Comments on: #414 - Charged

By: Colin

Colin — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:38:05 +0000

i hate ESD it can be painful at times

By: BDan

BDan — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:34:36 +0000

At a party in college, a few of us were playing keep-it-up with a balloon. We weren’t really trying to charge it up, but the conditions were pretty good, so it built up a good charge (especially from people hitting it off their heads, I think). Eventually it hit the ceiling and just stayed there, so we decided that we had won the game, and gravity had lost.

By: Shawna

Shawna — Sat, 24 May 2008 17:48:36 +0000

The dorm I stayed in my freshman year of college was like a nexus for static electricty. It was a combination of the fact the air there was really dry, we had those cheap thin carpets it was almost impossible NOT to drag your foot across, and, of course, stainless steel doorknobs, or that’s what the ones for all the downstairs lounges looked like.

I was used to sometimes grabbing the doorknob and ending up with a nice blue-white inch-long spark (and enough of a jolt to swear), but at some point in the early winter, the static must have built up and built up in me and the surrounding area.

My friends and I saw it was time for our two hour block of afternoon TV (Animaniacs-Power Rangers-Jeopardy, and then it was time to get dinner). I ended up being the person who got to the door of the TV lounge first. I reached out my hand, grabbed the doorknob–and fell to my knees unable to breathe.

There was no spark (my friends would have seen it), but my heart literally skipped a beat (which it had never done before, and scared the crap out of me), and I felt like someone had knocked the wind out of me. It felt like it took 10 seconds before I could get a breath, and of course my heart started to pound. My friends and I freaked. I think you could have brought a flatlined coronary patient back to life with that shock.

A few years ago, when I went back to school, my instructor had told all of us NOT to use his pens without asking first, as people kept walking off with them and leaving him with one or none. I had to fill something out in a hurry, and I was right near his desk, so I reached over to the lovely, metallic pen set with a nice holder, grabbed a pen, went to click the top to give me the point…and shrieked as a really strong shock hit me. Yes, it was rigged to do that. My teacher cracked up, and once I stopped cold-sweating, I did too.

I then spent the rest of class trying to get as many people to try and click the pen. It somehow made me feel better when other people did it and started cussing. Misery loves company and all…

By: Ben

Ben — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 14:10:04 +0000

I once spent a night in a water bed with earth leakage problems, a set of satin sheets, satin boxers and my gf.
There were sparks.

By: emthegreat

emthegreat — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 03:24:14 +0000

I have a LOT of hair, and I got this big poofy coat. whenever i take off or put on that coat, it builds up a lot of static. i can sneak up on someone and zap them. I love to sneak up on my friend tara and shock her on the back of her neck. its hilarious.

By: Fred

Fred — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 11:37:39 +0000

I used to have some pretty shocks in my bedroom, but it wasn’t static, it was the equipment lying around (hc11 microcomputer, power source to name a few). Now I installed a hi-tech ground connection (cable to the gas supply tube. leak+spark=not good, but not probable to happen) and can feel at ease moving equipment around between the mess =)

It helped with static also.

By: Trevor

Trevor — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 05:18:57 +0000

Also, when I was really young and dumb, I bite the prongs on plugs all the time, and never got anything.

By: Edge-Of-Oblivion

Edge-Of-Oblivion — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 05:18:32 +0000

Aaaaah Static electricity, everyone’s most/least favorite natural weapon

Plenty of stories involving it, although I’m thankful to say I’ve never damaged a game system/computer with it…. Probably the best was the time I was apparently full of static and reached down to pet the dog, poor thing, she jumped and did a complete cartwheel in the air then proceeded to flee yelping into the kitchen. My mom’s yelling, “What’s wrong Meggie, what’s wrong?” and the dog’s just whining and running in circles. I wish I’d taped it, it’d be right up there with another incident (no static involved) that I would’ve loved to have sent to AMV or something like that.

By: snakpak

snakpak — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 03:52:32 +0000

I was in Vegas once at the Circus Circus. apparently it was REALLY dry that weekend, because every single time I opened a door, touched a table, or came into contact with any other metal, I’d get a whopper of a shock. At one point I touched the handle of the door adjoining our two rooms, and I saw a spark jump from the latch to the doorjam. it was painful

By: pieman

pieman — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 22:33:59 +0000

i go to a basketball club, and one time i was really static, so i went around prodding people, and they kept getting annoyed from it.

it was really fun until i got told off.