Graphite in tyres ?

The tires on my Auster are Goodyear (British made) and are branded as “Conducting”. The tyres on the Gemini are Dunlop Elektra. Many years ago (Too many) I was informed by one of my Mentors that static straps were no longer needed as both these types of tyres/tires were conducting, and would have dissipated any static buildup on landing. As an aside our Yak 52 has a trailing static discharge cable attached to the rh side of the nosewheel. After 57 years of refueling, jumping in and out of metal, wood, fabric and now composite a/c ,i have never been “Zapped’ except as crew in the DC8 days we were often “hit” by the doorknob on the forward lh toilet door!!!

The tires on my Auster are Goodyear (British made) and are branded as “Conducting”. The tyres on the Gemini are Dunlop Elektra. Many years ago (Too many) I was informed by one of my Mentors that static straps were no longer needed as both these types of tyres/tires were conducting, and would have dissipated any static buildup on landing. As an aside our Yak 52 has a trailing static discharge cable attached to the rh side of the nosewheel. After 57 years of refueling, jumping in and out of metal, wood, fabric and now composite a/c ,i have never been “Zapped’ except as crew in the DC8 days we were often “hit” by the doorknob on the forward lh toilet door!!!

… well what can I say; here’s me thinking that you were the expert and were head of the tyre changing pit crew at Airbase!! 😀

Have a good day tomorrow – I’ll have to look out my ‘tyre-filling paper’ that was a supplementary item to a Stopping the Rot conference many years ago! 😉

I see that my previous Accreditation topic is getting a re-run tomorrow as well!!

… well what can I say; here’s me thinking that you were the expert and were head of the tyre changing pit crew at Airbase!! 😀

Have a good day tomorrow – I’ll have to look out my ‘tyre-filling paper’ that was a supplementary item to a Stopping the Rot conference many years ago! 😉

I see that my previous Accreditation topic is getting a re-run tomorrow as well!!

Sorry TO during my apprenticeship with Dunlop I had nothing to do with tyres (ecept the little ones on maxarets and the company’s main aircraft tyre store was at the Coventry factory – spent many a lunch-break wandering through there) so fear I can add nothing to this (very learned) discussion 😮

Roger Smith.

Sorry TO during my apprenticeship with Dunlop I had nothing to do with tyres (ecept the little ones on maxarets and the company’s main aircraft tyre store was at the Coventry factory – spent many a lunch-break wandering through there) so fear I can add nothing to this (very learned) discussion 😮

Roger Smith.

TO – we have something else in common

I spent a year early in my education as a polymer processing technician – which included compounding rubber from scratch on a 2 roll mill and a Winkworth. As well as spending part of my degree in polymer science.

Later I spent three years developing high tear strength silicone rubbers including transfer to production – hence my geekiness in this area.

Hi Brian,

Yes more common ground!

Open mill compounding – a practice that I believe has now been outlawed on H & S grounds. Only ever had a few dealings with Winkworth; normal Mixing companies were Farrel; Francis Shaw; Carter Bros etc.

Just checked my archive and found my interview notes on the silane project – I’d forgotten that the chemist I interviewed was later stopped from having his comments attributed to the company – so we went with a “major international tyre compounder in the north-Midlands!”

Lots of interesting stories directly or indirectly connected to aviation from my time in this industry including: an Austrian engineer / inventor who was a child (14 year old) pilot in the Luftwaffe at the end of World War II; and a company blending products in the north-west of the UK that I believe were supplied to the USA as part of the stealth programme!! 😮

TO – we have something else in common

I spent a year early in my education as a polymer processing technician – which included compounding rubber from scratch on a 2 roll mill and a Winkworth. As well as spending part of my degree in polymer science.

Later I spent three years developing high tear strength silicone rubbers including transfer to production – hence my geekiness in this area.

Hi Brian,

Yes more common ground!

Open mill compounding – a practice that I believe has now been outlawed on H & S grounds. Only ever had a few dealings with Winkworth; normal Mixing companies were Farrel; Francis Shaw; Carter Bros etc.

Just checked my archive and found my interview notes on the silane project – I’d forgotten that the chemist I interviewed was later stopped from having his comments attributed to the company – so we went with a “major international tyre compounder in the north-Midlands!”

Lots of interesting stories directly or indirectly connected to aviation from my time in this industry including: an Austrian engineer / inventor who was a child (14 year old) pilot in the Luftwaffe at the end of World War II; and a company blending products in the north-west of the UK that I believe were supplied to the USA as part of the stealth programme!! 😮

Wouldn’t the lube in the wheel bearings further insulate the tyres?

Wouldn’t the lube in the wheel bearings further insulate the tyres?

TO – we have something else in common

I spent a year early in my education as a polymer processing technician – which included compounding rubber from scratch on a 2 roll mill and a Winkworth. As well as spending part of my degree in polymer science.

Later I spent three years developing high tear strength silicone rubbers including transfer to production – hence my geekiness in this area.

TO – we have something else in common

I spent a year early in my education as a polymer processing technician – which included compounding rubber from scratch on a 2 roll mill and a Winkworth. As well as spending part of my degree in polymer science.

Later I spent three years developing high tear strength silicone rubbers including transfer to production – hence my geekiness in this area.

Carbon Black used to be made by the combustion of creosote oil, but there are other methods used these days. It is added to rubber to protect it from the effects of UV radiation.

Carbon Black used to be made by the combustion of creosote oil, but there are other methods used these days. It is added to rubber to protect it from the effects of UV radiation.

Thanks for the replies everyone. Most illuminating.

I know how powerful static can be. Going back a few years, I had put up a
wire antenna running the length of the garden (about 100ft).
A few days later I went to connect it to an HF radio, touched the plug and got
quite a belt from it.

Thanks for the replies everyone. Most illuminating.

I know how powerful static can be. Going back a few years, I had put up a
wire antenna running the length of the garden (about 100ft).
A few days later I went to connect it to an HF radio, touched the plug and got
quite a belt from it.

It was many years ago now, but I remember on the Jetstream that there was a static discharge whip cord that fitted between the nosewheels and was supposed to be adjusted so that it trailed on the ground. This implied that the tyres were too insulating. There were also static discharge wicks on the wing trailing edges and also the ground handling instructions required an earthing wire to be connected from the refueller to the aircraft before any contact was made with the nozzle. It looked a bit like belt and braces but sparking was not something to take a chance on. I expect these things were/are standard practice.

It was many years ago now, but I remember on the Jetstream that there was a static discharge whip cord that fitted between the nosewheels and was supposed to be adjusted so that it trailed on the ground. This implied that the tyres were too insulating. There were also static discharge wicks on the wing trailing edges and also the ground handling instructions required an earthing wire to be connected from the refueller to the aircraft before any contact was made with the nozzle. It looked a bit like belt and braces but sparking was not something to take a chance on. I expect these things were/are standard practice.

In my previous incarnation in the weighing and materials handling sector, the company I worked for was a major supplier of handling equipment for the rubber compounding sector – and supplied many tyre (tire) manufacturers around the world.

I spent many ‘happy’ hours at factories around the UK and Europe; filming, photographing and writing about the company’s various installations in the rubber compounding sector. One of the last technical articles I ‘ghosted’ was for a major tyre manufacturer who was pioneering the use of silane to replace the silica in their low-energy ‘green’ (lower rolling resistance tyres for improved m.p.g.) tyres. The liquid silane presented a whole new set of issues for accurate handling in the mixing room to achieve the same effect as the silica it was being used to replace. I believe this was to help reduce some of the conductivity issues silica was introducing into road tyres – remember the various recalls in the mid-1990s for cars catching fire whilst being filled up with petrol! I’ll take my ‘old-techie’ hat off now as well! 😉

Just to bring back a bit of aviation content, the company I worked for (Chronos Richardson / BTH Chronos) was sold to Zeppelin Systems from Friedrichshafen; they used similar construction techniques derived from airship construction to make aluminium bulk storage silos to hold carbon black and silicas etc. Shame I was made redundant and never got over to Friedrichshafen! 🙁

Also back onto the original question, don’t forget that there is a good deal of metal woven into the various parts of the tyre, which also may aid the static discharge situation – albeit I’m no expert. Without the carbon black, silica, process oils and lots of other specialised chemicals with just raw rubber in a tyre all you would have is a large eraser, that would last very few miles before being worn away.

Perhaps Roger Smith might be able to add something to the discussion!

In my previous incarnation in the weighing and materials handling sector, the company I worked for was a major supplier of handling equipment for the rubber compounding sector – and supplied many tyre (tire) manufacturers around the world.

I spent many ‘happy’ hours at factories around the UK and Europe; filming, photographing and writing about the company’s various installations in the rubber compounding sector. One of the last technical articles I ‘ghosted’ was for a major tyre manufacturer who was pioneering the use of silane to replace the silica in their low-energy ‘green’ (lower rolling resistance tyres for improved m.p.g.) tyres. The liquid silane presented a whole new set of issues for accurate handling in the mixing room to achieve the same effect as the silica it was being used to replace. I believe this was to help reduce some of the conductivity issues silica was introducing into road tyres – remember the various recalls in the mid-1990s for cars catching fire whilst being filled up with petrol! I’ll take my ‘old-techie’ hat off now as well! 😉

Just to bring back a bit of aviation content, the company I worked for (Chronos Richardson / BTH Chronos) was sold to Zeppelin Systems from Friedrichshafen; they used similar construction techniques derived from airship construction to make aluminium bulk storage silos to hold carbon black and silicas etc. Shame I was made redundant and never got over to Friedrichshafen! 🙁

Also back onto the original question, don’t forget that there is a good deal of metal woven into the various parts of the tyre, which also may aid the static discharge situation – albeit I’m no expert. Without the carbon black, silica, process oils and lots of other specialised chemicals with just raw rubber in a tyre all you would have is a large eraser, that would last very few miles before being worn away.

Perhaps Roger Smith might be able to add something to the discussion!