How to eliminate static when playing a record

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by alfajim, Oct 29, 2014.

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  1. alfajim

    alfajim Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    san rafael ca
    Now that I have everything working, still using the older JVC L-AX1 TT it does not have a ground with the IC's as it connected to the phono input on the receiver. Now that I am using a pre amp I am thinking I need to add in a ground to connect to the ground on the pre amp? Anything else that will cause the record to generate static electricity when playing?
    fixes anyone?

    Jim
     
  2. Jim T

    Jim T Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mars
    If you aren't, you will need at least a SpinClean record washer to get your lps as clean as possible. A vacuum machine like the $200 Disc Doctor may also be in order. I have 2 older R2R bulk tape erasers that I scan over my lps if I hear many snap, crackles, and pops which seems to eliminate most if not all of any static charge. I had a ZeroStat years ago, but it seemed less effective than my bulk tape erasers so that is all I use now. Lps that have a higher content of reused or "regrind" as part of the vinyl mix are more prone to static.
     
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  3. BuddhaBob

    BuddhaBob Forum Resident

    Location:
    Erie, PA, USA
    Never heard of using bulk erasers on records. Wow. I would be so careful no to get those near my TT or any other gear. When I use mine for TAPE, it's kept far away from my phone, watch, anything with a motor or electronics.

    I wonder if a coil plugged into the house ground (3rd wire) wouldn't do just the same thing. I am trying to fathom how a 50/60 cycle magnetic field would eliminate static any better than a ground plane or coil near the static charge. --Ever try it without pressing the ON button, Jim? Just wave it, plugged into the power outlet, over a record?
     
  4. BuddhaBob

    BuddhaBob Forum Resident

    Location:
    Erie, PA, USA
    Not very high tech...but I usually just huff on a side to add a bit of "humidity' before playing, if things seem crackly. Might be heresy for some and may not work well in an arid place where the air is super dry.
     
  5. alfajim

    alfajim Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    san rafael ca
    They aren't getting crackly per se but the first one played became like a magnet stuck to the mat and I could feel the field around it as I lifted it off on my hands and it collasped after I got it clear of the TT. The black std. ones did it more so than the special red franklin ones, barely. As I recall they didn't do that before using the original system no ground used. The pre amp is not grounded anywhere? unless through the IC's to amp?

    Jim
     
  6. BuddhaBob

    BuddhaBob Forum Resident

    Location:
    Erie, PA, USA
    You could certainly try a ground wire, even something from RadShack with alligator clips on each end might work easily. The only thing about extra grounds is that you can get a "ground loop", an electrical phenomenon whereby the hum is increased even though you have additional grounds in use.

    There are some antistatic mats out there, but I haven't tried any. If you add a mat, you'd need to compensate for the added height.
     
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  7. alfajim

    alfajim Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    san rafael ca
    Thanks buddhaBob I know about ground loops been doing electronics about 50+yrs, was an Aircraft Electrician in the Navy. I just didn't think I would have a issue like this with the TT as it didn't do it before.
    The other TT I am putting a tonearm on has a ground with the IC's coming out of it. So I am going to solder one in to the ground lug in the TT and connect to the pre amp gnd screw.
     
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  8. BuddhaBob

    BuddhaBob Forum Resident

    Location:
    Erie, PA, USA
    Just be sure it is oxygen-free copper, cryogenically treated Litz wire. ;)

    Oh, and nothing less than 10 ga.
     
    timind likes this.
  9. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    My Linn lp12 has a ground wire which I attached to the pre-amp gnd screw and I still can't get rid of all the static. I hit the lp with my ZeroStat but after playing the side, the static comes back. I have the same problem with high, low, medium humidity. Some records are worse than others and some attract no static at all. I can't work it out. Drives me crazy sometimes if I let it.

    I once, just as a test, left a record that had no static on the t/t over night. Everything was turned off, humidity in the 45-50% and when I woke up, the lp stuck to the matt! Before no sticking, over night static is back. Maybe it's me and I just attract static! :)

    I thought maybe the gnd wire isn't connected properly but I checked and it is. maybe the wire is messed up somehow? Is it worth replacing it?
     
  10. BuddhaBob

    BuddhaBob Forum Resident

    Location:
    Erie, PA, USA
    You can use a VOM to test the ground and be sure it is ~zero ohms.

    In a previous life, I worked with huge, fast dot matrix printers. There were many manufacturers who had add-on kits to eliminate static, since the paper zoomed through and friction could create unreal static. Enough to make ledger paper stick right to the printer enclosure and not budge, causing Hollywood-movie-comedy-type scenes in the computer room. Several of these solutions were rather kludgey, but the ones that worked the best used tinsel or metal combs, attached to ground wires, to scavenge the excess static charges. So, if you are of a mind to experiment, a bit of tinsel or foil mounted 1-2mm from the rotating platter might work, attached to a ground. If a prototype works, you could make a more pro-looking version and maybe hide most of it on the back of the plinth out of sight.

    Maybe someone else has tried the above and could offer their method and materials source.
     
    eddiel likes this.
  11. c-eling

    c-eling They're made of light,We never would have guessed

    A cork mat solved my static issues, I had the same problem with my lp's sticking to the rubber, good grief was it bad
     
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  12. Kustom 250

    Kustom 250 Active Member

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    I was taught to breathe on the carbon fiber record brush before cleaning to get rid of static.

    Seems to work.
     
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  13. VinylRob

    VinylRob Forum Resident

    Does static appear consistently, year round? What's the relative humidity in your house?
     
  14. marcb

    marcb Senior Member

    Location:
    DC area
    3 easy ones:

    1) Clean your records with a cleaner that has an anti-static ingredient.

    2) Use anti-static inner sleeves

    3) I take a wet sponge and put it near the platter. Basically a very low cost, mini humidifier.
     
  15. Jim T

    Jim T Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mars
    -----------------------
    Nope and it is never by any of my gear. All I can say it works for me. That's what the voices inside my head keep telling me.
     
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  16. The Good Guy

    The Good Guy Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    I used to get static in my old house with carpet but now I have vinyl flooring
     
  17. VinylRob

    VinylRob Forum Resident

    Ummm! The warm (static free) sounds of vinyl.
     
  18. BuddhaBob

    BuddhaBob Forum Resident

    Location:
    Erie, PA, USA
    Knowing nothing much about San Rafael, per your location info, but the Weather Channel sez 37% humidity. If you have a stretch of days like that, it's dry enough to cause problems and maybe you are noticing the problem more lately just due to what the weather has been doing there? Tomorrow is 70%, supposedly...maybe there will be less of an issue then?

    With a bathroom near my listening area and a shower in use at least once a day that keeps the readings in this room above 60%. 66-70% is typical.

    I like marcb's idea of having a moist sponge near the platter to try. I used to live in the Florida Keys and NEVER had this problem. Quite the opposite, humidity and salt in the air. A different kind of crackle! Then it was buy the record, record to tape, put the record away and play the tape.
     
    Last edited: Oct 29, 2014
  19. Burt

    Burt Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kirkwood, MO
    If the humidity is very low, get a humidifier or one of the old vaporizers. DO NOT get the ultrasonic type vaporizer, it puts the minerals in the water in the air and this causes all kinds of problems with CD players and hard drives. Control humidity.

    Put the turntable itself on an antistatic mat hooked to earth ground via a high value resistor.

    If the floor is carpeted spray the carpet for a 10-20 foot radius with a squirt bottle full of DI water and Downy brand fabric softener. Use at about 20:1 and shake very well. Only Downy brand has the ESD control agent otherwise sold by Desco and other electronic supply places at many times the price.

    Finally if all else fails get what really works, a radioactive alpha emitter Staticmaster type brush. Or other alpha source that is safe when used correctly.
     
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  20. Quiet Earth

    Quiet Earth Forum Resident


    Hmmm,,, that's very interesting. I'm almost sure that I have static issues only after I walk across the carpet to flip the record over. I realize that having low humidity and my Boston Audio carbon mat contribute to the problem, but I think the biggest contributor is when I walk across the carpet. I recently discovered that if I touch the mat with one finger while I flip the record over (or remove it) then the static doesn't come through the cartridge. But I would like to remove the static (coming from me?) altogether so I don't have to perform this crazy maneuver.


    I might try the Fabreeze trick on the carpet. Do I really need DI water to mix it with? Where would I get that? Thanks for the suggestion. :tiphat:
     
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  21. Bill Hart

    Bill Hart Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin
    I never thought of the tonearm ground wire as having a bearing on static in playing records, though I suppose it could. Most static issues I've encountered in vinyl playback have to do with the handling of the record, sleeving and resleeving, and the charge that you have due to shoes on carpet, etc. Some of the suggestions above are good ones.
    Jim's notion of demagnitizing vinyl is not entirely uncommon-
    I'm always reluctant to use the charge from a Zerostat to counter the charge on the record because it doesn't necessarily get to the source of the problem, isn't always consistent, sometimes the darned things don't work, and sometimes they are overkill.
    Ahh, Burt's last resort to the StaticMaster (with polonium). I have a relatively fresh one (and still have one I bought in 1974?). It does work (when fresh), but I find the brushing creates as much static as it supposed to remove. Maybe, on camera lenses, it is effective.
    If memory serves, Furutech offered different devices for demag and for static.
    Blake has suggested a used desktop ionizer intended for software assembly.
    I also found that over-vacuuming on a wand machine could create static.
    And, yep, dry temps (in the NE in the winter with forced air heat) increase the potential.
    I even tried grounding myself, using a grounded mat, changing grounding to my table, in addition to my arm, etc.
    For a combination of reasons, i have virtually no static problems at this point due to:
    bare feet, no socks or shoes;
    careful cleaning and handling;
    good aftermarket inner sleeves.
    I don't need to resort to any brushes or other devices to counter the static, it isn't there.
     
  22. alfajim

    alfajim Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    san rafael ca
    Thanks guys for all the great suggestions, I normally go around in bare feet or those hospital sockies with the rubber pads, keeps feet clean that way. Could be humidity not normally a prob here, we are going into a wet session Fri over the weekend will see then. Also place is carpeted and I have gotten static off it quite a few times so will try the downy trick. Will add ground wire anyway, the TT sets on a wood shelf in a wooden equipment cabinet, the phono pre is two shelves lower and power is behind on floor, Cabinet has glass doors for equip and DVD storage above and a closed space with door below.
    the anti static mat is good idea thought of it but no way to use earth ground as I am on third floor.
    I could always try a wrist band grounder. By the way what exactly is Litz wire?
     
  23. BuddhaBob

    BuddhaBob Forum Resident

    Location:
    Erie, PA, USA
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  24. Burt

    Burt Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kirkwood, MO

    Downy, not Febreze.

    Distilled water is common at all grocery stores. Actually tapwater would probably be fine for floor treatment though. Do not get the Downy in any electronics.
     
  25. Burt

    Burt Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kirkwood, MO

    The Staticmaster has a polonium source and I would think if it was made in 1974 it would be inert now. Polonium has a short half life. It is, however, lethal if ingested, but the Staticmaster is made for safety as long as you don't crush and eat the source. I have a few of them and am not too worried.
     
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