Static electricity damages the material

Static charge on a material can build up along the process. Friction between idle rollers and film create a charge. Each new friction accumulates charge. Charges can rapidly become very high. Charges over 100 kV are not uncommon. When a static charge exceeds a certain level, spontaneous discharges and sparks can occur causing damage to the material or electronic equipment in the vicinity.

Work backwards in the process from the point where sparks have occurred. Place anti static bars prior to the idle roller. In most cases static charges are too high to be eliminated by one stage of anti static bars. Additional anti static bars are needed to control the static charge from the beginning to the end of the process.