I've been working on building a static grass applicator out of a bug zapper. I think I've done something wrong on the wiring.

When I took the zapper apart, there were three wires: two white, one red. According to the online tutorials , the white goes to the sieve and the red to a clip to attach to the nail in the base. But the tutorials only reference two wires. What do I do with the extra white wire??

Thanks!

What did the extra wire run to?

Jake,

Cut the other white off.

Cheers,
Joe

Joe, do you think that's causing the lack of static?

Hi Jake,

The 2 white wire were connected to the grid at 2 different
points.....these are how they are made.

You only need 1 of the white wires.

These units usually generate only 1500k of static enough
to work with most lengths of static grass 2-6 mm but
I have noticed that some are stronger and some are weaker
but in the end ....still work.

Try building a couple and keep the best one.
Cheers,
Joe

Thanks!

Two other questions

1. What wire goes to strainer and which goes to the groundwork nail? Does it matter? I assume it does, but the online tutorials don't seem to have any consistency.

2. What kind of nail is best to use, or does it matter?

Any kind of a steel nail will do. Just don't use a long nail. If you accidently touch the nail with the metal mesh of the strainer, you will surely know!

Hi Jake,

Look at your circuit and with the actuating button on the left side, the top left wire should go to the strainer and the wire on the right side should be your ground. Add an insulated alligator clip so that you may attach to a nail, screw or even a T pin on the base with the glue.

Charge the unit by momentarily holding the button down.
To test the unit, hold the insulated part of the alligator clip and rub it across the grip.
At this point you should hear a loud snap and see a spark.

This tells you that the unit was charged statically.

Also use this method to discharge the unit before storage.

A NOTE OF CAUTION: NEVER TOUCH THE METAL GRID AND THE METAL
PART OF THE CLIP SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH YOUR HANDS...
YOU WILL GET QUITE A JOLT!

Hope this helps,
Cheers,
Joe

OK, so here's the update...

I took Joe's advice and went to pick up another one of these zappers when I was at the drug store picking some other stuff up. This one seems better constructed and much stronger.

I've got everything wired and converted. I can see that the strainer "stands up" loose static grass sitting on my bench and if I touch the strainer to the nail, it pops. Looks like we're all good.

Here's the problem though... When I use this new tool, the resulting grass seems great. But when I tested me just pinching a bit of the grass and rolling between my fingers to sprinkle it manually, the results looked largely the same. (I'm using Woodland Scenics Static Grass Flock 1-3mm)

Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks!

Hi Jake,
Glad to hear the unit is generating static.

Some tips on using it for best results:

The dryer the climate the better the static not so efficient in humid climate but still works.

Thin the glue 75% glue 25% water...this works best.

After you have applied the grass, some will stand and
some will topple over, activate the unit and pass over
the toppled grass...this will let those strands stand up.

Strainer to grass distance about 1/2 to 3/4" when doing your
pass....and don't let the strainer touch the wet surface.

This all works very well with my units so it should for
you too.

Cheers,
Joe

As far as Static charge , some of thses zappers are 3 volt and some are 9 volt..get the 9 volt one if you can. The 3V work fine, but the 9V are a little better.