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Re: RC: Shocking solution



>Hi, Campers,
>
>  Thanks, everyone, who sent me suggestions on how to stop my shocking Jordan
>while I groom him. A lot of people said to use static sheets that one uses in
>the dryer, I haven't tried that, but I may just do that.
>
>Duncan Fletcher gave me a lot of good advice, other than  my going barefoot.
>Sorry, Dunc, not around horses and not in THIS state!! Otherwise, you were
>right on with your analysis of the problem..my boots were insulating me
>against the static and Jordan was getting the total amount of electricity.
>So. What did I do, but take Basic Electricity 101 and put it to good
>use...the first time in my life that stuff ever came in handy.
>
>I took a length of copper wire...I think it's 14 AWG or thereabouts, the same
>stuff one uses to wire for 15 amps (for a freezer).  I made a loose fitting
>bracelet for my self, and one for Jordan. To each wire..mine is about 6
>inches long and Jordan's 8...I wrapped the stripped ends of speaker wire. I
>taped the speaker wire to the copper wire with good old duct tape. I made the
>speaker wire (just one side, not double, but that would work just as well.)
>about ten feet long and wired an alligator clip to the other end. I will
>"draw" it below here, I hope it comes out:
>
>    >-----------------------------------------------------C
>
>The > is the alligator clip, the ------------- is the speaker wire, and the C
>is the copper wire.
>The whole thing is a ground wire.
>I attached one on the copper wires around my wrist..I made it loose, and one
>of the copper wires loosely around one of Jordan's pasterns.  I attached the
>allligator clips of both  to the steel supports of his shed. One wire for me,
>one wire for Jordan, we were both grounded, if my basic electrical knowledge
>is sound....
>Voil a!  No more shocks, though I think Jordan could hear the static as I
>brushed his furry back and was waiting for the shock. I can't believe he's
>getting any more shocks. I did have to halter him, for the first time in a
>year of grooming him daily, but once I did that he resigned himself. I don't
>think he wanted to admit he wasn't getting shocked. He does tend to play that
>game at times...Poor Old Horse.....
>
>I made the copper wire big enough, and didn't wrap it tightly around me or
>Jordan, because I didn't want either one of us to be hung up in case he blew
>up. But he didn't even flinch at the wire around his pastern.
>
>What I may do next is get a broader band of copper, rather than a wire..I
>think it's safer. But this worked for me, if he's still getting pops from
>static electricity, they have to be vastly reduced. Maybe if I use dryer
>sheets along with this system, it will eliminate the static completely.
>
>Thanks, everyone, for your help, and I hope this helps someone out there.
>Michelle and Jordan "Mom, can I have my bracelet engraved with my name??"
----------------

You and Jordan will be much safer if you hook a 1 MegaOhm or greater
resister in series with that copper ground wire each of you is wearing --
that way if you touch a faulty switch or have a short in your electric
clippers or whatever you (or the horse) won't be a hard short to ground for
AC power.  ( I think all our ESD wrist straps at work have 10 meg resistors
in them.)


Lynn Kinsky (Santa Ynez, CA)
http://www.silcom.com/~lkinsky

http://www.silcom.com/~lkinsky/Challenge/

http://www.silcom.com/~lkinsky/SageHill/   Sage Hill NATRC CTR Ride






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