# woodland's static grass applicator



## steamloco (Jul 18, 2017)

I've watched you tube videos several times. Changed the 9 volt battery. Check the indicator light. Jiggled the ground wire. Used several different lengths of grass. The result for my NEW WOODLAND SCENICS STATIC KING has very little "lift" to the grass. Most of it lies flat on the scenery. Is there a way to safely check to see if the Static King applicator is developing a satisfactory charge......or am i doing something else wrong. Thanks.


----------



## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Touch the ground wire to the screen. Does it spark? I haven't used theirs, but I got a $30 battery powered one from MicroMark that works really well, so there is nothing inherently wrong with battery-powere ones. You really do have to move the ground wire frequently, though. Mine only covers about an 18" radius.


----------



## Bluwtr (Feb 28, 2021)

I bought (before I knew there was much cheaper) WWS applicator. Mine wouldn't do crap so I hit them up and they told mt to test it like CTValleyRR said and see if you get a spark between the grounding probe and the mesh. If you don't then the unit has an issue. Also, be sure you have the correct glue (from what I understand). Some glues do not work as well as others.

One GREAT thing about WS is that they are very customer friendly. I've had issues with carrier shipping and they have made it right very quickly. They are a US based company and from what I've been able to tell they tray and make as much stuff here in the US as they can. That means a LOT to me personally.


----------



## scenicsRme (Aug 19, 2020)

Check the battery with a volt meter. Even tho new, not much uses a 9V battery these days, so the stock at the store may be quite old. Years ago when they were common, and VOMs weren't, we would test a battery by touching the contacts to our tongue. a good battery would tingle, and a dead one nothing. I can't endorse that way of testing today, but it did work.


----------



## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

ones made with a flyswatter and a nine volt battery are fairly low in output, but they do work, just on smaller areas at a time ..
ones made with a commercial ion generator and a wall wart powered supply generally do much better
i have three homemade ones, no fancy store bought ones, lol


----------



## steamloco (Jul 18, 2017)

Thanks all...for the replies. So far no luck. And, just for the heck of it....the WOODLAND KING do not have a wire grid. It is plastic. There is no spark when i gave that a try. Thanks for the suggestion. Do you think something might be wrong?


----------



## Severn (May 13, 2016)

I have a peco labelled one that others appear to sell also under their own label. It looks something like a flashlight. It goes unused but I plan to use it soon. Anyway I never even thought about the power supply. This one uses the 9v battery also. I've only seen demonstrations or reviews on vids and it seemed to be liked. I think you are right though maybe 6" to 8" diameter sections. Good for spots not fields.

I wonder if you stuck a 12 v hobby battery on it if the internal parts would handle it... I mean let's face it these things are cheap pieces of plastic made you know where probably. If you took it apart all the way there's probably $5 of parts maybe $10.


----------



## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

steamloco said:


> Thanks all...for the replies. So far no luck. And, just for the heck of it....the WOODLAND KING do not have a wire grid. It is plastic. There is no spark when i gave that a try. Thanks for the suggestion. Do you think something might be wrong?


Yes... with the design. There has to be some conductive part of the applicator to impart a charge to the grass particles. It works just like lightning does: a negative charge on the applicator is attracted to a positive charge on the ground. The grass particles get aligned to the electric flow and stand on end.

Perhaps the inside of the basket or something is metal?


----------



## prrfan (Dec 19, 2014)

steam loco: When I checked Woodland Scenics Static King it showed a model that was powered by either battery or with a Field System Power Supply. This appeared to be a wall wart. 
Is yours the same or strictly battery? The price was $100 and for that I’m hoping they included the power supply. 
I suspect you have a model that’s solely battery powered. That power supply is sold separately if your unit can accommodate it.


----------



## steamloco (Jul 18, 2017)

Hi prrfan. My STATIC KING can also be powered by Power Supply. I think that is how all WOODLAND STATIC KINGs are made. ( I don't have that at the present time..and probably will not if things don't improve.) I have tried several new 9V batteries but this did not improve performance. Great R.R. btw!


----------



## Bluwtr (Feb 28, 2021)

scenicsRme said:


> Check the battery with a volt meter. Even tho new, not much uses a 9V battery these days, so the stock at the store may be quite old. Years ago when they were common, and VOMs weren't, we would test a battery by touching the contacts to our tongue. a good battery would tingle, and a dead one nothing. I can't endorse that way of testing today, but it did work.


LOL!!! I thought we just did that for fun and to see how tough we were!


----------



## steamloco (Jul 18, 2017)

It seems that most of the major brand batteries now come with an expiration date of sorts. The copper top that i am trying has a date or March 2025. So it probably has not been setting around too long. But your right it is still a guess.


----------



## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Batteries have been marked with an expiration date for years now.

So looking at the pictures of the device, it appears that the brass "crown" up inside the hopper is what is supposed to supply the charge... I suspect that because it is at the back end of the hopper, you would need to have the device pretty close to the layout surface for it to work. I need to hold mine -- with a metal screen, about 4-6" above the layout. Depending on how big that basket is, the Static King might need to be almost touching to work properly.

Otherwise, at the risk of throwing good money after bad, you might try getting the AC adapter and see if that helps.


----------



## steamloco (Jul 18, 2017)

sounds right CTV. Thanks for you insights.


----------

