Question Anti static turntable mat

kledson

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Its been a month or so since I purchased Hi-Fi system and I m really pleased with it. However I have noticed that the amount of static building up on my LP's is enough to glue my felt malt that came with my Project debut carbon. I have bought antistatic brushes and antistatic record sleeves but living in a house with a cat and carpet all over the place has proven to be a challenge to keep static out of the records.

I read that different mats may influence in how the system sounds, so before spend some money on it i would like to know your opinions and advices of mats available.
 
I used to have the very same problem... after some googling I found that cleaning your vinyl will remove the static.

I mixed up a simple solution of distilled water and alcohol (a very weak mix) into a spray bottle. Every new or second hand record that I get I give it a light spray and then wipe with a microfibre cloth. Which gives it a clean and removes the static at the same time - Problem solved, the records no longer stick the felt mat.

There are lots of different mats and also acrylic platters upgrades for project turntables that again would solve this problem and claim to sound better too. I'm sure someone will be along shortly with more advice on these.
 
Before trying things that increase the weight on the turntable in a belt-driven system, try a Zerostat Anti-Static Gun.

Cleaning a dirty LP is always a good idea, but it will not solve static issues caused by things like walking on carpet.
 
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Having worked to dissipate static build-up on industrial processing equipment in a past life, I can confidently state that static is an unpredictable beast - mainly due to the number of influencing factors that are difficult to control.

Prevention is better than cure so try to avoid any static build-up in the first place. Most instances in the home occur due to manual handling so try to minimize handling of vinyl and turntable. Anti-static record sleeves work to some extent, IME. Felt mats can give problems but a carbon-loaded felt mat (if such a thing exists) placed onto a conductive, earthed platter may prevent serious static build-up. Very dry, centrally heated environments aren't helpful. Get a humidity meter and aim for around 50 - 60% room relative humidity (RH) in winter on a dry day.

There's another human aspect that often plays a part too. Static charge can be passed between objects. Unfortunately, some of us appear more static-prone than others (either in building up a charge or retaining it for longer than usual) - and it isn't just down to the clothing/footwear worn, though plastic-based clothing plays a part so ditch your Primark outfits and ShoeZone footwear and go for 100% cotton attire and leather shoes/slippers.

Removing static after it has built-up is tricky. Attempting to remove static from a non-conducting material surface, like most vinyl records, by earthing alone is difficult. Whilst it may be possible to keep static down by earthing the vinyl in use, removal of an existing charge by earthing alone is unlikely to be successful. Some find a degree of success with anti-static guns or placing ionizers near the turntable or using anti-static (earthed) brushes - either swept over the record prior to playing or by using a brush sited on the turntable that sweeps the record as it plays - or spraying vinyl with a fine mist of demineralised or distilled water (but this could lead to other problems).

It's unlikely that static can be completely eradicated when using vinyl but, hopefully, reducing it to manageable levels is do-able.
 
Thanks for all the answers guys. While trying to keep the static from build up to a minimum I noticed that when I use the vinyl brush to remove the particles at the top of the vinyl in a pre play cleaning it actually increases the static specially on my heavy weight vinyls.
 

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