[Rhodes22-list] question about electricity

[Michael D. Weisner]

Jb,

"Almost raining" - like thunderstorm activity?  The intense winds of a 
T-storm rip electrons from one cloud to another (above the rain), building 
up quite a charge differential.  The fact that it stopped once the rain hit, 
indicates a similar activity.  If you still accumulated "charge" during the 
rain, I would have looked for a different source.

"My wife couldn't help but notice the 2 other ladies out in the rain 
stuffing there (sic) sails into their bags." - Ain't it just a wonderful 
thing to watch?

Mike
s/v Shanghai'd Summer ('81)
Nissequogue River, NY


From: "Just bent" <j.bulfer at jbtek.com> Sent: Monday, November 10, 2008 2:15 
PM
>
> Mike wrote:
>
> As far as static electricity accumulating on the hull goes, it is probably
> due to the lack of humidity.
>
> It was almost raining at the time.
> We were at the dock just before the storm hit. Once it started raining, it
> stopped.
> The last pic shows my Rhodes with 3 other boats when the incident occured.
> My wife couldn't help but notice the 2 other ladies out in the rain 
> stuffing
> there sails into their bags.
> She just laughed & said ..." sure glad we don't have to do that"
> Jb
>
>
>
>
> R22MikeW wrote:
>>
>> Jb,
>>
>> The first pic is just fabulous!  For an northeast boater, the
>> foothills/mountains show that it is not like any water that we sail in
>> here
>> on the LI Sound.  Beautiful - and the water still feels wet and you can
>> sail
>> on the stuff?  Here, boats are hauled and wrapped, the leaves have nearly
>> all fallen (we did have one of the prettiest autumns in years) ...  Now 
>> if
>> only we could sail on snow!
>>
>> As far as static electricity accumulating on the hull goes, it is 
>> probably
>> due to the lack of humidity.  Just as it occurs on airplanes, the winds
>> redistribute electrons, causing a charge to build up on the insulated
>> (fiberglass) hull.  The simplest way to remedy this is to provide a
>> leakage
>> path to the water.  All conductive metal objects (motor housing, rails,
>> mast, rigging, etc.) should be connected together via a small wire (no
>> real
>> current is involved) and terminated at a fixture that is exposed to the
>> water.  Care should be taken to make connection to the water away from
>> gasoline vapors (not at the motor or mount) and using a "sacrificial
>> anode",
>> something that you would not miss, as it may be consumed by galvanic
>> corrosion in the process of transferring the charge.  See
>> http://www.boatus.com/boattech/casey/23.htm
>>
>> The creation of static electricity in this manner has been a real problem
>> in
>> biking (bicycles) due to the use of nylon suits and composite helmets.
>> Some
>> people have had good results using antistatic preparations such as fabric
>> softeners to solve the problem.  While treating the hull with wax
>> increases
>> the static generation ability, applying fabric softener solutions may
>> reduce
>> the generated potential, although the combination may cause an unsafe,
>> very
>> slippery surface.
>>
>> You need to find a way to harness the potential energy that you have
>> created
>> rather than just discharge it.  How about a static electricity motor - I
>> think that John Galt knew something about this ...
>>
>> Mike
>> s/v Shanghai'd Summer ('81)
>> Nissequogue River, NY
>>
>> From: "Just bent" <j.bulfer at jbtek.com> Sent: Monday, November 10, 2008
>> 10:56
>> AM
>>>
>>> Went sailing yesterday in somewhat stormy weather. Had a great day. When
>>> we
>>> got back to the dock, when you touch the boat, you would get shocked. I
>>> unhooked the battery & still got shocked. Was it static electricity from
>>> the
>>> storm?
>>> Jb
>>>
>>> Jb http://www.nabble.com/file/p20422568/DSC01925.jpeg
>>> http://www.nabble.com/file/p20422568/DSC01927.jpeg
>>> http://www.nabble.com/file/p20422568/DSC01930.jpeg
>>> http://www.nabble.com/file/p20422568/DSC01931.jpeg
>>> -- 
>>> View this message in context:
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>>>
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