Grounding the PF fork will do little to relieve static. The static charge is generated as the coffee is ground and ejected from the sweeper.

Static can be neutralized by ionization or conduction. As coffee is not conductive and the grounded PF is not ionizing, the static will remain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Static_electricity

Hi,

there's no sweeper on my grinder (and yes I still get static which is generated during grinding) and having the whole case grounded does help a bit. Previously before grounding the body the coffee was going everywhere and now it's rather calm (still with the basket getting full some of the grounds simply bounce of the heap and land somewhere near the grinder). I'm very curious how the production model of the Vario will behave, but I'm afraid the plastic body might be a bit problematic.

Regards,
dsc.

Wouldn't the ceramic blades (assuming they are not conductive) aggravate the static problem as well?

cafeIKE wrote:Grounding the PF fork will do little to relieve static. The static charge is generated as the coffee is ground and ejected from the sweeper.

Static can be neutralized by ionization or conduction. As coffee is not conductive and the grounded PF is not ionizing, the static will remain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Static_electricity

Would a negative ion generator do the trick?

This is the one I looked at purchasing for testing on my grinders. Looks small enough, is 120v, and should be easy to fit it near a chute. I know some of you are saying COOL, but won't I electrocute myself? Probably, so don't mess with it for now

cafeIKE wrote:Grounding the PF fork will do little to relieve static. The static charge is generated as the coffee is ground and ejected from the sweeper.

Static can be neutralized by ionization or conduction. As coffee is not conductive and the grounded PF is not ionizing, the static will remain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Static_electricity

Ian...good stuff.
My little Solis Maestro I use for vac pot grinding has zero static. I wonder if that would be attributed to the slower rotation, as they use a conical burr set. (??)

Lockman wrote:Would a negative ion generator do the trick?

Assuming the coffee is positively charged, the field is strong enough and adequately focused on the problem area, then, theoretically, yes.

Since ion generators are not particularly expensive, and static is a constant coffee grinding problem, I expect the solution is non-trivial or it would already be implemented.

I wonder if there's an impact on the coffee flavor since removing the static via ionization could have impacts on the coffee itself.

I suppose that is all true....but I still like the idea of owning a "negative ion generator"

Can't I just wrap a couple of those "dryer sheets" around my grinder. Would smell nice too.

You could try an anti-static spray or a radioactive solution