[mds33200]

Hi I was watching a tv show called "ultimate factories". It basically gives you a toar of the factories it features. I like watching it because it gives me ideas on ways to improve different things that I do.

I recently saw one which featured the BMW factory. It was showing how before they paint the cars, they have an automatic machine (like a giant tumbler which spins in circles) and its got thousands of ostridge feathers on it, and its purpose is to remove any dust from the surface. They use ostridge feathers because the feathers have a slightly positive charge to them.

I work in a cell phone repair company (owne / opperate), and one of the most dificult things is getting the lens on the phone without getting dust trapped between the LCD and lens. So I figured I would give it a try. I couldnt locate any ostridge feathers but I located an ostridge feather duster (composed of ostridge feathers). It said the feathers are natural so hopefully they were not processed with any chemicals, but it was only a few bucks so worse case if they dont work I can do a more in depth search for fresh feathers.

But I was thinking that they must for sure loose the charge over time- infact depending how they were processed, they may loose the charge douring the processing stage.

So is there any way I can "charge" them back up?

[nj_bartel]

The feathers, afaik, don't have any inherent charge.  It's when they rub across certain surfaces that they transfer electrons to that surface and lose negative charge (pick up a positive charge).

[mds33200]

Ohh I see.

They work pretty good. I purchased a feather duster (with ostridge feathers) and took it apart- since LCD's are so small, using a single feather seems to effectively lift the dust in some situations where we had problems before.

Thanks for your followup msg!