Dealing with Static on LP palyback

@lewm 

I don’t know the answer to that question, but my hypothesis is that the tiny magnetic field present in the vicinity of the motor of any MM, MI, or MC cartridge might suck up any electrons flying around in that micro environment. One test for my idea would be to run a modified cartridge that lacks the generator parts, has only a stylus on a suspended cantilever but nothing on the other end of the cantilever

On this topic, I beg to disagree with almost everything you say except the bit I bolded above!

However, you do not need to modify any cartridge to perform your experiment - DS Audio's optical cartridges meet your requirement exactly!  There are no electromagnetic generator parts.  Moreover there is a wide choice of stylus / cantilever materials, from diamond / aluminium to a single diamond stylus / cantilever.  My diamond / aluminium one should arrive in the next month ...

@oldaudiophile To answer your questions - everything is grounded via 18g lamp cord.  I realize one doesn't need 18g wire but I got sick and tired of the tiny ground wires always breaking and the 18G fixes that problem!  All records are stored in several brands of good quality sleeves.  Over the years, good quality sleeves got better, so I have several brands of "good quality" sleeves now.  TT sits on a 2x4 Finland Birch plywood, over a thick carpet, sitting on a large heavy dresser-table. Other than the TT motor, there is nothing nearby to generate EMI or induce static.  Unfortunately, this TT is big, it covers about half of that plywood, and no dust cover is made for it.  It is on my to-do list to make one in the near future.  Some folks have had resonance problems with a dust cover, some have not.  With TT's in my past, I had dust covers but never had a problem.  I did have a serious resonance problem when I put this TT in a cabinet with a top raising lid.  It was horrible and worse with the lid down.  So, it went back on top of the cabinet.  I now have a different cabinet, which is just about as solid.

@lewm You do make a good point - I didn't think about pulling the record out of the sleeve and causing static.  I don't use paper sleeves, but I suppose the plastic lined sleeves, rice paper sleeves, and the recent Mo-Fi sleeves can cause static when sliding the record out of the sleeve.  I'll look for the Shure paper.  If that data is correct, then Mo-Fi makes a handheld tonearm brush that is conductive - I can try it and see if there is any residual static post playing.

@willy-t I will check out the mats.  I did notice that on Amazon, everyone and their flea seems to have a record mat to sell, and they all claim they reduce static in some way.  Some claims are physically impossible to reduce static, given the material they are made from, others should reduce static but have negative reviews indicating they leave lots of broken fibers behind.  One tonearm brush I purchased claims to reduce static, but is entirely non-conductive.  Another tonearm brush is conductive but unfortunately is too short and too small for the TT. 

PS:  I forgot to mention, I have an ultrasonic record cleaning machine.  All the new records are cleaned at least once and older ones are cleaned two or three times.  The records are amazing quiet until I get one with static, then it is constant background noise.  I have some ancient ones I got at a second hand store, some of those are pretty bad, but cleaned up nicely with two cleanings.  Still, they have battle damage from years of hard use.   

@spatialking 

Have you told us what turntable you have the problem with?  What is its platter made from?

Also thick carpet can charge you up as you walk on it, depending on what its fibres are made from.  Assie wool is inherently anti-static ...synthetic the opposite.

I use Nagaoka anti-static record sleeves, and an Audioquest carbon fibre brush before each play.  It has a metal cover and earths itself through the user.

We are talking about the Triboelectric effect - Wikipedia here.  Any insulator in friction contact with another insulator causes charge (electrons) to be transferred.  Vinyl is one of the worst offenders. Cat's fur, camel hair and diamond are insulators.

Machines have been built that create huge voltages using conveyor belts to transfer the charge, see Van de Graaff generator - Wikipedia.

Lightning is created by nature's own conveyor belt Lightning - Wikipedia, when ice crystals rub against water drops in thunder clouds.

The forces generated by electric charges are huge compared with gravity. 10 to the power of 36 times bigger - see Standard Model - Wikipedia That's why a few electrons on a bit of paper can overcome all the gravitational pull on the paper of all the atoms on earth.

When a record spins, air near its surface is thrown sideways by centrifugal force, so a constant supply of fresh air is drawn down.  I say fresh, but it will contain microscopic dust particles, some of which have a positive charge. 

Meanwhile the diamond stylus is busily traversing the entire record, and knocking stray elections into the vinyl.  If one attracts a charged dust mote, the mote sticks to the vinyl with incredible force but there is no net negative charge for @lewm's meter to measure.

But the next time you play the record there will be a rock stuck in the groove.  Well a 10-micron rock or bigger is enough to do the damage.  Analysis has shown that a fair proportion of dust retrieved from records contains diamond dust, probably worn by friction from styli.  If this dust has donated an electron, it even comes charged.