HachiRoku wrote: || On Mon, 06 Dec 2004 22:13:19 +0000, probono wrote: || ||| snipped-for-privacy@tiscali.co.za wrote: |||||| "Many people experience shocks when they get out of their car. |||||| Often they believe that the car is charged - but this is not |||||| NORMALLY so. Sitting in the car, electrostatic charges are |||||| generated on the car seat and the person's body, due to contact |||||| and movement between the clothes and the seat. When the person |||||| leaves the seat, They take half of this charge with them. As |||||| they get out of the vehicle, their body voltages rises due to |||||| this charge - a voltage of 10,000 Volts is not unusual. |||||| When they reach to touch the vehicle door, the electrostatic |||||| discharge and shock occurs as their hand approaches the metal |||||| door. The voltage build-up can often be avoided by holding onto |||||| a metal part of the door frame as you leave the seat. This |||||| provides a return dissipation path for the charge on your body. ||||| ||||| I have attached a short length of metal chain to my towbar. ||||| Normally it does not quite touch the ground, so it will not wear ||||| it away, but over bumps etc it touches often enough to discharge ||||| the static buildup. ||||| I carry computer equipment around and live in Johannesburg, South ||||| Africa which has a high lightning and static incidence (or ||||| whatever it's called!) ||||| The above works perfectly and I have not had a shock for years. ||||| ||||| ||||| Neil McMullen ||||| Please reply to Group as my email is fake. ||| ||| Not questioning HIS personal experience but can anyone explain the ||| SCIENCE behind this? Does your experience mirror his? || || Take a look at trucks carrying gas, oil, etc. They have a strap || hanging to the ground. It is embedded with wires. As any vehicle || moves through the air, esp on rubber tires, there is a static charge || built up. Most of the time it discharges, or is so low it is not || noticeable (except on dry days when you rub yer keester on the || velour seats...) || || By adding a strap, chain, etc, you are connecting the body (metal) || of the car to ground, and any static electricity is discharged.
Hmmm. Up here, the vehicles with the straps are usually the vehicles driven by those who, uh, get intimate with close relatives. I'll keep my eyes open for the fuel trucks, though.