Powder spill

[Odinson]

So I had a powder spill today while doing some reloading.
The question is ........ Would it be advisable and safe to clean it up with a shop vac?

I have discovered that I'm never too old to do stupid things.

 

[M1-Garand]

So I had a powder spill today while doing some reloading.
The question is ........ Would it be advisable and safe to clean it up with a shop vac?

I have discovered that I'm never too old to do stupid things.

Smokeless OK, black powder maybe not so much.

 

[theDuck]

Vacuumed powder up many a time.

 

[Odinson]

Vacuumed powder up many a time.

My good old Rigid shop vac did the job. I gave it some further thought and there is no sources of ignition so I gave it a try. Only thing is, I somehow managed to vacuum up an Allen key too. I'll get it back.
Thank you!

 

[Odinson]

Smokeless OK, black powder maybe not so much.

Thanks, Smokeless powder. I don't play with black powder in the house. Only have well, now that I think about it, I have 3 charcoal burners.
Thanks again

 

[1oldfart]

I’m not sure of smokeless but I believe that black powder could create enough static electricity and spark and explosion

 

[Potashminer]

Yeah - I think when particles and air go up a plastic pipe - that creates static electricity and possible sparks - we had to run bare copper ground wire in dust extractor hoses in a guy's wood working shop, to bleed off that charge that was created. I have never seen it, but I heard that the wood dust within the plastic hose / pipe could catch on fire if the thing was not grounded.

 

[Odinson]

Yeah - I think when particles and air go up a plastic pipe - that creates static electricity and possible sparks - we had to run bare copper ground wire in dust extractor hoses in a guy's wood working shop, to bleed off that charge that was created. I have never seen it, but I heard that the wood dust within the plastic hose / pipe could catch on fire if the thing was not grounded.

A lot of people do not understand the hazards of static electricity. I almost burnt one of my airplanes years ago because of static electricity. As I was pouring gas from an "approved" plastic gas container into the nose tank on my J-3, suddenly I heard the snap of static electricity. I stopped immediately and never again poured gas without a proper bonding wire from gas can to airframe, to ground.
Over the years in the auto industry, I have seen some weird problems caused by static electricity.
I bought a dust collection plastic pipe system from Busy Bee tools and it came with the bonding wire to put inside of the pipe to address the static problem.
Static can be generated by any 2 dis-similar objects. Gasoline sloshing in an :approved" gas container is but one.
I could go on and on about static electricity and voltage spikes in the cars and trucks from days gone by.

 

[Bubba Yugga]

The canopy of a freshly landed Starfighter or Voodoo could zot you pretty good too.
Had bonded broom like affairs for that...

 

[Odinson]

Seen some weird stuff on vehicles, such as the entire electronic dash blowing because of static electricity build up in a power steering belt. That was a good one, spark jumped from belt to wiring that ran close to belt, hit a bump, wiring moved downward a bit and it just happened that those wires fed to one of the guages in the dash. There was some surprisingly high voltages measured coming off that belt.
Try and explain that one to a customer.