Just ordered an grounding strap for 99 Odyssey

Our 1999 Odyssey has been shocking the heck out of us all winter.
We've had this vehicle for a few years now and I never remember it
being this bad. I just ordered a "stop shock" grounding strap from
eBay. I'm hoping this will help a lot. I called all the local auto-
parts stores and not one of them carried this item.

Anyhow, have any of you had luck with grounding straps?

Mike

 

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You might have more luck spraying the seat covers with a staticide, or
by wearing a different pair of pants / jacket.

'Curly'

 

yes,the charge buildup is on YOU,not the car.
I just brush my knuckle against the door frame.

 

I agree, too. Drain straps were fairly common in the 60s to stop static
popping in AM radios. I think carbon additives in tires mostly put a stop to
that.

I've used antistatic sprays on the driver's seat before, and it helps for a
day or two. I even got tired of brushing my knuckle against the latch, so I
just live with the ZAP.

Mike

 

Carbon has been added to tires since about 1920. Carbon is what makes tires
black. Absent carbon, tires are WHITE.

Carbon (soot) was added to automotive tires to prevent decomposition due to
ultraviolet radiation. It had nothing at all to do with electricity.

 

try a new alternator belt from bando. anti-static.

 

Now you've got me curious - doesn't the alternator belt just run from one
grounded pulley to another?

 

that's what i'da thunk, but my 89 used to jolt me until i put on that
belt. it's got "anti-static, oil & heat resistant" written on it -
didn't order it specially. and i'm reporting the result!

 

Strange but true, I guess! Definitely worth a try.

Mike

 

"Jim Yanik" wrote

Good plan - works every time. For me, the, uh, shock value is strictly SHOE
dependent. I have one pair that just jolts the crap out of me when I get out
of the car unless I hold onto the door jamb latch with my right hand's
fingers as I exit the car. (There is no shock when I wear real leather dress
shoes.) As long as I hold onto that latch when exiting, I receive no shocks
whatsoever under any circumstances with any clothing in any season. I live
in the desert southwest where it's really dry, and that dryness probably
exacerbates the issue. So if that method works here, it should work
anywhere.

 

I don't know why;leather soles insulate fairly well,and the static
discharge is to the auto chassis,not to ground.
Unless your leather soles are really damp(and electrically leaky).
I wouldn't depend on that pair when working on anything electric.

That is because you drain off the charge -as it is generated- by your butt
sliding across the seat. Now,with the insulating shoes,try to not touch the
chassis and instead brush your knuckles against the ground and see if you
still get a shock;I doubt you will.

 

Static builds up on your body from sliding your butt across the fabric
seat,as you exit.
There's no way an alternator belt in the engine compartment would discharge
your body charge.

 

I got into the habit of holding the door frame as I touched the ground
getting out of the vehicle.

No more sparky....

t

 

how is the alternator belt different from the belt in a van de graaff?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_de_Graaff_generator

 

If you want to fix the problem you will have to spend LOTS of
money....... for new tires! This problem was noticed in the 90's when
toll booth operators were getting zapped big time when getting tolls
from drivers. It was blamed on the newer compounding that included more
silica in the formula instead of just using cheap carbon black for filer.

Actually I hope the addition of just a strap solves your problem.

-SP

 

The belt in a Vandegraff generator rubs against a collector brush,inside
the globe. Didn't you look at the diagram? Or read the text?

Also the support tube insulates the two pulleys from each other,unlike a
engine block and metal brackets suporting the alternator.(and ground straps
on the alternator and engine.)

you don't get a charge buildup rubbing an insulator against a metal
object.It's strictly insulators/insulators.


BTW,I have actually held a VDG globe and had discharges from my toes right
through my combat boots,in USAF PMEL tech school.They didn't insulate as
well as the instructor thought they would.Didn't hurt,though.

 

yes i have, thanks. the point you're missing is that there's friction
between dissimilar materials, and that's how a van de graaff generator
works. and whether you care to believe it or not, whether /i/ care to
believe it or not, when i changed belt to this allegedly anti-static
belt, a car that had previously zapped the heck out of me whenever i
went near it, suddenly, magically, stopped. coincidence? try it
yourself and /you/ decide.

not true - in the v.d.g., both the positive and negative collectors are
conductors. it's dissimilar materials that cause this effect, not
whether one is a metal.

 

"Jim Yanik" wrote

(There is no shock when I

I'm confused about the draining off the charge as I slide across the seat. I
thought I was building up a charge when sliding across the seat. (These are
2004 Accord EX cloth seats. I have had the same issues with previous cars:
'97 Civic and '91 Civic.) And yes, my point was that with the "insulating"
shoes, I don't need to touch the chassis in order to prevent a shock, as
there is none.

When you refer to "the ground," as in brushing my knuckles against the
ground (which is how I normally walk) ;-) do you mean the concrete the car
is sitting on? I suspect you do -- I'll try that today.

 

STATIC electric charges are generated between dissimilar INSULATORS,not a
metal and an insulator.You can rub a wool cloth on a metal all day and not
generate a charge of any significance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Static_electricity#.27Static.27_electricity

Static charge generation

The presence of surface charge imbalance means that the objects will
exhibit attractive or repulsive forces. This surface charge imbalance,
which leads to static electricity, can be generated by touching two
differing surfaces together and then separating them due to the phenomena
of contact electrification and the triboelectric effect. Rubbing two non-
conductive objects generates a great amount of static electricity. This is
not just the result of friction; two non-conductive surfaces can become
charged by just being placed one on top of the other. Since most surfaces
have a rough texture, it takes longer to achieve charging through contact
than through rubbing. Rubbing objects together increases amount of adhesive
contact between the two surfaces. Usually insulators, i.e., substances that
do not conduct electricity, are good at both generating, and holding, a
surface charge. Some examples of these substances are rubber, plastic,
glass, and pith. Conductive objects only rarely generate charge imbalance
except, for example, when a metal surface is impacted by solid or liquid
nonconductors. The charge that is transferred during contact
electrification is stored on the surface of each object. Static electric
generators, devices which produce very high voltage at very low current
(such as the Van de Graaf generator or Wimshurst machine) and used for
classroom physics demonstrations, rely on this effect.

 

When you hold onto the door frame and slide.
When you aren't "grounded" is when your body builds up a significant
charge.

Insulating shoes would RETAIN the body's charge,conducting shoes would
drain it(if contacting a "ground");that's how an anti-static strap or shoe
works in electronics repair(I'm an electronics tech),it has a resistor and
connects to a earth ground to slowly drain off charges -as they are
generated- by your clothes.
They actually make shoes designed to drain static charges,you have to be on
a conductive mat or surface.they make static draining floor coatings,too.
I had to take a anti-static course every year as part of ISO9000 procedures
for my company,wore anti-static lab coats,wrist AND heel straps,and tested
every day to be sure they were working.I used to work on equipment
sensitive enough to measure the charge generated when I moved just an arm
or leg when ungrounded.

a reference;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Static_electricity#.27Static.27_electricity


sit naked on the seat,and you won't build up a charge either.Skin itself is
not a good static charge generator.Don't do it in public,though!!
Then the police will charge you!