Well, here's some basic stuff from my experience. Conductive paint cannot be used for "earth bonding". It can be used only for shielding purposes. In other words, don't expect to either a. pass large amounts of current through it, b. assume it will always be a reliable ground path, c. be able to act similar to the ground path a metal chassis provides.
Conductive paint is usually good for *one time* use. In other words, don't expect the paint to survive repeated removals and installations of the cover to which it's applied. So use it carefully in places where it's a "Fit and Forget" type application. I've dealt with two types of conductive paint, nickel and copper. Both are somewhere around 1 to 1/2 ohm per square depending upon a lot of factors: 1. Composition of the paint - Acrylic based paint or oil based paint. Oil based being the higher ohms per square. 2. Manufacturability - Depending upon how thick or how many layers of the paint are applied. Research these topics very carefully with the paint maker and the vendor who will apply it. IF the decision to use conductive paint is made, the following information is necessary for safety: If the enclosure to which the paint is applied is plastic - a. Need UL-94V) rating of specific plastic used. b. Need UL approval of conductive paint. c. Need UL approval of specific plastic mfr to mold plastic. d. Need UL approval of marriage between specific plastic and specific conductive paint. e. Need UL approval of mfr to do marriage of plastic and paint. Regards, Doug At 10:06 AM 4/13/99 -0600, JENKINS, JEFF wrote: >Hello Group, > >My company is proposing to use conductive paint on our enclosures, and I >would like your input as to the acceptability of this vis-a-vis protective >earth bonding of enclosure panels. I am interested in the perspective of >both European and North American requirements. > >This should be a generic question, but if it helps, here are the standards >we use: > >EN 60950 / IEC 950 / UL 1950 / CSA 950 >EN 50178 >UL 1012 >CSA C22.2 No. 107.1 > >Regards, > >Jeff Jenkins >Senior Regulatory Compliance Engineer >Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. >Fort Collins, CO USA 80525 --------- This message is coming from the emc-pstc discussion list. To cancel your subscription, send mail to majord...@ieee.org with the single line: "unsubscribe emc-pstc" (without the quotes). For help, send mail to ed.pr...@cubic.com, j...@gwmail.monarch.com, ri...@sdd.hp.com, or roger.volgst...@compaq.com (the list administrators).