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Effect of Waxes Upon the Resistance of Conductive Floor Coverings
Sereda, P. J.; Slade, H. F.
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NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL CANADA
D I V I S I O N QIF BVILD$MQ RESEARCH
EFFECT OF WAXES UPON THE RESISTANCE
OF COGdDUCI'NE FLOOR COVERINGS
Report No, 189
of the
PREFACE
A number of i n v e s t i g a t i o n s c a r r i e d out as p a r t of t h e g e n e r a l study of e l e c t r i c a l l y conducting f l o o r s f o r h o s p i t a l o p e r a t i n g rooms have a l r e a d y been d e s c r i b e d i n DBR r e p o r t s . The o v e r - a l l problem and information on p r o p e ~ t i e s of a v a i l a b l e conductive f l o o r i n g s have been p u b l i s h e d , The Snforrraation now p r e s e n t e d on t h e waxing
of f l o o ~ coverings w i l l be of i n t e r e a t i n connection w i t h maintenance and because of t h i s w i l l have i m p l l c a t l o n s
also i n t h e s e l e c t i o n of f l o o r i n g s .
Ottawa
E f f e c t of Waxes Upon t h e R e s i s t a n c e of Condwt i ~ e F l o o r Csve~inas
P . 6 , Seseda and H,F. S l a d e
A l l . t e c L h $ c a l l l ~ t e r a t u ~ e of r e c e n t d a t e ~ s k t h e sub3ee.t of
conductive f 1 0 0 ~ i n g h a s c a u t i o n e d a g a i n s t the use of waxes
b e c a m e
a
wax f l.1.m i s g e n e r a l l y c o n s i d e r e d - as an i n s u l a t o r ,T h i s lirnitat.io;r;.. planed cestailn t y p e s sf f l o o r i n g m a t e r i a l s a t s
c o c s i d e ~ a b l e d.i.saclvan%.age, because t h e , r e a i l l , e n t fleer c o v e ~ i n g s
s u c h as ll.noleum and rubber r e q u % s e t h e a p p l i c a t i o n of wax t o p r e s e r v e t h e sur'ace d . ~ a s t a t e of a c c e p t a b l e appearance a f t e r
a nlmbe? of yeas3 of s e r v i c e ,
De-~elspment by industry has r e s u l t e d Lw t h e p ~ c d u c t i o 3 of ~~~~~~~~~~~ae" waxcar; f o r use on conduzt i v e F l oor$.ng ,,
The U,S, 3 n d e , - w ~ i t e r a ~ L a b o r a t o ~ i e a in t h e i ~ bi-monthly supplement dat'ed October 19559 have l i . a t e d two f l o o r waxes as
" e l e c t s i ~ a l l y con.dactl,ve" and " f o r use 02 conductive P l o o r i s r g of t h e r u b b e r r TJi.S~l and l i n o l e w n t y p e s " . T h i s waa done only afkesn c o n s i d e r a b l e testing; sf t h e e f f e c t of t h e s e waxes upon t h e
r e s i s t a n c e o r t h e oonduti-2tive f l o o r c o v e ~ i n g s ,
The aboT?e t e s t s , howeverr d i d c e t i n c l u d e t h e e f f e c t of
mult l.coata 0% wax beca:~se t h e m a n u f ' a c t u s e ~ recommended s t r i p p $ n g
of o l d
wax
b e f ~ s e a p p l y i n g 3 new c o a t , , Be>:,ause s t r a p p i n g of c l dwax m y not be c a m i e d out e f f i . c % e n t l y PF a's a l l , it w2a
irnportar~t t o hew the e f f e e t of mult 1coat.s of" wax. ow ccg.d>~ct :.ye f l o o s i r t g . Tk? + e s t < s which a ~ e now t o be d e a c s i b e d ware d e s z g r ~ e d
t o pscrvl.de such 1C.f ~ r m ~ i o r , ,:
T e s t Proced~lzse ar3d Samless
The laboratory t , e s t %n%talLatAo9 of 3 - by 6 - f o o t sts-i.ps of conductive flocasLngs o f t h e ~ r ~ h b e s , Linoleum and vd,?.yl t y p e s was used f c r t & l s t.est, Each a t s i p was dl.vlded i n t o t h r e e a?ea:.s
a p p r o x i r ~ t e l g 2 by
3
f e e t e n a b l i n g three d % l % e r e n t waxee. t o be t e s t e d on. e a c h of t h e t h r e e t y p e s of conductive f l o s ~ t n g ,Once every week t h e f l o o r s were washed w i t h warm water and t k e n waxed according t o m n u f f a c t u s e r l s i n s t r u c t l s n s , The Following day t h e e l e c t r i c a l r e s i s t a n c e waa measured by t h e M,P,P,A, method (19, A template was used f o r p l a c i n g of t h e e l e c t r o d e s and t h r e e measurements o f r e s i s t a n c e were made on
each area, Mine a p p l i c a t i o n s of waxes were made, w i t h t h e e x c e p t i o n of t h e non-conduetLve wax i n which c a s e only six
a p p l i ~ a t iov-s were made,
Tbsee waxes were t e s t e d i n t h i s manner. Two were a v a i l a b l e c o m e r c i a l l y a s e l e c t r i c a l l y conductive waxes and the t h i ~ d w a s a p r o p r i e t a r y water emulsion wax n o t d e s i g n a t e d f o r - use on c2~nductive fl o o r i n g . A l l t e s t s were c a m l e d out tr a room conditioned t o
7 3 * ~ ,
and 50 p e r c e n t ~ e l a t i v e humidity,I n
a d d i t i o n wax f i l m s of t h e s e waxes were prepared on p o l i s h e d 30-gauge t i n p l a t e by a p p l y i n g a " l a k e " of t h ee m ~ l s l o n wax confined by a p a r a f f i n dam on t h e p l a t e s and
a l l o w i n g t h e w a t e r t o evaporate I n a room c o n d i t i o n e d t o 7 3 O ~ ,
and 5 0 p e r cent r e l a t i v e humidity, Wax f i l m s of v a r f o u s
t h i c k n e s s e s up t o
7
m i l s were prepared i n t h l s way TP.et h i c k n e s s of t h e s e f i l m a was measured with a General E l e c t ~ j c t h i c k ' ~ e s a gauge, The r e s i s t a n c e of t h e f i l m s was determined f o r v a r i o u s d o c , v o l t a g e s a p p l i e d between one M,F,P,A, f o i l e l e c t r o d e or. t h e s u r f a c e and t h e base mekal , I n a s a r n i l a ~ manner, t h e t e s l s t a n s e of a p s l y t h e n e .film a l s o a F i l m of 50 p e s e e c t beeswax and 50 p e r c e n t r e s i n were measured,
~ s s u l t s and D i s c u s ~ i o n
A s 4s shown in Table I a s l n g l e application oE any of t h e t h r e e waxes Ln-:reased t h e low r e s f s t a r i c e o f conductive l$nolemm and v i n y l by a f a c t o r l e s s than two and d e w e a s e d t h e hkgh s e s l s t a n e e of conductive rubber by a s i m i l a r f a c t o s , Three, o r more s u c c e s s i v e a p p l i c a t i o n s of any of t h e t h r e e waxes fncseaaed t h e r e s i s t a n c e af t h e conductive f l o o r covering8 by a factor 0%
from two to four, with ope e x c e p t i o n , t h e wax Cond,I an aonduc- tkve r u b b e r , T h i s LBttek r e s u l t i s n o t c o n s i s t e n t acd carnot he e x p l a i n e d ,
TABLE I1
RESISTANCE OF FILMS OF VARIOUS THICKNESSES ON A
P D T E
AT
- 200 VOLTS d-
. c , F i l m Thickness ( ~ i l s ) R e s i s t a n c e (thousands of---
cbs! -.-- As Non-conductive wax3
t o7
30 t o 60 ~oaad.1 wax 3 t o 6 40 t o 100 Cond. I1 wax 1.5 t o 618
t o 2 8 Polythene3
9000 X-
50% beeswax+
50% r e s i nFrom Table I1 i t i s evident t h a t wax f i l m s a s t h i c k a s
6
m i l s which were formed from water emulsions on t i n p l a t e had a r e s i s t a n c e comparable t o t h e r e s i s t a n c e of conductive f l o o r s , T h i s r e s u l t a g r e e s w i t h r e s u l t s p r e s e n t e d i n Table I where t h e s e
f i l m s were t e s t e d on conductive f l o o r s of low r e s i s t a n c e ,
Films of s i m i l a r t h i c k n e s s of polythene and s p e c i a l compositiocs
of beeswax and r e s i n behaved a s i n s u l a t o r s on t i n p l a t e g l v i n g va172es of r e s i s t a n c e of about 10 megohrns which corresponds t o a ~ e s i s t i v l t y of about 2 x 1011 ohms-cm, .
It was estimated t h a t one a p p l i c a t i o n of t h e s e waxes or1
'looring forms a f i l m about 0.2 m i l s t h i c k .
The s l i p p e r l n e a s of a l l t h e f l o o r c o v e r i n g s t e s t e d was
l n s s e a s e d s i g n i f i c a n t l y w i t h t h e a p p l i c a t i o n of any of t h e t h r e e waxes a s shown i n Table 111.
TABLE I11
ANTI-SLIP COEFFICIENT (SIGLER SLIPPERINESS MACHINE ) ( 2 )
Type of Wax Rubber Linoleum Vinyl
N O wax
.
45 a 32 b 37 Cond.
I 4 Cond. I1 4 a p p l l c a t i o n s Non-conduct i v e 1 a p p l i c a t i o n ConclusionsIt appears t h a t any one of t h e t h r e e w a t e r emulsion waxes t e s t e d can be used on conductive f l o o r coverings of t h e rLibbesp linoleum, o r v i n y l type i f t h e r e s i s t a n c e of t h e
F l o o r i n g i s below 250,000 ohms. It i s recommended that t h e
r e s i s t a n c e of t h e f l o o r i n g be checked a f t e r each a p p l i c a t i o n of wax a s a r o u t i n e p r e c a u t i o n . Frequent s t r i p p i n g of t h e o l d wax would appear a d v i s a b l e .
S i n c e s e v e r a l c o a t s of t h e s e waxes i n c r e a s e t h e
r e s l s t a n z e sf conduct.lve f l o o r i n g by a f a c t o r of from two t o
t u l w and do not i a n p a ~ t any c o c d u c t i v i t y t o a non-conductive
Z'looslng and s i n c e t h e behaviour of o r d i n a r y w a t e r emulsion wax was s i m i l a r t o t k o s e d e s i g n a t e d a3 "@onductivett i t would seem
misleading t o d e s c r i b e any of t h e s e waxes as "conductbve". Since aorne of t h e r e s u l t s were anomalous i t would seem wise t o check t h e e f f e c t of any proposed wax on a given conductive
f l o o r by a p p l y i n g t h i s wax on a t e s t a r e a of about 10 square f e e t b e f o r e t h e e n t i r e f l o o r i s s o t r e a t e d .
REFERENCES
(1) Recommended safe practice for hospital operating rooms, N,F,P.A, No.
56
of the National Fire ProtectionAssociation, Boston, 40 p.
( 2 1 Stgler, P,A,, M.H. Geib and T , H , Boone. Measurement of the slipperiness of walkway surfaces, U,S, Bureau of standards, Journal of Research, vol. 40, no.
