Don’t know what happened exactly but here is what just happened to me…
I turned on my H2S. Wanted to print some PLA from a non AMS spool so I removed the PTFE tube on the back to insert the PTFE for the external spool to use…
Upon trying to disconnect the PTFE tube on the back I GOT ZAPPED by the machine…
A big blue spark came through the PTFE tube in to my finger. Hurt like ■■■■ and scared the crap out of me!!! My finger still hurts from it half an hour later… It is winter here… Very dry air, might be just static? It was the worst static I ever seen if that was it…
I was standing on rubber flipflops on a wooden stool at the time… Not touching anything else…
What the ■■■■ was that @BambuLab??? My printer is in The Netherlands, connected to a ground protected outlet. No other printers were on…
I can assure you that the voltage that caused the spark was definitely more than 230V, so it was definitely static energy.
You say you didn’t touch anything, so either you were a bridge between 2 parts of the printer (one static charged and the other grounded to earth). So you might have touched the frame or there was a second spark between you and the grounded area.
That said, the friction of the filament through the tubes is a formula for static charging. Dry weather is influencing this also.
Since filament is usually not a very good conductor, the static charge can be quite local in the filament.
Bambu could consider to add (more) locations in the filament path (have no clue if there are any now) where static energy flows to ground.
If your printer is still functioning, then you could consider using gloves that discharge the energy directly instead of through your fingers.
Some static discharges can be pretty much, but you will survive.
Yikes! That’s a good cautionary tale, I wouldn’t have though of the static potential otherwise.
I agree with Gerrit that it was static. A line voltage electrocution carries a lot of kinetic energy (due to the available Amps) and would have either knocked you off the stool or frozen you in place until the circuit got interrupted externally somehow.
And yea a grounding path for all that static buildup is not a bad idea!
I can only confirm what has already been said. Static. Definitely. The rubber slippers in particular reinforce this, as they enable you to build up a charge and you act as a walking capacitor. It was just a coincidence that the printer was touched; it could just as easily have happened on the radiator, for example.
230V definitely feels different. We’re talking about two completely different worlds here. And as already mentioned, PTFE tubes cannot carry voltages such as 230V anyway.
For example, I recommend being careful when walking around in rubber slippers on carpeted floors. Some clothes can also encourage this.
Could it be they didnt anticipate how much charge would the filament generate,which given the speed of the machine I imagine will be quite more, than say, an ender?
I didn’t even consider the static buildup on the person itself. The fact that the spark went through the PTFE tube, pointed me in the direction of statis buildup in the filament.
So that might have been the issue also.
I am not a super expert on static charges, but speed also seems to influence the amount of static buildup. And an Ender is not constantly loading/unloading filament.
At some point, he will realize that it’s also because of the rubber slippers, trust me. This is the perfect combination for building static. When this happens several times a day, you start to consider getting different slippers.
Yeah true , load/unload . Also all those eddies probably got a hand to play too. I have never been zapped, probably because im very ..handsy with my machines, all day working, checking etc, so maybe I dont give them the chance to really buildup, but my hairs on my hands do stand tall when I shove them in the chamber…
The printer is grounded to prevent static build-up. Otherwise, the electronics would be damaged every time. However, it is possible that the OP thinks his outlet is grounded when it isn’t. I’ve seen this happen many times - really quite often.
Thats not entirelly true. Im one of the first to get the H2D and already back then there where mentions that static can be heavily felt with this machine. Even my supplier asked me if I felt static, lowkey worried that something was wrong with his machine. So something is definetely either not grounded at all, or completely misjudged the scale ?
Additionally to my previous comments, load/unload and speed lead to more plastic dust floating around, influencing static gen more.
Imagine, especially with PETG, if i get my head close, my hair float towards the chamber. Given they reach my waist, one could say this is a safety hazard
How can you tell whether the printer is the source of the static charge?
This needs to be clarified first. The fact that you get a shock when you touch the printer does not necessarily mean that it was the printer; it could have been your own charge.
ESD shoes, for example, exist for a good reason! Of course, that would be an exaggeration at home, but what I mean is: it can always be down to the clothes and shoes.
If i see my hair pointing like a compass to the printers surfaces, and only to the h2d instead of any of the 30 different machines in the room, I think i can be pretty possitive its the H2D.
And also dont get confused, as I said, personally ive never been shocked, I have felt the effects through pulling force, and I have heard small discharges, but not shocked.
The other fella here got shocked, the one who made the thread.
I believe you, but if that’s the case, I would check the grounding to see if it’s even connected. At the outlet and at the distribution box. That’s not normal. This is often overlooked. Check it out - it could be, but doesn’t have to be, a sign of a much bigger problem with the electrical circuit throughout the house or facility.
So you think the other machines are connected in a different grid? Same cirquit mate, if the H2D does it , the p1s’ next to it and the neptunes4max over and around it would too.
How should I know what your wiring looks like? It was just a nice piece of advice.
Based on my experience as an electronics technician, I can only say that this is a clear sign that it needs to be checked due to the risk of danger to life, but you can also choose not to do so.
Better to check than to regret it later when you’re lying in the hospital thinking, damn it, if only I had picked up the measuring device just once. Well, you can check that in less than two minutes and check the printer itself at the same time. Then you know where it’s coming from and fix it.
…and no, it’s not the static that’s dangerous, but the fact that there seems to be something wrong with the grounding, just to be clear.
I agree it probably has something to do with static. However, I know what static feels like. I regularly zap the doorhandles, my kids and the cat. But this was in a league of its own with regards to the power… It scared me so much I felt the need to talk about it on this forum. I don’t get scared by regular static discharges in and around the house.
My house was built in 2007 so it is pretty much as good as it gets with regards to building code etc. The electrical system in my house is top noch and it has never given any problems in the past. All my printers have been connected to the same outlets in the past, never any issues what so ever…
I have no clue what the cause was, but I thought I’d mention it here so we can at least track if this happens frequently or if my experience was an outlier…
It’s static, if I wear technical fabrics (Under Armor, Nike dry Fit) in the winter I get a heck of jolt from the car door when I get out after driving a while. Like others said, certain shoes. Shop Vacs will get you good too and it’s a plastic hose you can feel the static crawling on the hose and your arm hairs moving around while using one. Wood shops and dust extraction systems need grounds in the ducts in some situations as well, not only due to the zap but explosions/accidental ignition of the dust. Steel wool 0000, linseed oil cloths, and on and on.
There are varying levels of static zaps and I’ve been hit with 230 before (single phase) and they don’t feel anything similar.
Discharging CRT tubes is in the thousands of volts range and no matter how hard you try you can still get hit by it. Hurts and scares you but thats about it.
That’s a good cautionary tale, I wouldn’t have though of the static potential otherwise.
This is the perfect combination for building static. When this happens several times a day, you start to consider getting different slippers.
