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Talk About Static Cling...

..and, no, not from the clothes dryer! This is a frequent occurence to which I hope someone can give me a "why?" answer. Taking a clean LP, using a Zerostat gun and then applying GruvGlide, I supposedly would have eliminated static from the LP. After such treatment, the styrofoam test chip provided with the GruvGlide slides right off and no static appears present. After a one-side play, removing the record makes the hairs on my arms stand straight on end. So much static that if I don't "mute" the preamp, the built up charge will sometimes make the preamp "trip" and shut down as my arm passes in front of the cartridge. What is causing the static to build up so RAPIDLY, and what might I do to eliminate the problem. (MM cartridge, wall mount, no problem with cables crossing).
motdathird

Showing 2 responses by herman

herman
2,282 posts
 
I don't think you can measure a static charge with a scope. It will just drain away through the probe. The straps used to prevent static build up in manufacturing enviroments and by test technicians are just wire with a large value of resistance in series.

Could be wrong. Let us know what you find out Bob.

There are several devices that drain away the charge as you play the record. They look like a tonearm with a brush of some sort instead of a sylus that drains away the charge through an attached wire that is grounded. Picks up dust too. I believe Audio Technica made one as well as some others. George Merril had some for sale recently at Underground Sound.
herman
2,282 posts
 
A vacuum is perfect for developing a static charge, not preventing one. Here are a couple of sites that have some info.

http://www.netlabs.net/hp/echase/
http://www.networkmagazine.com/article/NMG20000724S0014
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