No matter how many years I have been involved with electronics I still make decisions that have unfortunate consequences. Several weeks ago I noticed that the shop chair was chewing up the floor in the shop where I spend most of my time. My solution for this problem was to patch the nicks in the concrete and to purchase one of the large flat plastic sheets that are used in offices. The floor was now protected and the chair seemed to glide from position to position with more ease than before. I was happy with my supposed improvement to the shop.
Tonight as I reached for a screw driver in my tool cabinet I noticed that my Fluke Volt Alert, sitting on the shelf near the driver, flashed Red. Further experimentation revealed that any movement of the chair on the plastic mat or any shuffling of my shoes as I pushed the chair from place to place would produce a flash on the Volt Alert when I touched the screw driver. Obviously the mat was producing a static charge capable of producing an EM field large enough to trigger the Volt Alert when discharged into the metal of the screw driver. This was very disturbing and I quickly reviewed in my mind the static sensitive components that might have been handled since the mat was purchased. Fortunately I have been preoccupied with some construction in the basement recently and had not set up any experiments since the mat was purchase.
I am now sorry I bought the mat but thankful for the lucky chance revelation provided by The Fluke Volt Alert. I would say live and learn but there doesn't appear to be enough time in a lifetime to learn enough to prevent the side effects of decisions from getting me.
John
