electric shock on leaving car

xactiva · Post by **xactiva** » 24 Feb 2003, 16:29

I did a quick search to see if anyone has covered this issue before and seemingly not, so....
Does anyone else get a massive belt of static electricity every time they get out of the car?
It's becoming so bad that it's entering the jar of topics for regular marital disputes. With phrases like "Either you sort that out, or it'll have to go" ringing in my ears every time "THE BOSS" uses the car, a speedy remedy is required.
n.b. I really hate those things that drag along the ground.
Cheers
Keron

alan s · Post by **alan s** » 24 Feb 2003, 17:10

I have to sympathise with anyone who has had this problem; it ain't funny.
I used to work in a car yard in Queensland Australia many years ago. The yard didn't have yard security hence we had to drive all the cars from the front and around the back into an undercover garage so that they could be locked away. In winter time in particular, these cars were crammed in sardine style with side panels almost touching and to exit the car meant that we had to slide across the seat to the passengers side to exit the vehicle.
Artificial fibres sliding across vynil seats literally had sparks flying up to 3 inches off my feet as I touched the ground and then often from my fingers as it again built up as I walked around to get into the next car. Believe it or not but I have been literally blown off my feet due to the force of the shock. It was an inland Town & always seemed to happen on cold dry evenings. We found two solutions; one was to use a 100% cotton sheet as a protector on the seat & try not to slide, whilst another was a piece of wire driiled & set into concrete that we drove over as we approached the lock up area.
The first prevented the static build up whilst the second earthed the shock just before we left the car. Neither were 100% successful but worked well enough to make life bearable. [;)]
Alan S [:p]

Gaz · Post by **Gaz** » 24 Feb 2003, 18:32

I too get the shock when leaving the car but it only happens when I'm wearing a particular pair of shoes. I usually wear steel toe cap boots (tough soles)..no problem but the more formal shoes I wear for meetings gaurantee I will be shocked. At the moment, 99% of the time I'm wearing them..I regret it. Gaz

sooty · Post by **sooty** » 25 Feb 2003, 01:06

My son suffers from the same thing, whether it be a diesel or petrol. I cured it by fitting a earth strip which was from halfords, or piece of light chain would do the same thing. It was fitted to the underside at the rear of the car and in contact with the road surface allowing it to discharge itself. Works 95% of the time, worth a try.
Sooty

Kered · Post by **Kered** » 25 Feb 2003, 03:56

I have always understood that it's not the car that gets charged up but the person in it. I never get a shock when leaving my Xantia but my wife invariably does! It may be due to a person's body resistance as much as the type of clothing. My wife tends to have dry skin while mine is moister (sweaty some would call it!)
Derek

xactiva · Post by **xactiva** » 25 Feb 2003, 04:39

Thanks Guys.
The seat cover/ type of shoe combination sounds like the answer to me.
Now you come to mention it Gaz, I never get shocked when I'm wearing my Rigger Boots.
I think I might have to look into some alternative covering to separate bum from nylon!!

alan s · Post by **alan s** » 25 Feb 2003, 05:41

My wife just reminded me that when she worked in an office in the same town that I used to get "jolted" in, that they refurbished the office & fitted 100% nylon carpet. The girls all had to be very wary when they walked across the office & touched a filing cabinet as they always received a shock ranging from a slight tingle to a full on zap.
Being a Government agency, the problem was easily solved by changing the carpet again.[:p][}:)]
Ahh; what must it be like to be able to spend someone elses money so flippantly?[:o)]
Alan S [:D]

arry_b · Post by **arry_b** » 25 Feb 2003, 15:33

I find that grabbing a large metallic part of the car (door frame) before my feet touch the ground helps get rid of the static.
Or for more entertainment, get out carefully without earthing yourself, hold on to the metal part of the key and "ZAP" your passengers with the key (aka lightning rod) as they get out.
For some reason, the wife doesn't see the funny side of this...

tomsheppard · Post by **tomsheppard** » 25 Feb 2003, 15:57

One way of earthing the car in hot weather was to use an auxiliary manual washer pump and bottle of the kind used on Minis and the like. From memory a 2CV one is suitable and rig a jet to squirt on the ground.
A metal jet was used with a wire running from it to the pushbutton which had a drawing pin pushed into the top around which the wire was wound. The bottle was filled with a highly special conductive fluid sourced from a nearby sea. On stopping the car, one squirt discharged both car and driver. A handy extra feature was the automatic low fluid warning device[:D]

JohnW · Post by **JohnW** » 25 Feb 2003, 17:20

I have this problem intermittently. I've found that putting feet to the ground and standing up carefully, without touching the car's metallic parts, and then rapping it with my knuckles discharges the static and at the same time (exactly) as the knuckles striking the car. Then I don't feel the zap and it isn't somewhere sensititive.
Works quite well.
Cheers
JohnW

xactiva · Post by **xactiva** » 25 Feb 2003, 17:44

So, just to recap all the information so far;
All I need to sort out this problem is, let's see...
1/ a 100% Cotton sheet on my seats
2/ A wire spike concreted into the ground
3/ Steel toe capped boots
4/ a piece of chain dangling from my car
5/ sweaty skin
6/ new axminster carpet
7/ a manual washer bottle squirting conductive sea water
8/ and to rap my knuckles on the car each time I get out
and... That ought to fix it !!!
I never realised, when posting this topic, that it would prove quite so entertaining.
I am DEFINITELY going to try the Zapping thing!!
Maybe I need to get some boots that insulate me even more in order to build up an even BIGGER charge... Electricians must have some pretty good ones for working up pylons etc.
Thanks for all the helpful!?! advice.
Keron

surfer · Post by **surfer** » 25 Feb 2003, 18:02

Hi,
As everyone else here has said, it's down to materials, leading to static build-up.
I can't speak for other Xantias, but my Activa seats do seem to feature the most man made looking fabrics I've ever seen in the world of Automotive upholstery.
I imagine that if Citroen had specified leather seats and wool carpets as standard, I wouldn't get shocked every time I climbed out of the Car.
That said, the actual charge isn't too bad, unlike your own.
simon.

FFX-DM · Post by **FFX-DM** » 27 Feb 2003, 18:14

It's definately linked to materials. In certain shoes I get a good charge and then a zap when I leave the car. At work, when I work in our meeting room I always get charged up and then zap my customers when I go to shake their hands, so now I subtly keep a bit of bare flesh (ooh er missus!) in contact with the steel leg of the chair in order to be earthed. Zapping one's colleagues is also fun, but hair standing on end can be a bit of a give away that you have prepared a 'suprise' for them![:o)]
Can you still buy those little rubber earthing straps? I though it was the prevalence of furry dice and polyester shell suits in the 80's that made them so neccessary back then?!

Post by **Jon** » 27 Feb 2003, 18:57

"At work, when I work in our meeting room I always get charged up"
<font color="blue">Madam! Stop it!</font id="blue">

FFX-DM · Post by **FFX-DM** » 27 Feb 2003, 22:32

Moi?!![:I][:I]
You've obviously never been to Chinnor, have you Jon?! [:)]