Safe ways to discharge static electricity

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Safe ways to discharge static electricity

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I find that I have been generating more static electricity lately. I think this is due to two main factors. First, I purchased a new couch for the home theater which seems to generate more static than my previous seating setup. Second, the winter is in full effect and I have been wearing more sweaters during my listening sessions. The combination of these two factors started to cause small electric shocks when going up and adjusting volume on my CJ preamp. I was getting small speaker pops and a nice little jolt when touching the metal housing on my CJ gear.

I have since decided to touch the metal housing of my power conditioner prior to touching any of the other items in the system. This has alleviated any audible effect on the equipment (although I still get the jolt). I don't mind the small electrocution as it does not hurt, but I want to make sure my equipment is safe. :)

I was wondering if others also had this problem and how they have solved the issue. I think by discharging on the power conditioner chassis I run no risk of damaging the stereo equipment as they are further down the line.
-admin
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Main stereo: ART Amplifier and ET7s2. 2nd stereo: PV-14L and MV-55. Previously Owned: PF2 preamp, Evolution 2000 Amp, PV-12AL preamp, D/A-2b Vacuum-Tube Digital Processor.
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Re: Safe ways to discharge static electricity

Post by Ray »

There are some anti-static sprays one can buy, we used to use them all the time at trade shows to help alleviate the problem of zapping the gear.

I always rather hated spraying anything like that around the house simply because it's yet another chemical to think about in the environment.
..but it's simply enough to even make, a couple tablespoons of fabric softener diluted with water.

But in the end I've never used anything at home. I've zapped gear and gotten zapped plenty of times in the winter..knock-on-wood no permanent damage. I think it was my ET-3 one time I zapped the daylights out of it such that it locked up in a "weird mode". had to do a pull-the-plug reset to get it back to sanity. no damage.

This is the price we pay for having expensive gear with metal front covers/chassis/knobs etc. And these days, more gear with full-metal-chassis don't have earth ground connections. In my case all the gear in my system have earth grounds, so, I generally don't worry about static discharge...famous last words? :shock:
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Re: Safe ways to discharge static electricity

Post by jeffreybehr »

Admin, increase the relative humidity in your home. RH goes way down in the winter when you're heating the house.

So...add water.
:)
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Re: Safe ways to discharge static electricity

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@Ray
Never heard of the "spray", but it sounds like a good temporary solution. I don't know how I feel about spraying chemicals in my listening room everyday though. I think for now I will just take the small shocks!

@jeffreybehr
I agree that the low humidity is probably a big factor. It's pretty darn cold up here in New England. I think the low for tonight will be 8 degrees! I have tried to run a humidifier in the house but my home is over 3500 sq ft so I don't know how much it will help. We also use a wood burning high efficiency stove so I think that also adds to the dryness. Maybe I can try running the humidifier directly in the room for a little while prior to my listening session.
-admin
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Re: Safe ways to discharge static electricity

Post by Ray »

supposedly the static sprays work for some amount of time, as when the water evaporates, some residual chemical is left behind, not unlike fabric softener in cloths...but I agree with you, the idea of spraying, even if it was only once a month, would not be desirable.
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Re: Safe ways to discharge static electricity

Post by jeffreybehr »

admin wrote:@Ray
I agree that the low humidity is probably a big factor. It's pretty darn cold up here in New England. I think the low for tonight will be 8 degrees! I have tried to run a humidifier in the house but my home is over 3500 sq ft so I don't know how much it will help. We also use a wood burning high efficiency stove so I think that also adds to the dryness. Maybe I can try running the humidifier directly in the room for a little while prior to my listening session.
You could put the humidifier in the music room, running all the time except when you're listening.
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Re: Safe ways to discharge static electricity

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I started running a humidifier pretty much all day long in the house. I hope this will help a bit. For safety I think I will continue to make sure to discharge any static on the power conditioner housing prior to touching any of the equipment.
-admin
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Re: Safe ways to discharge static electricity

Post by Ray »

Good luck with the humidifier, considering the temps around lately, the RH is probably in the very low also. I drew-an-arc off the GAT power switch the other day from about a half-inch away..nice one. One of those times where I'd forgotten to discharge on a chassis first. No problems but it can sure give give ya a scare!
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Re: Safe ways to discharge static electricity

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We have been getting an incredible stretch of very low temperatures here in New England this past week and my home theater room has been really cold despite having the heat on. The air has also been very dry despite running a humidifier around the clock. I was watching a movie in there yesterday and I never have a blanket over me, but this time I did! Interestingly, the static issue does not seem to happen with my video setup (both video and audio equipment), only my pure audio setup.
-admin
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Main stereo: ART Amplifier and ET7s2. 2nd stereo: PV-14L and MV-55. Previously Owned: PF2 preamp, Evolution 2000 Amp, PV-12AL preamp, D/A-2b Vacuum-Tube Digital Processor.
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Re: Safe ways to discharge static electricity

Post by Good Dog Jocko »

I discharge static electricity into my big friendly human. He takes relatively good care of my C-J gear in spite of my electrical abuse. He even gives me a shot of his Scotch now and then. Why you got a problem with static electricity anyway??? You sound like a good way to to discharge my doggy fart after a taco dinner.
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Re: Safe ways to discharge static electricity

Post by admin »

Interestingly, even though this winter has been colder than last year, static has not been such a big issue. I am running two humidifiers in the house non-stop so perhaps that has something to do with it. I still touch the housing of my power conditioner before touching any of the "real" equipment.
-admin
Home Theater in Member Gallery
Main stereo: ART Amplifier and ET7s2. 2nd stereo: PV-14L and MV-55. Previously Owned: PF2 preamp, Evolution 2000 Amp, PV-12AL preamp, D/A-2b Vacuum-Tube Digital Processor.
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