet, socks and shoe insole to make a conductive path in the winter months. A suggestion is to have the people use moisturizing lotion on their feet prior to putting on their ESD control shoes or shoe grounding devices.

#3

Hi David,

I have the same problem like you.
The most critical period is Monday, because our ESD shoes are stored in the dressing rooms, where RH is not controlled. So footwear get dry during the weekend.
Storing the shoes in a room with higher (35-40%) RH could help. Unfortunately installing humidifying systems into dressing rooms could be difficult and costly.
@Lisa, thank you mentioning the moisturizing lotion, I will try it.