I’ve had a zerostat static remover for a while. Always seemed effective at it intended purpose. Great for removing those foam peanuts that you stuff comes packed in at time too.
A friend turned me on to the fact that people are using those candle lighter to remove static cling from vinyl. I looked them up and they’re cheap, in the ten bucks range so I ordered one off amazon to try.
The lighter showed up yesterday and I thought I’d compare it to my zerostat.
I took an old record and dropped some small bits of paper on it. Then I tipped it up and the bits slid right off, so it’s starting as close to static free as can reasonably be expected.
I then took the record and gave it 4 swirls across my shirt to build up static. Dropped the paper bits on it again and when I tipped it up, they stuck. So its got some static cling now.
Zerostat:
Thats an original one from somewhere in the 70’s I’m guessing. I have replaced the wire from the piezio crystal to the tip because it had deteriorated. Otherwise, its unmodified.
Of note is the zerostat makes a piece drop off the record on the opposite side of the center label when in use. So its reasonable to conclude that the is doing what its advertised to do.
Same 4 swirls across my shirt and then the candle lighter:
Note it seems to be a very close, localized effect. I pretty much had to be directly over the paper bit. I didn’t have the record at a straight up angle like the zerostat’s because I’ve read that the light “drops” ions and doesn’t project them forward. So I wanted to make sure the lighter had a chance to do its work by getting the record “under” it but still allow gravity to pull the bits off once static was eliminated.
Where it seemed the lighter stopped having effect was where it “timed out” and shut off. Once I restarted it, you can see the paper bits dropping again.
So it appears to me that the zerostat does indeed do a better job of it than the lighter. But the lighter also has an effect as well.
Then theres the price difference. A new zerostat is going to run somewhere around 100 bucks, the candle lighter around 10-15 bucks. Thats not an insignificant difference.
So its up to you which you would like to use.
I’d say if you don’t have either one now, start with the lighter and if you find it has it has any positive effects for you, consider grabbing a zerostat if you ever find one at a decent price.
Worst case scenario is you spend ten bucks and have something you can use as a lighter.
Cheers
A friend turned me on to the fact that people are using those candle lighter to remove static cling from vinyl. I looked them up and they’re cheap, in the ten bucks range so I ordered one off amazon to try.
The lighter showed up yesterday and I thought I’d compare it to my zerostat.
I took an old record and dropped some small bits of paper on it. Then I tipped it up and the bits slid right off, so it’s starting as close to static free as can reasonably be expected.
I then took the record and gave it 4 swirls across my shirt to build up static. Dropped the paper bits on it again and when I tipped it up, they stuck. So its got some static cling now.
Zerostat:
Thats an original one from somewhere in the 70’s I’m guessing. I have replaced the wire from the piezio crystal to the tip because it had deteriorated. Otherwise, its unmodified.
Of note is the zerostat makes a piece drop off the record on the opposite side of the center label when in use. So its reasonable to conclude that the is doing what its advertised to do.
Same 4 swirls across my shirt and then the candle lighter:
Note it seems to be a very close, localized effect. I pretty much had to be directly over the paper bit. I didn’t have the record at a straight up angle like the zerostat’s because I’ve read that the light “drops” ions and doesn’t project them forward. So I wanted to make sure the lighter had a chance to do its work by getting the record “under” it but still allow gravity to pull the bits off once static was eliminated.
Where it seemed the lighter stopped having effect was where it “timed out” and shut off. Once I restarted it, you can see the paper bits dropping again.
So it appears to me that the zerostat does indeed do a better job of it than the lighter. But the lighter also has an effect as well.
Then theres the price difference. A new zerostat is going to run somewhere around 100 bucks, the candle lighter around 10-15 bucks. Thats not an insignificant difference.
So its up to you which you would like to use.
I’d say if you don’t have either one now, start with the lighter and if you find it has it has any positive effects for you, consider grabbing a zerostat if you ever find one at a decent price.
Worst case scenario is you spend ten bucks and have something you can use as a lighter.
Cheers
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