Static Electricity

Everytime I drive my 02 Intrepid I get shocked when I exit the car. This is very annoying. Does anyone know how I can stop being shocked everytime I drive the car?

Reply to
Brent McGee
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I had the same problem with one car I owned. What I did was make sure I grabbed hold of something metal on the car door before starting to slide across the seat. That worked for me. Might be able to find a spray treatment for your seat cloth th help as well, but for me grabbing the door frame was a cheap and easy solution.

Matt

Reply to
Matthew S. Whiting

Depends on where the charge is.

If your being shocked when you step on the ground outside then touch something metallic on the car, the problem is your car tires are acting as an insulator and the earth ground is at a different potential than the body of the car. You step on the ground (probably with leather-soled shoes not rubber boots) and when you touch the door you complete the circut and zap. The voltages involved here are in the hundreds of thousands of volts and a few layers of paint are no object. (but they have exceedingly weak currents, thus don't kill you)

In this case you can try dangling a lightweight chain, like a light switch chain, off the rear bumper set to have about a quarter inch of the chain on the ground when the car is unloaded. This is the same trick they use with the gasoline tanker trucks to drain off the static charges.

Otherwise if it's caused by sliding across the seat, then wear cotton and avoid wool and 100% polyester, sometimes the sprays can help, also you could cut down an anti-static mat (available in any computer store) to a floormat and ground that.

Ted

Reply to
Ted Mittelstaedt

The static is created by the separation of the two non-conductive materials - the seat cover, and your clothes. The wad of foil (electrode) is on the other (back) side of the dielectric (your pants), just like you already are.

It won't help. It has to "ground" to something. If you were to wear an anti static wrist band, that would eliminate it, but that has to be tied to the other side of the separating materials - the car.

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That also won't help, as the metal threads would collect the charge from the still non-conductive fibers - the seat fabric. You need to make the whole seat slightly conductive with something like

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Check the laundry isle of the store, as I think they sell static guard spray that's used for dresses.

The other possibility is that the charge is not between you and the car, but between the car and the earth. This results from the moving rubber tires. The whole car gets charged compared to the ground. This happens pretty rarely, as most tires are actually slightly conductive due to the carbon in them. There's straps that can be hung from under the car that touch the ground when you stop.

This whole situation can be dangerous when fueling the car. If you were to start fueling, get back in the car, and get back out when the pump stopped, and touch the fuel nozzle while still charged, the spark can ignite the vapors. It happens, and it happens to Women more than men because of the clothes, and the fact that they tend to get back in the car while fueling. (don't shoot me, I saw that one on TV). The real disaster occurs if the fuel nozzle is removed while the fire is still going as it goes from the equivilent of a candle to a full bore fireball.

Reply to
Bob

To minimise the unpleasant feeling touch whatever it is you are touching with your KNUCKLES first.

There are far fewer nerve-endings in your knuckles than in your fingertips. This obviously works in all kinds of situations, e.g. when touching a door handle after walking across a carpet with a substantial synthetic fibre content. Tap the handle with the knuckles first.

DAS

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Reply to
Dori Schmetterling

Go to electronics store (or radioshack) and ask for anti-static spray. Spray this on all of the seats in the car and wipe a bit on the dash. It may not eliminate ALL static, but it will spread it out and reduce the pain (spark voltage at your finger).

It is designed to be sprayed on carpet. So be sure to use it on the car mats as well.

Rick Merrill

Reply to
Rick Merrill

This could be caused by your tires. The absence of certain compounds needed to conduct electricity can cause a charge to build up on the body. Either get a grounding strap to hang down from the body to the ground or change to different tires.

Richard.

Reply to
Richard

Right. SPray the whole body and the tires with anti-static while you're at it.

Reply to
Rick Merrill

I had a go at posting earlier but it hasn't shown up in my newsreader so, at risk of being boring, here it is again:

Touch whatever it is with your knuckles.

Fewer nerve endings in knuckles than in fingertips.

Works a treat after, say, walking on a synthetic-fibre carpet.

DAS

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Reply to
Dori Schmetterling

I don't have this problem as it never gets cold and dry enough where I live. Coldest it would ever get here is 55 degrees once every other year.

Reply to
Eastward Bound

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