does anyone have tips for helping to reduce the static?

[Tim Painter]

Maybe Earthing the machine will help.

[Gary Birch]

Tim
I had thought of that but the trouble is we move it around, depending on what we are doing and having to disconnect it would be a bit of a ball ache. I suppose we could get some kind quick connector to allow us to unplug it and plug it in elsewhere. I think I’ll try it first and see if it helps though.

Thanks

Gary

[Tim Painter]

Gary you can get straps that you use on benches etc for electronic assembly (That take me back) some are pads with flexible straps that go down to a base with a pop stud like used on clothing.

Farnell or RS components etc. do them.

[Gary Birch]

I’ll have a look later and let you know how I get on.

Cheers

Gary

[Peter Normington]

three pin plug wired just on the earth and attached to the machine?
And if you are worried about safety just remove the other pins

Peter

[Gary Birch]

Peter
This may sound like a daft question but is this ok to do??? I mean do I just plug it into a socket??

Logic tells me this is ok but I ain’t no sparky 🙄

Thanks

Gary

[Tim Painter]

Gary the static straps you can buy from RS etc go back to a mains socket which only has an Earth wire connected.

Simple answer is YES.

You may be able to buy a plug with an Earth pin and plastic pins for the other 2.

[David Rogers]

I always (when using foamex) spray the coating with a misting of water THEN strip it (reduces static by about 75%) by pulling in from all sides to ‘bundle it up’.

THEN with a damp (almost dry) cloth / paper handroll – run round the edges getting rid of all of the bits.

Earthing your machine – just a wire from the chassis of the machine to ONLY the earth pin of a plug…or you’ll get shocking results.

You can’t eliminate static entirely on the cheap, but it will make a huge difference compared to nothing.

Dave

[Nigel Hindley]

We do exactly as David does.

We actually cut, sand, saw, drill, jigsaw all types of materials, weed and tape up all vinyls in the same room due to limited space.

We just use water and hand towels and this eliminates the problems and produce dust free signs – no problem – when you mist the boards you can see any dust literally drop off, – we lightly mist the floor and worktops and this stops the static and dust lifting.

[Phill Fenton]

Is your work area carpeted Gary? The reason why I ask is our last place was carpeted and we suffered a lot from static – to the extent that I couldn’t remove protective film from Forrex without getting a shock.

Getting rid of the carpet solved the problems we were having.

[Gary Birch]

Thanks for you advice on this one guys. I will try and do as suggested and let you know how we get on.

Phill
No it is a polished concrete floor. The last place was carpeted and I though it would help when we moved but I haven’t noticed much of a change to be honest. Having said that we have had a run on foamex mounted print so are probably noticing it more.

Thanks again

Gary

[Gill Harrison]

Hi Gary

We use anti-static tinsel its made from copper and if you do a search you will find a few suppliers, It doesn’t totally stop the problem but does reduce the strenght of belt you get, and for some reason you chaps do seem to suffer more than us girls 🙄 its a pain thresh hold thing :lol1:
If you attach one end to the frame and allow the other to trail on the floor then your kit will still be portable, just make sure its tucked under out of sight so you don’t get too many wise cracks regarding left over decorations and also so nobody trips.

Anythings worth a try

Gill

[Michael Hartley]

Try running a humidifier, or vaporizer, it will help some.

[David Rogers]

quote Michael Hartley:

Try running a humidifier, or vaporizer, it will help some.

Will that not also wreck your vinyl stock and cause possible damage to you PC?

[Michael Hartley]

No, it’s just putting some moisture back in the air, not saturating it.

[Chris Wool]

with all the damp in the air at the moment we have to run a dehumidifier

Chris

[Steve Underhill]

Apply wet that Will solve everything!

:lol1:

[Gary Birch]

Thank you to Gill from William Smiths for sending me the tinsel. I now have it attached and while it has made a difference it still produces static. However with that and spraying with water before removing the protective cover makes it so much better.

Just a thanks to all who helped me on this and sorry for not buying anything from you Gill when you visited. Next time I promise I will. 😀

Cheers

Gary

[alan flynn]

hello all,
in the old days when i used to just work with a brush, when i was sign writing perspex i would always run a leather over the panel, never had any problems then,
if i did not do it you could see the paint tracking off,
this was mainly when doing truck headboards so may prove harder on larger panels,
regards
Alan Flynn

[rob haydock]

i’ll be trying water in future…have used anti-static liquid in past

[Gary Birch]

While it has helped with static it hasn’t helped enough so we will be earthing it in the near future.

Cheers

Gary

[John Gregson]

Put a metal bar from said machine to the floor. It used to work when we screen printed and racked rigid pvc sheets.

Cheers John

[Brian Maher]

we used the static strips you get from the auto-factors for vans and have them trail to the floor, not fully eliminated but reduced the sting a good bit 🙂

[Nicola McIntosh]

quote John Gregson:

Put a metal bar from said machine to the floor. It used to work when we screen printed and racked rigid pvc sheets.

used to do the same too john 😀

also i think ive mentioned this before, put a wee bit of washing-up liquid in a litre of water and spray onto surface and wipe off, the guy i used to do work for who made correx sheeting, told me this wee secret and it does work 😀

nik

[Phill Fenton]

I believe I have found the answer. 😮

I have devised a protective clothing device that the operator should wear to protect him or her from shocks caused by static. I believe I have thought of everything – this clothing device even includes special pincer gloves to aid with the weeding process 😕

I hope to have this in production in time to launch at the UK sign show this year

[Gary Birch]

Thanks for the tips guys, especially Phill, have you decided on branding yet? I reckon there is an opening there :lol1: a full wrap maybe

The sting has been removed now it with the earthing tinsel or seems that way.

Cheers

Gary

[Rodney Gold]

The only way to eliminate static is to use an ionising air gun , we work with perspex all the time and static is a problem , the gun works extermely well and albeit it wasnt cheap , has paid its way many times over
http://www.meech.com/ProductGroup.aspx?id=39
or
http://products3.3m.com/catalog/us/en00 … utput_html

[John Singh]

quote Phill:

I believe I have found the answer. 😮

I have devised a protective clothing device that the operator should wear to protect him or her from shocks caused by static. I believe I have thought of everything – this clothing device even includes special pincer gloves to aid with the weeding process 😕

I hope to have this in production in time to launch at the UK sign show this year

Great Idea Phill
There’s plenty of room for branding too
Looks like a hefty charge for suit this though