Car Zaps

Okay, since I have had my pace maker I constantly get zapped when I enter or get out of my car. What's up with that. I sometimes hold the charge to for awhile and zap people.
Is this something I need to be concerned with ????
I had my mechanic install a anti shock bar which hasn't help. Anyone else have this issue?????

3 Comments

AH, Static Electricity.....

by donr - 2013-08-05 08:08:44

...again. When it is dry outside, it is NOT unusual for a ststic charge to build up on our bodies - especially if we are wearing non-conductive clothing (Nylon, rayon olefins, etc.). Since our bodies are conductive & like electrical charges repel each other, they get as far away from one another as they can - that means they cover the surface of our body. You open the car door & the first conductor you touch collects the charge you had & you feel a zap at the point of contact.

So - how to keep from feeling that event. Hold a key tightly in your hand & use the key to bleed the charge off your body to the ground point. You will not feel anything.

It is NOTHING to be concerned about. Recall I said that the charge all lies on the surface of your body, nowhere near your PM. When it bleeds off, it follows the outside layer of your body that is conductive - most likely the immediate sub surface of your skin that has any of your body fluids in it. Surface skin is pretty dead, hence not a particularly good conductor.

What's an anti-shock bar? I'm guessing that it's a bar you had installed to ground your self on when you go to get out. Well, it doesn't work because all it does is act like a contact point of the car.

I have the issue all the time when it's dry outside.

Don

donr

by WENDYMARA - 2013-08-06 02:08:38

Yes, Don I had the anti shock bar put on to stop the static electricity with my car. That didn't work.
Not sure why I would be the only one to be zapped every single time I get in and out. I will try your key trick today after work and let you know . I have tried everything to gloves to bounce sheets :) and the list is long.

Tell me where...

by donr - 2013-08-06 09:08:22

...& how the anti-static bar is supposed to work. Intriguing concept.

I know why you are the only person to get zapped every time - you just have an electrifying personality!

Actually, I'll bet that your car has vinyl or some other artificial fabric for seat covers & you wear clothing made of the same class of material. All of them non-conducting materials.

Ever see the signs at the service station that tell you NOT to get back into the car while filling it w/ gas? That is to protect the world from people who have the same problem you have. All that gas being pumped into an empty tank displaces gas fumes - highly explosive & easily set off by a static spark right at the gas tank filler spout. I'm sure it has happened more than once.

Don

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