Anti-static shielding for cables

[Nuclear Krusader]

Howdy,

I was wondering if there's something I can use to shield speaker cables from static. Winter's coming (thankfully) and this place gets very dry, and even with the humidifier you still get zapped every now and then. I read somewhere of a bloke who fried his speaker system's amp by touching/stepping on the cables in a dry and static environment and I wouldn't like that to happen.

Any ideas?

TIA

[Kasturi]

It probably wouldnt look that great, but couldnt you wrap electrical tape around them?

[Nuclear Krusader]

Ya, it wouldn't look very nice. I'll jot that down as an option, provided there aren't any others.

Thanks for the fast reply.

[HAL9000]

No ideas Nuke... but I've lived here all my life and dealt with plenty of dry air and never had an issue taking out speakers or any other kind of electronic equipment... sure is fun holding out my finger for the cat to sniff though.

And what do you mean by winter is coming (thankfully)... it hasn't been that hot out.

[glc]

Hal, you know he should really be living in Alert........

[Stuey]

Huh?

What kind of cables are these? What it sounds like is that you build up charge in your body when walking around, and then discharge into the cables. Some cables have inner conductive shielding to protect against EMI, but I've seen cheapo cables that had a lead-based conductive jacket cladding. Instead of insulating your cables, dicharge yourself before you get near them maybe?

If for whatever reason the cables themselves are what's picking up charge that discharges through you, wrap them in a alum foil maybe?

Or you can get spiral wrap or split-loom wrap. Or you can get modding sleeving.

[HAL9000]

Originally Posted by glc Hal, you know he should really be living in Alert........

Nah.. we've had winters that are actually colder than Alert. We have had some rather warm winters the past few years... only one cold spell last year and it was more wind than anything... that one snuck up on me and knocked me flat with pneumonia

[Nuclear Krusader]

They're just the thin and flimsy-looking speaker cables. Usually it wouldn't be much of a problem, but the rear satellites will have to be constantly moved in place and out of the way, their cables lying on the carpet in my way and I'll step on them more than once. I normally don't walk around barefooted or just wearing socks, I use either slippers or sandals in the appartment. I was just wondering if I could get some sort of sleeving for them. I was taking a gander at cableorganizer.com but they have so much stuff that I don't know what should I be getting.

[bailey]

maybe some ideas to help prevent the static build up would be easier to do.

like some anti-static spray on the carpets or some foil under the carpets and grounded to help prevent it.

sometimes its better to cure the cause than to try to miminize the effects.

[Nuclear Krusader]

You've a good point, Bailey. Thanks, I'll buy some spray then. I can't lift the carpets to ground them. Wonder if I can slide some foil somehow...

[Stuey]

Originally Posted by bailey sometimes its better to cure the cause than to try to miminize the effects.

Amen!

[TwoRails]

NK, I think that belongs in the same category as the Australian self-washing car... I wouldn't (and don't) worry about it.

[David M]

http://cableorganizer.com/convoshiel...FSbtYAodPkxZ2w

Or perhaps you could try plain old armored cable (BX cable) and ground the shielding? You will have to ground the sheathing so it becomes the path of least resistance. You can buy armored cable at any good home store like Home Depot or Lowes. The downside is that it is ugly and bulky.

Whatever you end up using, try to get twisted wire which reduces inductance. I have made twisted wire by putting one end in a drill motor which makes it real easy.

You could also buy metal sheathing and slip it over the wire yourself. Such as this: http://www.baycable.com/html/braid.html and this: http://www.paragonperformance.com/Techflex.html Again, you will need to ground the sheathing which literally means wiring the sheathing to a copper rod pounded into the ground. I would avoid using the same grounding rod used to ground the houses electrical system because if the house ground is not perfect there could be some potential across the rod and earth. You also want there to be as little resistance as possible between the static charge and ground.

[backithink]

i dont think you have to worry about blowing out your speakers with static electricity doesnt matter how cheap the speaker wire is or how big of a charge your socks build up a charge that small wont blow up your speakers, plus with the coating no matter how thin a static charge will disapate trying to get through it, and if it does some how make it through it wont pass through a foot of your wire, i think you are safe, if you are that worried tho you could always just invest in a little better speaker cable, you will hear a difference between your out of the box cable and something a little better like acoustic research or even monster, but back to your concern, well there is no concern. you are just fine

[David M]

Nuclears concern was about static electricity taking out the amplifier and not the speakers. Modern amplifiers are loaded with all kinds of chips. Anti-static bags are placed on all kinds of computer parts that have chips that are shipped.

Why is it that static electricity could take out the chips on a motherboard or a graphics card but not the chips inside an amplifier? I have never hear of it happening...but what would prevent such a thing from happening?

Although unlikely, I think it is a legitimate concern.

[bailey]

because the amp is already at the ground potential when it is plugged in by way of the ground in the power cord, also on the speaker wires , of the two wires one of them is usually ground all the time it is connected to the amp.

parts in a shipping anti-static bag is already at the ground potential from the factory, and when you remove them from the package, yourself may have a static charge that could destroy the contents of the package when the static charge equalizes to the parts of the package.

[figarowa]

why don't you carpet fish the wiring so it is out of the way, that is what i did when I lived in my apartment.