It’s winter and extremely dry in my house, and my gear shocks me several times a day.
Right now my setup is Analog Rytm + SP404 into the SSL12, which runs on USB bus power from the macbook. The macbook, AR and SP are all plugged into the same extension block, with AC for the AR and MB and USB-C for the SP.
Any time I turn my monitors on (which involves walking across a carpet), I get a shock. It doesn’t matter if I’m wearing rubber souled shoes, barefoot, or in socks.
The SSL12 also shocks me a lot, usually later in the day when I’ve built up some charge. The macbook less often. The housing of the AR even less often. The SP404 hardly ever shocks me.
I guess I just have to live with this annoyance until the humidity returns, but does anyone know if I risk damaging anything this way, other than my nerves? There’s no way I could accidentally wipe an SD card I might be holding or something, right? Or blow a capacitor on the AR?
If your home is properly wired the 2 screws on your wall mount light switch covers will usually be grounded, so build the habit of touching one of the screws from time to time and it should discharge (not comfortably but better than on your gear, I guess). will also depend on what the screws are made of and if they’re painted or if the switch is properly grounded.
If you’re just a fuzzy kinda dude, you may have to live with it for the time being, but you can always pay attention to things like picking up your feet when you walk and sort of walking in a quiet stomping fashion without actually stomping because a lot of carpet static comes from dragging your feet (personal experience).
Also pay attention to what your socks are made of, generally poly blends build more static and if you wanted to, they make special ESD socks (amazon etc) so you can feel super cool in the comfort of your own home with custom leg parts.
Not really a solution to your problem, but we have a vacuum cleaner that has a metal strip built into the plastic handle of the wand (? whatever the part with the tube you push around the carpet is called).
So if you hold it properly all the static that gets created pushing around the thing is constantly grounded, so you don’t get zapped when you put the vacuum down. I just wanted to show someone appreciation for that small considerate design feature.
I suppose you could look at an anti static wrist strap - may or may not be awkward. But if you’re grounded before walking to the monitors does that help?
Get a humidifier. Use conditioner on your hair. Wear natural fabrics and use dryer sheets. Ground yourself (already been mentioned), and as much as I hate to say it, moisturize.
edit: Has anybody ever tried anti-static mats? I haven’t but that sounds like the ultimate solution.
Yeah. You do.
Its very minor in the scheme of things. Really.
Touch your taps (thats fawcets for americans) that will discharge a lot of static.
No, you wont wipe an sd card or blow a capacitor in your gear.
Its still stinking hot here where I live, and humid. And I still have covid. The cold weather is months away. I yearn for it.
A friend called at mine two night’s ago and whipped his mac computer out his bag and proceeded to play his tunes for the evening.
I enjoy working computer free, but do occasionally fire up my pc.
I never have static, but after a couple if hours I got a little shock from my monitor Mackie Knob.
Blamed it straight on his mac and he confirmed he gets them.
Could you try earthing the macbook with some usb thing?
I take two precautions. First, I periodically apply a light spray of diluted, unscented fabric softener to my studio carpeting. I also keep a couple of mic stands around the room and touch them before touching my gear. This discharges any static I might have accrued (usually none, thanks to the previous precaution).
Man, this year the static buildup has been excessively bad. I don’t know if theres something with the climate here in the American Midwest that is resulting in lower humidity than usual, but I’ve been getting so many ESD zaps this winter (and the skin on my hands has been absolutely wrecked unless I’m using O’Keefe’s every day).
I moved into this apartment a few years ago and I don’t know if it’s the wiring in my room or the placement of the furnace, but even with hardwood floors I was getting shocked constantly when touching anything metal during the cold season. It was driving me out of my mind.
I finally did some research and found out dry air was likely the cause. I got a humidifier with a smart thermometer and have it so that it automatically runs to keep the humidity around 50% during the winter months. The last two winters were golden; no more zaps or worrying about hurting my gear, as long as I kept the tank topped up and my door closed.
This year that has not been the case though. The humidifier runs nonstop and barely manages to stay above 35-40%, and I’m still dealing with static buildup and discharge.
You didn’t need to know all that, I just also wanted to vent because it has been so annoying.
But TL;DR if you haven’t already, then try a humidifier. It worked for me, or at least it did until this winter anyway.
There is a thing called an anti static seat cover that works quite well if you mostly work while sitting… with out it I get shocks all the time at work which can be quite scary when you are working on a something that operates at a voltage that could kill you if you forgot to turn it off.
If you work standing there are anti static floor mats that you can ground and that should let you dissipate charge as you step on it.
Yes. I had a GF with long thin hair and it would build up static in the winter. She used conditioner and it eliminated static.
When conditions are right (dry winter air), electrons travel more freely between dissimilar materials, resulting in one of the items being more positively charged and the other more negatively. Friction and heat increases the reaction. The result is electricity.
Certain chemicals and substances (dryer sheets, hair conditioners, water…) inhibit the flow of electrons.
Hey, it just occurred to me, has anyone ever tried sampling stuff like pulling a pair of sweaters apart after they come out of the dryer? Might make for some good lofi noise.
