Static Electricity Buildup?

[Mntnbkr]

Greetings to all - a good website with great info. I've been monitoring since last fall - we (wife and I) finally bought our 5 in November 2006 and I am now getting around to registering. It is primarily my wife's vehicle, but I'm the car guru/geek so it's my job to figure out the quirks of the 5. In addition to all the other relevant topics I will chime in on down the road, let me start with a new thread...

Does anyone else experience what seems to be an excess of static electricity now that it's winter? We have the OEM Toyo tires and almost everytime I get out of the car I get the crap shocked out of me - to the point that I try to take it through my jacket sleeve from the driver door frame to buffer the pain. An exposed finger to the frame - it will jump a good 1/2 - 1" and would probably be visible in the dark!! I am always very cautious to ground myself/the car (away from the tank) before fueling... It is cold and dry this winter, but seriously.

My other car is a 2001 VW Jetta and I do not have any static issues in the same conditions, so it is definitely unique to the 5. Yokohame Avid tires.

Anyone else have this issue? Does it have anything to do with battery grounding cable gauge that someone was writing about a while back? Is this the car or the tires or?

Thanks in advance - I'm hoping to minimize the physical pain to driving/getting out. Maybe this is Mazda's way of keeping you in the car...
ZOOM ZOOM - OR ELSE!!!!!

 

[gone_fishin]

It used to happen to me in my protege on a regular basis. It went away after a few months, but I still find myself tapping the outside of the pillar after I get out but before I reach for the door to close it. Just be patient, it will go away. Try tapping the pillar with your hand before touching the door-- the light impact lessens how much you feel the zap. Static electricity is non-existant on humid and damp days, whereas it's killer on extremely dry days. Also, remember to use dryer sheets. And if you have cloth seats, you can take a dryer sheet and rub it over the seat surface.

 

[Mntnbkr]

Thanks gone fishin. Some good info. I also found through a search, advice to ground yourself to the door frame/maintain contact before stepping out onto the ground.

So, safe to assume this is a cause of the upholstery, or my sneaking suspicion, the Toyo tires? I'm new to this brand, and wondering how they will perform, handle in snow/rain, age, etc. So far I am pretty unimpressed - they seems prone to breaking free in dry conditions, so I am really hesitant to test them or count on them in rain or snow. Any experience or feedback on the Toyos is appreciated.

 

[gone_fishin]

I think it's more to do with your upholstery than your tires. However, with regard to the tires, I've haven't had any experience with toyos. But, I've heard nothing but bad things about them-- pretty much reiterations of what you've just said. I personally have bridgestone potenza Z rated tires on my protege and I love them.

 

[paging_drburgos]

yeah, my 5 zaps me quite often. in fact i've made it a habit to reach for the pillar so that it zaps my palm rather than one finger. My car zaps me more often than not. i think it's the uphostery.

 

[Skoozul]

My P5 does this. It's funny as hell to watch someone who's not used to the shock grab the door first. brings a little amusement to an annoying problem.

 

[gimpo2]

if you have a passenger/s in the car let the passenger/s get out so they take the shock for you. if not i keep my key halfway in the ignition and keep my finger on the metal part and then put my foot on ground.

 

[gone_fishin]

if you have a passenger/s in the car let the passenger/s get out so they take the shock for you.

(rlaugh)

 

[winty87]

my 96 T-bird did this to me in the winter everyday I got out and I tried every possible solution to not getting shocked, yeah I used to have the nice blue half inch shock. The T-bird had cloth seats so I'm sure thats your main contributer, My MP3 has cloth seats but is has never shocked me. Could be the different material of cloth as well.

 

[gone_fishin]

Dryer sheets will solve the problem. Take a dryer sheet and rub it over the entire surface of the cloth (one for each seat). It will do the trick, and smell nice.

 

[ptaylor2112]

Thanks for the suggestions. (Btw, I too have a 2001 shockless Jetta.)

 

[raspykart]

I have this problem in my Saturn with cloth, but not my Tundra with leather... I'll keep ya posted on our MZ5GT with leather. I suspect seats are the problem or at least amplify it. We live in dry country so if its gonna happen, it should happen to us. In Italy I noticed people actually have ground straps dangling from their subframes and dragging on the ground (omg)

 

[X10James]

anytime you rub 2 insulating materials together, like your clothes and the car seat, in a dry enough atmosphere the charge will build up. Getting out of the car this time of year gets me a little zap on the door frame as I get out. But it's no big deal and it certainly isn't a problem. You could discharge before you pump gas though, there is video around of what can happen if you get back into your car and dont zap yourself before you reach for the handle...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAaRk8vNLzo

Otherwise it's really a non-issue. I've never heard of the dryer sheet trick. I'll experiment with that, but you can buy a can of "static guard" which works great.

I"m not aware of any "grounding" tires. I think they are all an insulator If you have built up enough charge to ground around the tires then I think it's more likely that you have been struck by lightening rather than just rubbing on the seat cushions Unless the tires are specifically made with wire contacting the road and the rim they wont make any difference, and I dont think that any are made that way.

 

[raspykart]

I have not had any problems yet with the leather on the MZ5GT.

 

[MFive]

I saw this post a few weeks ago and laughed. Now that I've had a Mazda5 for a couple weeks, I can say I experience this on occasion! I leaned over to kiss my wife and got a shocker!!!

 

[Zoom5Zoom]

I saw this post a few weeks ago and laughed. Now that I've had a Mazda5 for a couple weeks, I can say I experience this on occasion! I leaned over to kiss my wife and got a shocker!!!

Was it really your wife....LOL LOL LOL....(enguard)

 

[bulwnkl]

There are two things at work here. One is the static charge which builds up from driving. That discharges through the tires to ground, but tires with higher silica content don't discharge as rapidly. Coincidentally, silica content seems to increase with higher-mpg (i.e. 'hard' and/or 'noisy') tires.

The other thing that's going on is the static charge that builds up when you pivot/slide/move on the seat to get out. This is what I think most are experiencing here. This will also discharge through the tires and your shoes (if you put them on the ground before touching the metal of the door) if you wait long enough. However, even when you just stand up it'll still build some up. If you have a water softener, that will reduce the issue, as will using fabric softener in your laundry, and also rubbing the softener sheet on the seat or the Static Guard spray that were mentioned.

This rarely happens with leather because it doesn't particularly build a charge when rubbed against fabric.

Holding onto the plain metal door before and during[/b] the time you're pivoting and getting out will minimize or even completely eliminate the issue. Moving to Baton Rouge or Houston or some other constantly-completely-humid environment will also help.