Static Shocks

jonbeeza

jonbeeza

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Me and the missus have always suffered from static shocks form each other. It can be heard when we touch each other, and certainly felt. Even out and about while walking, if we touch each other we get a shock. It seems to be getting worse, I don't recall it being this bad years ago. We have to touch a non conductive material, before touching each other, or certain objects.

When I told a friend about this, he suggested it was the type of clothing we wear, and he jokingly suggested we wear rubber underwear. I know he was only joking, but I know it could be down to wearing nylon or similar products, and certain types of material will minimize this. I know rubber certainly should, but how about when we wear rubber soled shoes, surely we should not be getting static shocks, as our rubber soled shoes should be earthing us. :thinking:
 
Just as a though..

As I was saying it has gotten worse over the years, I wonder if it also down to modern tech, such as the wifi and our computers and phone. Could that be adding to the static, possibly?
 
One of my exes used to do this to me, seemed to occur mostly with light touches, like she tipped me on the arm or so, thankfully it never happened during anything more intimate! The only other time I experience this static shock is from supermarket trolleys. What about those anti static wrist bands pc builders wear?
 
I have this problem also but mostly around my car (Toyota auris hybrid) I am really careful when I need fuel [emoji298]
 
The wrist bands have to be connected to earth in order to work.

Try wearing cotton based fabrics instead of synthetic, leather shoes and humidifying your environment. That will reduce static build up. Also if you have synthetic carpet that will make it worse - at school we would rub our feet on the carpet to build up charge, then touch each other on the cheek to give a shock.
 
Anti static wrist bands have to be earthed, usually by a long coiled wire.

Rubber clothing is probably the opposite of what you should be wearing. You need to create a better earth route to ground so frequent touching of metal posts (before a charge builds up too much) or other earthed item. Wear less static inducing clothing, do some research on that yourself to find stuff that suits you.
Avoid rubber soled shoes, that kind of thing.
 
We are all a bunch of Van Der Graaf generators!
 
Cagey75 said:
One of my exes used to do this to me, seemed to occur mostly with light touches, like she tipped me on the arm or so, thankfully it never happened during anything more intimate! The only other time I experience this static shock is from supermarket trolleys. What about those anti static wrist bands pc builders wear?
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Not tried them, might look into it. Although tried all sorts of things over the years, nothing seemed to work.
 
ancient_mariner said:
The wrist bands have to be connected to earth in order to work.

Try wearing cotton based fabrics instead of synthetic, leather shoes and humidifying your environment. That will reduce static build up. Also if you have synthetic carpet that will make it worse - at school we would rub our feet on the carpet to build up charge, then touch each other on the cheek to give a shock.
Click to expand...

But surely soles of shoes are connected to earth / ground , while walking standing, but still suffer from shocks. :thinking:
 
Even tried those silly dangling things from car bumpers, can't remember what they were called. But they would touch the ground and supposedly stop static shocks when getting out of the car. Never understood how they were supposed to work, as surely the tyres should suffice.
 
jonbeeza said:
Even tried those silly dangling things from car bumpers, can't remember what they were called. But they would touch the ground and supposedly stop static shocks when getting out of the car. Never understood how they were supposed to work, as surely the tyres should suffice.
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Tyres are rubber and are therefore not inclined to conduct electricity. The static dis-chargers were rubber with an embedded metallic strip. Some people used a chain that trailed on the road.
 
arclight said:
Tyres are rubber and are therefore not inclined to conduct electricity. The static dis-chargers were rubber with an embedded metallic strip. Some people used a chain that trailed on the road.
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I often wondered what the trailing chains were for. :)
 
Agree with Hugh. The insulators are the problem.

They prevent any static build up discharging and when a better route is provided, ie you or your wife, Jon, the shock happens.

Years ago if Mrs Tringa wore a particular jumper I would get static shock if I touched . Just her moving about was enough in certain conditions for a charge to build.


Dave
 
Steep said:
Anti static wrist bands have to be earthed, usually by a long coiled wire.

Rubber clothing is probably the opposite of what you should be wearing. You need to create a better earth route to ground so frequent touching of metal posts (before a charge builds up too much) or other earthed item. Wear less static inducing clothing, do some research on that yourself to find stuff that suits you.
Avoid rubber soled shoes, that kind of thing.
Click to expand...

Interesting reading, thanks. ;)
 
Tringa said:
Agree with Hugh. The insulators are the problem.

They prevent any static build up discharging and when a better route is provided, ie you or your wife, Jon, the shock happens.

Years ago if Mrs Tringa wore a particular jumper I would get static shock if I touched . Just her moving about was enough in certain conditions for a charge to build.


Dave
Click to expand...

I know certain types of jumpers can be a big cause of the problem, tend not to wear them anymore. But other materials are now causing a problem, just a case of sifting through certain garments. :)
 
Polyester and nylon clothing is the worst to wear. Natural fabrics like cotton and wool are better.

Dry hands can make things worse, so try using a moisturiser.

Having an ioniser in the room can help, but you need to have it close by.

As has been said, 'avoid rubber soles' and 'ground yourself regularly' are the best tips.
 
Sky said:
Polyester and nylon clothing is the worst to wear. Natural fabrics like cotton and wool are better.

Dry hands can make things worse, so try using a moisturiser.

Having an ioniser in the room can help, but you need to have it close by.

As has been said, 'avoid rubber soles' and 'ground yourself regularly' are the best tips.
Click to expand...

Will have to sort something out, as it getting really annoying. (y)
 
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Rubber soled shoes are actually insulating you from earth, not grounding you. You’d be better wearing hobnailed boots. ;)
 
Must be the humidity at the moment round my way, I've been getting zapped by just about everything recently, including the laptop trackpad, the microwave and even the dog!
 
The little zap that I get from static does hurt a little. I would hate to get zapped by a Taser. :eek:
 
jonbeeza said:
I often wondered what the trailing chains were for. :)
Click to expand...

My first car was a morris minor with positive earth, used to have a trailing wire to earth it.
 
jonbeeza said:
No carpet down, tiles and vinyl flooring. Unless it is static from pc and wifi.
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Your pc will drain static away, although old CRT monitors would develop a charge on the screen surface. Your tiles an vinyl flooring will certainly insulate you to prevent discharge, and the carpet will build up more charge due to being synthetic.
 
Only suffered a couple of shocks today, maybe because I have been aware of it today.
 
My wife changed the soap powder from the usual, loads of shocks then, she changed it back, all good then, think it was Arial thatwas the problem powder.
 
Curiously, I've not had a static shock in years,
But this past week, I've been zapped almost daily.
No change in anything in the house..
 
Cobra said:
Curiously, I've not had a static shock in years,
But this past week, I've been zapped almost daily.
No change in anything in the house..
Click to expand...

I'm not saying it's aliens but....it's aliens
 
Static electricity / shocks can be deadly. I remember seeing something on tv, where it showed women during the war. They were making ammunition, and each day before the start of work, all the women were checked. This was to make sure they had no metal, such as hairpins rings or chains. They also had measures in place to reduce static electricity.
 
In the early 80s the lab I was in worked on a test for Rotavirus that agglutinated red blood cells in the presence of virus. However it had a strong and unpredictable problem with the whole test sometimes giving false positives. It was eventually traced to the worker responsible wearing a nylon petticoat - demonstrated by removal of said petticoat between testing occasions.
 
ancient_mariner said:
removal of said petticoat between testing occasions.
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Droit de seigneur? ;)


More ON topic...
If it's been dry and windy for a few days, I sometimes get a jolt from a bike cover when I remove it. Not a big enough hit to be a problem, just makes me jump a bit! Same sort of weather can cause a spark between myself and Mrs Nod but a quick slap does the grounding quickly!
 
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Nod said:
Droit de seigneur? ;)


More ON topic...
If it's been dry and windy for a few days, I sometimes get a jolt from a bike cover when I remove it. Not a big enough hit to be a problem, just makes me jump a bit! Same sort of weather can cause a spark between myself and Mrs Nod but a quick slap does the grounding quickly!
Click to expand...

Hope she gets in first ...
 
In a different life I drove a fuel tanker.
Before loading up the kill switch was operated, and the grounding wire attached.

One poor sod forgot the rules, he was blown clean off the top of the tanker, thankfully just a broken arm, and a few bruises, when he hit the ground.
The tanker melted and resembled a dead beached whale with mostly just the ribs remaining.
 
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