static electricity
Elder User
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 890
Likes: 1
From: Douglas County, GA
You must have cloth seats? I've had three Fords with cloth seats, and all of them would shock the heck out of me each time I exited the vehicle during the winter. I tried spraying fabric softner on the seats, placing dryer sheets in the seats, etc. Nothing worked. I finally learned to maintain contact with the truck body (my hand on the edge of the truck door) until my feet were on the ground, and that seemed to cut down on it.
FTE Legend
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 65,938
Likes: 1,432
From: Millersville, MD
My '05 shocks the devil out of me every time too...I've had leather, rubber and Wal-Mart specials (God only knows what they are made out of), all of them shock. I really haven't tried to make it stop, Hoping that humidy would do it. It almost June... still a shocking experiance to exit the truck. Yes, cloth seats.
Cargo Master
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 2,243
Likes: 79
From: Roman Forest, TX
There's not really much you can do about it. You just have to learn how to "discharge" yourself with the least amount of pain. The front of your hands and your fingers are the most "electric". The back of your hand or your forearm seem to be the least painful. In otherwords, once you hit the ground, use the back of your hand or your forearm to discharge the static electricity. I read somewhere that the type of socks and/or shoes you are wearing actually build up the static electricity (the friction of those socks/shoes), but I can't remember where I read it or what it said exactly. I'll see if I can run that down.
Senior User
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 220
Likes: 0
From: Oxford, NC
I get the stuffing shocked out of me all winter everytime I get out of my truck. I'm 6'4" and still have to sorta slide my butt off the seat and down to get out and touch the ground, I don't use my running boards. If I'm real careful and don't slide my butt on the seat as I get out no shock.
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More Turbo
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 597
Likes: 22
From: Central Maine
If you can hear the zap, it is typically over 30,000 volts. We call it ESD (electro-static-discharge) in the cell phone world. We have to design phones to take these kinds of hits on the USB ports, etc....
Anyhow, it depends on the air humidity, the type of fabric, and yes, your shoes! Taking it to the extreme, you should ground your seat cover to the seat chassis. They may use plastic clips to attach the fabric to the frame? They make copper tape that you could run under the fabric and then to the seat frame. Adding the rubber strips under the car will not help unfortunately. Or you could wear an ESD wrist band from a soldering station:
http://www.edmundoptics.com/images/catalog/6089.gif
Just kidding on that one.
Anyhow, it depends on the air humidity, the type of fabric, and yes, your shoes! Taking it to the extreme, you should ground your seat cover to the seat chassis. They may use plastic clips to attach the fabric to the frame? They make copper tape that you could run under the fabric and then to the seat frame. Adding the rubber strips under the car will not help unfortunately. Or you could wear an ESD wrist band from a soldering station:
http://www.edmundoptics.com/images/catalog/6089.gif
Just kidding on that one.
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Posting Guru
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,617
Likes: 4
From: Denver, Co
Mix about one teaspoon of liquid fabric softener for each cup of water, pour the mixture into a spray bottle, and spritz the seats & carpet of your truck. This generally helps cut down the static electricity created by sliding in & out of the vehicle.
And get rid of your polyester pants!! We are waaayyy past the 70's, ya know?!?
And get rid of your polyester pants!! We are waaayyy past the 70's, ya know?!?
Post Fiend
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 5,078
Likes: 0
From: Rural WV
Hey guys...I found the easy solution!
I got zapped pretty regularly in my 150 with cloth seats. So, I went out and bought the KR with leather seats...no more zap. (Really LMAO)
It's kinda like when I bought the wife's Taurus...it came with a great CD full of music. I told folks for years that I bought this music CD from Ford...and got a free station wagon!
I got zapped pretty regularly in my 150 with cloth seats. So, I went out and bought the KR with leather seats...no more zap. (Really LMAO)
It's kinda like when I bought the wife's Taurus...it came with a great CD full of music. I told folks for years that I bought this music CD from Ford...and got a free station wagon!
Posting Guru
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 1,214
Likes: 0
From: All Over
... you can also get this kit right here:
· · To avoid the possibility of a static electric shock, ground crewmen use static discharge wands (field expedient or manufactured) and grounding stakes to ground the cargo hook. Since the wand channels the electricity from the helicopter directly into the ground, the ground crewman will not be shocked when he connects the apex fitting to the cargo hook as shown in See Figure 18-5.
· · Inspect the static discharge wand for serviceability. Select the grounding stake location, it should be on the opposite side of the ground crew’s exit direction so that they will not trip over it as they depart. When operating on hard surfaces, position the load near the edge of the surface so the grounding stake can be driven into the ground.
· · Drive the stake into the ground until it is firmly seated--at least 6 to 8 inches in firm ground and 24 inches in sandy or loose soil. Drive the stake in at a 45-degree angle away from the side of the load in case someone falls on it. Connect the cable clamp to the vertical shaft of the stake.
· · To avoid the possibility of a static electric shock, ground crewmen use static discharge wands (field expedient or manufactured) and grounding stakes to ground the cargo hook. Since the wand channels the electricity from the helicopter directly into the ground, the ground crewman will not be shocked when he connects the apex fitting to the cargo hook as shown in See Figure 18-5.
· · Inspect the static discharge wand for serviceability. Select the grounding stake location, it should be on the opposite side of the ground crew’s exit direction so that they will not trip over it as they depart. When operating on hard surfaces, position the load near the edge of the surface so the grounding stake can be driven into the ground.
· · Drive the stake into the ground until it is firmly seated--at least 6 to 8 inches in firm ground and 24 inches in sandy or loose soil. Drive the stake in at a 45-degree angle away from the side of the load in case someone falls on it. Connect the cable clamp to the vertical shaft of the stake.
FTE Leadership Emeritus
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 23,174
Likes: 1,678
From: Stephensville WI
My F-150 with cloth seats would zap the beegeebers out of me. (If you've ever seen loose beejeebers you'd know how bad this situation was!)
Dryer sheets didn't help. Touching metal while you got out helped, but I would often forget.
I agree withe MsgtG in his solution. Leather seats did the trick.
Dryer sheets didn't help. Touching metal while you got out helped, but I would often forget.
I agree withe MsgtG in his solution. Leather seats did the trick.
Elder User
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 593
Likes: 1
Grounding yourself will prevent any type of shock upon exiting the vehicle. Just grab the door sill or something as you get out and you're grounded. Also, the best place to discharge static build-up?? The good ole' toocas! Where the good Lord split ya is the best place to discharge electrical build-up, just back up against your truck if you're concerned with shock...