static electricity zapping amplifier

[jms1973]

Dear fellow audioholics,

I have been having some serious issues lately with zapping my Rotel RA-1520 integrated amplifier with static electricity when I touch it. My place is carpeted and I walk around in slippers with rubber bottoms, so apparently I build up considerable static charge. A while back when I touched the volume control of Rotel, the static discharge from me to the unit blew the LED light on the volume knob. Today static discharge caused the listening mode to switch from auxillary to tape (and the unit to therefore stop playing and cause some alarm on my part). Is there a way to address this problem, other than wearing a static strap every time I touch the amplifier, or replacing my carpet with a material of lower dielectric strength (not)? I'm concerned that I'm going to cause serious damage to the components.

 

[sholling]

You don't say where you're from but around here the two biggest causes are dry desert winds and/or low humidity. When I first moved here the poor dog was getting her nose zapped every time she poked me with it. There isn't much you can do about wind but during the summer and fall I run a humidifier to boost the humidity from 15-25% up to around 35-40% and that helps a lot. I'd also see if different slippers pick up less static.

If all else fails you could always put a grounding strip nearby and ground yourself before touching your gear. It's kind of a crappy solution but if all else fails....

 

[Seth=L]

The solution should have come with the amplifier.

 

[TLS Guy]

You don't say where you're from but around here the two biggest causes are dry desert winds and/or low humidity. When I first moved here the poor dog was getting her nose zapped every time she poked me with it. There isn't much you can do about wind but during the summer and fall I run a humidifier to boost the humidity from 15-25% up to around 35-40% and that helps a lot. I'd also see if different slippers pick up less static.

If all else fails you could always put a grounding strip nearby and ground yourself before touching your gear. It's kind of a crappy solution but if all else fails....

That is about the only solution. In the dead of winter with very cold weather static is a huge problem in our part of the world even with a wool carpet like I have. Static of the degree that can build up, can and does cause major damage to modern electronics.

I always make sure I ground myself and discharge built up static before touching equipment.

In our part of the world it is also essential to ground ones self before touching a gas hose in winter before touching a fuel hose or gas tank. We get periodic fatal immolations of people fueling their cars, especially women who build up greater static charge than men.

 

[skizzerflake]

You can probably get away with a wire attached to a heating duct or radiator pipe. Touch the wire before you touch the equipment. This also pertains to computers, which are even more sensitive to static discharge.

 

[emorphien]

I know your pain. I killed a computer motherboard once when plugging in a thumb drive in the dead of winter. I need to get a new filter for my humidifier though, going to add that to my list for tomorrow's errands.

 

[highfigh]

Connect a 100K Ohm resistor to something that's grounded near the system, so that when you touch it, you wouldn't have walked after discharging the static. The resistor is large enough that you won't feel a major zap when discharging the static and it won't cause any issues with high voltage for the equipment. If you find that the discharge still arcs strongly, change it to a 1MegOhm resistor. If you want, you can add an LED inline, so you're able to see how long it takes to discharge. I use a 2K resistor through an LED for discharging caps in tube amps.

 

[ahblaza]

Connect a 100K Ohm resistor to something that's grounded near the system, so that when you touch it, you wouldn't have walked after discharging the static. The resistor is large enough that you won't feel a major zap when discharging the static and it won't cause any issues with high voltage for the equipment. If you find that the discharge still arcs strongly, change it to a 1MegOhm resistor. If you want, you can add an LED inline, so you're able to see how long it takes to discharge. I use a 2K resistor through an LED for discharging caps in tube amps.

High, can I use a wrist strap with wire from the strap connected to a fold out pad that I use when I get inside my PC? Thanks

 

[highfigh]

High, can I use a wrist strap with wire from the strap connected to a fold out pad that I use when I get inside my PC? Thanks

If that pad is connected directly to the receiver, I guess it could work. The easy way is to loosen one of the screws that holds the cover on and tighten it with one lead of a resistor under the head. Then, you can extend the lead to the front where it's easy to get to. I have my equipment in a rack that has metal rails on the sides and I discharge into that. I try to never touch any single piece of electronics before I discharge the static and I also use a humidifier. It helps a lot.

 

[TLS Guy]

If that pad is connected directly to the receiver, I guess it could work. The easy way is to loosen one of the screws that holds the cover on and tighten it with one lead of a resistor under the head. Then, you can extend the lead to the front where it's easy to get to. I have my equipment in a rack that has metal rails on the sides and I discharge into that. I try to never touch any single piece of electronics before I discharge the static and I also use a humidifier. It helps a lot.

I just ground myself to one of the mounting screws on my grounded racks. Resistors are for wimps. See how big a spark you can shoot!

 

[jms1973]

Thank you all

I've enjoyed reading through all of the posted comments and suggestions, thanks.

Sholling: I live near the Colorado Rockies. It's 44 F outside and 26% relative humidity, so the air is dry. Plus it's been been windy here.

Seth=L: Yes, I use the remote as much as possible. The only time I touch the unit is to access the manual power switch. It would be nice if this was digital too... Do you leave the power switch in the on position all the time? I guess LED's don't draw much power, so maybe this is a good solution.

Highfigh: There is a ground thumb screw on the back of the amplifier labeled "GND". Not sure what this is for. Guess I need to break out my manual. Could I use this ground screw for something, maybe connect an anti-static pad to it? I won't try this until finding out what this screw is intended for.

 

[TLS Guy]

I've enjoyed reading through all of the posted comments and suggestions, thanks.

Sholling: I live near the Colorado Rockies. It's 44 F outside and 26% relative humidity, so the air is dry. Plus it's been been windy here.

Seth=L: Yes, I use the remote as much as possible. The only time I touch the unit is to access the manual power switch. It would be nice if this was digital too... Do you leave the power switch in the on position all the time? I guess LED's don't draw much power, so maybe this is a good solution.

Highfigh: There is a ground thumb screw on the back of the amplifier labeled "GND". Not sure what this is for. Guess I need to break out my manual. Could I use this ground screw for something, maybe connect an anti-static pad to it? I won't try this until finding out what this screw is intended for.

That screw is for turntables not zapping. You need to ground yourself on something not connected to the receiver, so static discharge stays well away from the receiver.

 

[jms1973]

TLS Guy,

OK thanks. I'll look for a ground not connected to my amplifier.

 

[walter duque]

Dear fellow audioholics,

I have been having some serious issues lately with zapping my Rotel RA-1520 integrated amplifier with static electricity when I touch it. My place is carpeted and I walk around in slippers with rubber bottoms, so apparently I build up considerable static charge. A while back when I touched the volume control of Rotel, the static discharge from me to the unit blew the LED light on the volume knob. Today static discharge caused the listening mode to switch from auxillary to tape (and the unit to therefore stop playing and cause some alarm on my part). Is there a way to address this problem, other than wearing a static strap every time I touch the amplifier, or replacing my carpet with a material of lower dielectric strength (not)? I'm concerned that I'm going to cause serious damage to the components.

By some decent slipper and you'll be OK. Cheap footware is known for a lot of static. I can only ware Mephisto and ECCO, otherwise I'll throw an arc.

 

[Seth=L]

Yes, I use the remote as much as possible. The only time I touch the unit is to access the manual power switch. It would be nice if this was digital too... Do you leave the power switch in the on position all the time? I guess LED's don't draw much power, so maybe this is a good solution.

Leaving the amplifier in standby is not harmful to the amplifier and should only draw a fraction of a watt. Any electric devices that I have for daily use that have a main and standby power function I leave in standby.

This is the easiest and most logical solution to the problem IMO.

 

[Rickster71]

There are a few things you can do: Keep the indoor humidity around 50%. Try adding a humidifier to your furnace or using a portable one to get more humidity into the air and reduce static.
Here is a link to anti static spray for carpet: http://ultrastatinc.com/static_carpet_spray.html

As Walter suggested, get slippers with different soles that eliminate static discharge.
While grounding yourself before you touch your amp, works; if you forget once, it could cause a problem. While a spray applied to the carpet is done, and no grounding techniques to remember.