@lewm I did not measure that but I certainly can.
I'm not sure but I think Rauliruegas can do that!
I'm not sure but I think Rauliruegas can do that!
Back To Static!
We had a long discussion on the possible causes of static electrical charges on records in another thread. We just had a real good cold snap in New England dropping the humidity to under 20% so I was able to run a set of qualitative experiments documenting some surprising results that I hope will clear up a lot of the mystery and help people contro static charge and the accumulation of dust on their record.
Static field meters are expensive. The cheapest one I could find cost $260. I had to find a more sensitive way to measure static as it became apparent that using your own hair is very insensitive. Studying the Triboelectric series I noted that polypropylene is at the opposite end to PVS. I have polypropylene in the form of suture material, the blue thread that many of you have seen. I tied a length of 6-0 Prolene to a wood dowel and it worked beautifully. The PVC attracts it like a magnet and the Label repels it. It will pick up very small charges that otherwise go undetected. I can now define four conditions; No charge, Light charge, Charged and Heavily charged. It turns out that completely discharging a record is not easy. The label will actually donate electrons to the vinyl over time reaching an equilibrium point. Totally discharging a record required using a Pro-Ject conductive record brush wired to ground. If I suspend a discharged record (no thread activity) by it's hole within 30 minutes it will develop a slight charge (vinyl attracts the thread, label repels it). This will appear to us as an uncharged record.
Does playing a record increase the static charge? Yes absolutely, and the charge is additive. Playing the record over and over again progressively increases the charge from slightly to heavily charged.
Does how you store the record effect charge? Yes absolutely. Records stored in MoFi antistatic sleeves come out with the baseline small charge. Records stored in paper come out with a noticeably higher charge. These are records that have been totally discharged prior to storage. A record that is charged when you put it away will come out at least as charged even if you are using anti static sleeves. Do conductive sweep arms work? Sort of. If the sweep arm leads the stylus charge will still accumulate. The brush has to track with the stylus.
Unfortunately, I could not get hold of a Zerostat to test it's effectiveness. Regardless, a charge will accumulate with play.
The single best way to totally discharge a record is a conductive brush wired to ground. Just holding it will not work as well. The impedance of your tissue is in the megaohms. You want a dead short. Even so, a small charge will accumulate over a short period of time. The safest assumption is that there is always a charge on the record attracting dust. So, don't leave records out for any period of time. In regards to the hot topic of dust covers, a properly designed Dust cover does not affect sound quality. If your dust cover does effect sound quality in a negative way then you have a choice between sound quality and dirtier records. Your records, your choice.
I would love to be able to stage voltages. If in the future I manage to come up with a static field meter I will repeat all of this in a quantitative way. Humidity is a huge factor. Those living in more humid environments have less trouble with static accumulation. I suspect everything occurs in like fashion just the voltages are lower. Lower to the point that they do not need any device to lower the charge? I don't know.
Static field meters are expensive. The cheapest one I could find cost $260. I had to find a more sensitive way to measure static as it became apparent that using your own hair is very insensitive. Studying the Triboelectric series I noted that polypropylene is at the opposite end to PVS. I have polypropylene in the form of suture material, the blue thread that many of you have seen. I tied a length of 6-0 Prolene to a wood dowel and it worked beautifully. The PVC attracts it like a magnet and the Label repels it. It will pick up very small charges that otherwise go undetected. I can now define four conditions; No charge, Light charge, Charged and Heavily charged. It turns out that completely discharging a record is not easy. The label will actually donate electrons to the vinyl over time reaching an equilibrium point. Totally discharging a record required using a Pro-Ject conductive record brush wired to ground. If I suspend a discharged record (no thread activity) by it's hole within 30 minutes it will develop a slight charge (vinyl attracts the thread, label repels it). This will appear to us as an uncharged record.
Does playing a record increase the static charge? Yes absolutely, and the charge is additive. Playing the record over and over again progressively increases the charge from slightly to heavily charged.
Does how you store the record effect charge? Yes absolutely. Records stored in MoFi antistatic sleeves come out with the baseline small charge. Records stored in paper come out with a noticeably higher charge. These are records that have been totally discharged prior to storage. A record that is charged when you put it away will come out at least as charged even if you are using anti static sleeves. Do conductive sweep arms work? Sort of. If the sweep arm leads the stylus charge will still accumulate. The brush has to track with the stylus.
Unfortunately, I could not get hold of a Zerostat to test it's effectiveness. Regardless, a charge will accumulate with play.
The single best way to totally discharge a record is a conductive brush wired to ground. Just holding it will not work as well. The impedance of your tissue is in the megaohms. You want a dead short. Even so, a small charge will accumulate over a short period of time. The safest assumption is that there is always a charge on the record attracting dust. So, don't leave records out for any period of time. In regards to the hot topic of dust covers, a properly designed Dust cover does not affect sound quality. If your dust cover does effect sound quality in a negative way then you have a choice between sound quality and dirtier records. Your records, your choice.
I would love to be able to stage voltages. If in the future I manage to come up with a static field meter I will repeat all of this in a quantitative way. Humidity is a huge factor. Those living in more humid environments have less trouble with static accumulation. I suspect everything occurs in like fashion just the voltages are lower. Lower to the point that they do not need any device to lower the charge? I don't know.
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- 56 posts total
FWIW - my DIY record mat cut from a 3-layer ESD mat with the platter/bearing grounded is still keeping static at-bay with humidity into the 20's%; details here - http://www.vpiforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=17186#p65882. Note that for the platter/ground I use DIY ground cable from 1/4" tin-coated copper braid (in a expandable cover) back to the house outlet ground. Otherwise, @mijostyn your testing adds to the knowledge of static. |
@antinn, I have said repeatedly that I did not have a static problem the way I was caring for my records. I was wrong. I did not have a noticeable static problem would have been the more accurate way to describe it. Is that just as good? For all intents and purposes, yes. This is the situation you have. Your records are charged, just not at very high voltages. You are managing to drain enough off to keep things from getting out of hand. The mat design you are using seems very intelligent. There is one interesting hook in it. Static electricity is a surface phenomenon. The record has two surfaces, PVC and paper. The paper donates electrons to the PVC. Even if you thoroughly discharge the record within minutes a charge differential will develop between the two. At equilibrium the voltage in not high enough to be easily noticed. Your system pulls electrons from the PVC but hands them back to the paper. Will this change the equilibrium voltage? We would need a static field meter to determine that. But if the records seem static free that is enough. If my turntable did not have a vacuum system I would certainly try your mat and method. I bookmarked your link as it is an excellent suggestion for those with a static problem. And antinn, thank you for the compliment:-) @slaw , you should try antinn's mat material and let us know what you thinK. |
- 56 posts total