Static attack! Time to get the humidifiers going

SMH

 

The “fixes” listed above for such a very simple and local problem……

Best advice is to not try to fight nature. It is futile. 
North of the 49th parallel, we experience extreme cold that often comes extremely suddenly. Unless you are cooking constantly with a lot of boiling water, and have a houseful of people that take 2 hour hot showers, you will have a natural gas fired forced air heating system equipped with an evaporative humidifier prior to the air filter. The net result is fairly controllable humidity levels right in that 30-35% sweet spot. 

On drier days, I rely on the ZeroStat and always use the DiscWasher with D4+ fluid. Static electricity hasn't been a problem for over 40 years. As others have observed, the technique is everything with the ZeroStat. I've looked at der fuhrer's hokum, and take a pass. This ain't rocket surgery folks!

@ghdprentice , There will be a political price to pay.

As far as Humidifiers go, steam generators are handily the best. They can be put in a room but are best mounted on an air handler with high efficiency filters. They have replaceable steam canisters which have to be replaced every year or two depending on the hardness of your water. The down side is that they not only need a water supply but they also need a drain as they rinse the canister every 24 hours or so. They also use a lot of power, as much as an air conditioner. They will however pump 12 gallons of water into the air daily, enough to totally flood your windows. Windows are always the limiting factor. Few people can get up to 40% relative humidity without forming big puddles under the windows. 

Totally OT, but since this thread includes the Zerostat...

I've used the product for years and after using it for its intended purpose I have a tendency to (this day) keep it in hand an "shock" my earlobe with it (right earlobe as I'm right handed).

I don't consider this to be normal/logical behavior (and I don't do it excessively - just a few times), but am I alone in this behavior?

Think that I may have posted about this before, without any responses.

 

DeKay

 

PK:

The OEM rubber is my least favorite, but I still use it as a "shim" mat with the wool on top for exceedingly thin imports LP’s.

I prefer my DIY cork spot mat, but it’s fragile (paper base) and I’m on my 3rd effort @ this point.

This said, we have different decks and it would be better, IMO, to go with advice from those with a Rega, such as yours, in regard to mats/sonics.

As far a static goes I just nip it @ the source/cause and up the humidity, which offers numerous benefits in addition to the HiFi ones.

Too low humidity also has adverse affects on older furniture (we have a bed frame, a bentwood settee and a Tansu cabinet that are 100+ to 200+ years old in range that took a dive) and my wooden walking cane purchased new in 1973 also took a hit when I didn’t keep up on maintaining comfortable levels for 2-3 years.

I knew the drill having owned vintage Fender/Martin electric/acoustic guitars in the way past, but just got lazy/preoccupied with other stuff.

I’ve remedied most of the damage done to the bed frame and my cane, but the Tansu cabinet is only a little bit better with increased humidity (it has odd woods like pear wood, so further research is needed before I resort to using moisturizers and or glue/joint shims).

 

DeKay

One up grade that I find works was when I bought a pair of Tommy Copper socks. The socks are infused with copper snd they have stoped the static shock I received when touching equipment and turn table.

@mijostyn 

OK, fortunately I live across the river in Washington. Yeah… twenty years ago when we moved here Portland was my favorite city. Safe, friendly, odd, with the old Eastern city feel and a touch new… perfect. Then over the last five years, it completely… utterly changed to a unfriendly, unsafe shambles of a city. What a horrible transformation. 

@dekay Yes, it does take some practice.  But, by George, I think I've got it!  So what is your preference, the wool or rubber?  My Rega has felt (is that wool?) but I've been considering trying cork or something else.  I think the felt holds a lot of dust.

The following link provides detailed instructions on how to operate the Zerostat.

I find it (Zerostat) effective, but using it correctly (both slow draw "and" release are required) is not intuitive and requires practice.

I usually don't need it, but it can come in handy when I first install a 100% wool mat or the OEM Thorens rubber mat.

 

DeKay

 

@ghdprentice , you mean somebody still lives in Portland?  Here in the Northeast we were led to believe it had been turned into rubble by peaceful rioters.  

I know I'm late to the party on this one but I have a Nottingham Space Deck so I know something about static. The brass bearing is notoriously conductive. In the Winter it would get to the point that I was actually afraid to flip a record because of the bang that was sure to come. Tried Zerostat gun but was disappointed. It does not work particularly well for me and the disc should be decoupled from platter when using which is awkward. A few years ago I saw a post that recommended grounding the bearing. A cheap piece of wire hooked up to my step up transformer ground did the trick and it has not happened since. For small sporadic crackle I use Gruv Glide. I know there will probably be some blow back but the stuff works with no loss of detail due to buildup in the grooves. At least that has been my experience. If anyone is tempted to recommend I get a different deck just know I plan on being buried with the Nottingham.

As I mentioned these are the healthiest and the easiest to maintain (see pick) and one per room should do it.

You mentioned dogs, so you would have to place them higher up as do I.

I use attractive vintage bowls that are 3"-4" high with the smallest being 12" in diameter and they last 2-3 days during the winter and/or during the Santa Ana winds.

If you don't want to use bowls then 2nd best (health wise) would be an electrical "cool" evaporative humidifier (avoid the warm mist designs). 

They require that the filters be cleaned or replaced often.

Ultrasonic humidifiers needs to be kept impeccably clean/sterile as otherwise they can spread bacteria in a very fine/breathable mist which is a health hazard to everyone in the household.

They also require extremely pure water (like double distilled) in order that they operate/mist as designed.

I've had allergy/sinus problems since the 80's which is why I'm so picky and why I no longer use ultrasonic or warm mist humidifiers.

 

DeKay

So the header on this thread said “Time to get the Humidifiers going “ and I’m not seeing much about humidifiers, so I’m going to ask, what kind  of humidifier is everybody using? I just moved into this place about three years ago and it has an AprilAire whole house humidifier on the furnace and it isn’t anywhere near enough! Everything is clean and in good working order, but we still spark! I’ve stopped playing vinyl for the time being, but my other equipment, while grounded still sparks and My poor dogs don’t understand when they get a spark to the nose!

Thanks all.

@rsf507 I did not know the brush was also made by Furutech. My apologies. I own the Destat and it works extremely well. Better than any other antistatic device I used or owned.

The ASB Brush is also available from Yukimu, which is a cheaper option to get the COREBRID B fibres on the brush. 

@re-lar-kvothe but the ASB brush is by Furutech. So was asking when you said "I own the Furutech" was it the ASB brush or Destat? I'll assume you are taking about the Destat.

@rsf507

Furutech

@wolfie62  

".... My brother lives in International Falls MN, so I showed him how to get rid of static and dust. Last January I was up there, no problems with static for him at all, now that he knows what to do. 
 

Costs $4. No Zerostat, no carbon fiber. All you folks spending gobs of good money after bad….."

 

I'm sorry if I missed it, but what did you show him to get rid of the static and dust?  I live next door to Minnesota in Wisconsin and winter is beginning to set in... so I'm sincerely curious as to what has been working so well for you.

 

Best wishes,

Don

I use a Brush with COREBRID B Fibres that are a Mitsubishi produced material, that have Properties that will reduce Static.

The fibres are very fine, and the Sales Spiel is claiming the fibres are able to go deep into the Groove. I am not sure if the depth a Brush Fibre can enter into the Groove has any value to removal of Static. 

The Brush I bought was quite a bit cheaper than a Furutech Version.

 

@re-lar-kvothe are you talking about the Furutech Destat or ASB brush?

I own the Furutech and the Zerostat. IMHO I believe the Furutech to be superior to the Zerostat or any antistatic device I used. I keep my listening room at 70/50 (temp/RH) and so far no issues with static. 

A $4 Anti-Static Tool can be very much like the one seen in the link.

 

 

Apparently by spending gobs of bad money after good.

wolfie:

How exactly did you rid static (an LED light)?

I only experience it with low humidity, so my simple fix is to increase such and it works 100% of the time.

This said, I still ground myself before touching the tonearm (just an old habit/motor memory).

 

DeKay

I haven’t had problems with static in the last 15 years. I have a bright LED lamp that shines horizontally across my platter, so I can see dust readily. 
 

My brother lives in International Falls MN, so I showed him how to get rid of static and dust. Last January I was up there, no problems with static for him at all, now that he knows what to do. 
 

Costs $4. No Zerostat, no carbon fiber. All you folks spending gobs of good money after bad…..

 

SMH……

 

I just spray a little anti static spray on the carpet ,that’s good for a month 

@mijostyn

 

You are very pretty. Well your system sure is. 🥰

@mikelavigne 

If either one of you guys are in the Portland OR area, give me a holler. 

Once cleaned, the only thing I want to touch my records is the stylus. So if there is a visible speck of dust or a skin flake on the record (a new problem since I now have GVHD skin rashes) I use a photographic blower brush (one of the big ones, like a Rocket blower). But here's the thing - visible dust will not blow off unless I use the Destat III first, at which point it is whisked away by the blower brush. It must be doing something!

@rsf507 , there is no need to resort to that type of trickery. You can take any conductive carbon brush like the one made by Ortofon drill and tap hole through the handle and wire it to turntable ground. It will instantly discharge the side of the record that is up. I think the Hudson conductive sweep arm is a better solution because it tracks with the stylus sweeping any incidental dust out of the way. This is particularly important if you play records without a dust cover. 

Furutech makes an antistatic brush: 

 

@pkatsuleas I looked at the Hudson brush. Thinking of trying it as well as their Ultrasonic Stylus Cleaner. 

@mikelavigne Thanks for the product recommendations.  I will look into them.  As far as the Zstat doing 💩 goes, I was never sure it was doing anything either.  But, this little arm swing attraction thing of the dust brush kinda proves it for me.  Without the Zstat the arm immediately swings towards the record as I go to set it on the platter.  After the Zstat the arm doesn't budge - very interesting indeed!  

Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure I can hear static increase towards the end of the album side.  Anyway, for the cost of the Hudson dust brush I don't think you can go wrong.  Give it a try  

@mikelavigne 😂

 

come on ghd! I'm much better looking the @mikelavigne 

@mijostyn truth be told, that's not saying much.🙄

@ghdprentice , come on ghd! I'm much better looking the @mikelavigne :-)

Yes, when the spark jumps to the cartridge it makes quite a "pop" if you have the volume up. When I had a Linn I used carpet tape to keep the mat in place. It is very thin and you won't notice it under the mat. 

@mikelavigne

Thanks for the tip on the Hudson. I’ll verify the carbon fiber is touching. It does a good job of picking up any dust that may have lighted since I put the record down. I think the Hudson is de-staticing the surface. My problem, like you, is the underside. My turntable has a Linn mat, is wool?… well, highly static inducing, whatever it is made of. It will stick to the album sometimes. I have researched other mats and decided to stay with the Linn mat anyway. 

OK, in comparison to you, I have no static problem. Wow, that is a lot of static! You are definitely the expert.

OP the Furutech destat is worth the investment, I have one.

@mikelavigne 

Thank you for the recommendations. I like the black monolith. These days, it is nice to have stuff that looks nice as well as is functional. Very enjoyable after a life of compromising on looks for greater performance, finally having both. Very rewarding.

Just add humidity.

I place a couple of large/wide/shallow enameled metal bowls out when we have Santa Ana winds and/or start using the heat and let the filtered tap water evaporate.

One placed in the main bedroom and one in the living room (both placed on the tops of fairly high 5'+ cabinets due to our cats).

Aside from Hi-fi stuff I also sleep/breathe better .

I used to use an ultrasonic humidifier, but got tired of cleaning/sterilizing it between fills.

The evaporative bowls work just as well.

 

DeKay

I live in the northern climates and never have a problem with LP static and no humidifier either. 

I use a good wet cleaner on all LPs, previously the Record Doctor and now a Humminguru ultrasonic. 

Clean and then place in a mofi antistatic sleeve and have never had to use any type of anti stat device.  The Humminguru was the best investment I have ever made.  The Record doctor also worked well but was manual operation.  

@mijostyn please share this formula once you solve your residue issues. 

 

After I got my record cleaning machine I stumbled into a cleaning formulation that totally mitigates the formation of static. Treated records will not allow static charge for up to 6 months and counting. I expect it will wear off eventually but that is not the problem. It does leave a slight residue on the record which you can see on the stylus after about 10 sides. I am in the process of lowering the concentration of ingredients to see if I can find a formula that will control static but not leave a noticeable residue

do you worry about the ozone that these ionizers produce? I’m sure you are aware that ozone can be deadly to the respiratory system but not sure how much these devices produce. Your thoughts?

@rsf507 my info is that these devices do not produce enough ozone to be a problem. the negative ion stream is very localized. and i only have them turned on while i’m playing that particular turntable. which might average 1-2 hours a day for all three together. my room has a robust HVAC system with twin inputs behind me in the ceiling, and twin returns at the front of the room. so even when they are playing the air is moving forward mostly.

Lighting Candles especially Beeswax ones produce Negative Ions, which is a Natural Ioniser.

A sereness felt within a building such as a place of worship, is attributed to being manifested as a result of the Candles Ionising effect.  

@mikelavigne do you worry about the ozone that these ionizers produce? I'm sure you are aware that ozone can be deadly to the respiratory system but not sure how much these devices produce. Your thoughts?

@pindac , I tried it and it does not work. But, my wife loves it for lighting candles!

@ghdprentice , I have been saying that FOR YEARS on this sight and I always got screamed at. I have been using devices like the Hudson sweep arm for decades and they do work wonderfully well. One comment, you want to make sure the central carbon fiber thread touches the record. I took a very sharp scissors and lightly trimmed the white hairs to make a hemisphere with the carbon thread in the center. I crazy glue the sliding weight all the way forward. It is a PITA sliding all around anyway. If you need to adjust the tracking weight for some reason you can use the threaded weight in the back but you will need to put a dab of thread locker on it. 

Anyway, because life is never simple, everything changed when I got a turntable with vacuum clamping. Vacuum clamping creates a huge static charge on the bottom of the record. Using the Hudson brush discharges the top but not the bottom. Static electricity does not like turning corners. Remember, it is a surface phenomenon. The charge was so great that sparks would jump to the cartridge when removing the record. Yes, the platter is grounded and the record will discharge through the spindle if I leave it on for 20 minutes. Who wants to wait 20 minutes to flip a record?  After I got my record cleaning machine I stumbled into a cleaning formulation that totally mitigates the formation of static. Treated records will not allow static charge for up to 6 months and counting. I expect it will wear off eventually but that is not the problem. It does leave a slight residue on the record which you can see on the stylus after about 10 sides. I am in the process of lowering the concentration of ingredients to see if I can find a formula that will control static but not leave a noticeable residue. It does seem that records that are cleaned with the formula are quieter than records cleaned with distilled water. I will make digital recording of this to prove it and share the files along with the formula.

The Item in the Link has been reported as suitable over quite a long period and has good appraisal from found reports.

As a Method, it certainly is not the one that will cost the most to try out. 

 

Interesting stuff @mikelavigne thank you for your input. 

or.....two of these...https://www.csport.audio/products/products-ime1-en.html

and one of these....https://ds-audio-w.biz/products/181/

these devices project continual negative ions on the record surface to eliminate static. the reason i’m using the DS Audio Ion on my NVS turntable is that the plinth top surface is too crowded with my 2 arms for the CS Audio IME1 to fit.

i have three turntables and found that these devices eliminate any sort of static issue plus slightly lower noise and slightly improve dynamic life. i have one on each (my second IME1 is on order) of my turntables.

https://whatsbestforum.com/threads/vinyl-upgrades-dava-fcl-tone-arm-emia-silver-phono-corrector-mc-trio.34405/page-5#post-830898

Timely post! Looking for a good solution as well. Zerostat doesn’t do 💩 in most cases. I lifted a record off a delrin platter last night to flip it to side B and it rang out like an AK47. 

I have the Destat and it works great!