Watches

[potterfan3]

My Step Dad thinks that your body generates electricity, that makes your watch work. He says that it absorbs the static, and makes it work.....LOL can you tell him what an idiot he is for me?

[theren_911]

There's the Seiko Kinetic Watch which runs from your body, weather it's static or just the movement which powers it, I don't know. But your step dad isn't totaly wrong. I think you owe him an apology...

[spacechimp]

I have also heard about this.

[BillyBB]

Kinetic as in movement, it has a little wieght that moves and generates electrickery. Nothing to do with static, he's a what you said.

[spacechimp]

I've certainly heard that people's magnetic fields can screw up watches.

[trevHCS]

The main problem would be that your body is good at earthing electricity, but doesn't generate enough itself to power something like a watch.

As mentioned there are kinetic watches which have been around for many, many years and those work by translating the body movement into I assume a spring which slowly unwinds. In theory you could even have a kinetic digital watch I suppose.

[Toureman]

Dad,

You are an idiot!

[Mudman]

I was told recently that before touching anything inside your computer. You've to touch the metal casing. This 'Earths' you. Important, as you can carry 300 volts of static. Enough to 'fry' the processor.

But I'm not sure if you can run a watch on 'static' electric.

Sorry Potterfan's Dad... Close, but no cigar.

[sickofmorons]

Mudman- I can vouch for this as I used to work as a computer engineer and managed to balls up �3000 pounds worth of equipment because I wasn't wearning an anti static bracelet.

[markja]

sickofmorons,since getting the sack for c*cking up �3k of it equipment what have you been doing? any chance of looking at my toaster it's been playing up?

[sickofmorons]

Yep no worries, however since then I have run a pub, been to university, been a broadcast journalist and I am now a lecturer, but I am more than happy to look at your toaster, just before I do though have you tried switching it off and on?

[mr_pointment]

potterfan3, your stepdad isn't the idiot you make him out to be,i worked at a car plant and you couldn't wear a watch on the track cos it would gain three hours in the course of a shift.i had to phone uri geller for advice.i suggest you do the same .his number is (oooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh) did you get that?

[trevHCS]

Very true Mudman - actually it'll fry quite a few chips including all those based on CMOS technology. Can't remember why those are the most sensitive, but when you hit something that expects 5 volts with 300v it tends to complain quite a bit.

300v won't actually do anything on it's own. You need a reasonable number of amps as well which can then translate into the wattage and make things move. I suspect that static amps are generally measured in miliamps which might be enough to run a tiny mechanism, but probably not.

However potterfan3 - it's an interesting theory so I'd give you dad 8/10 for ideas, but maybe 2/10 for practicality.

How stuff works explains more:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/electricity3.htm

[markja]

do i turn the toaster on and off with the fork in or out? or should i use a knife?

i've seen a lady in a cafe go to do this and i couldn't convince her that even when the plug was switched off it was still dangerous, it took an electritian (?) to persuade her to pull the plug out! i think she survived.

[sickofmorons]

Marjaka- where is your sense of evolution, the more idiots that kill themselves in alarmingly stupid ways the better as far as I'm concerned- thin out the gene pool!

[sickofmorons]

ps sorry i totally spelt your name wrong

[dzug]

Are you sure he's not having you on?

[Hamish]

I havent read all the threads but here is some stuff on watches which dont need winding/batteries(?).

1. there is a old (>100yrs) style clock wich wound itself up by using the changes in atmosopheric pressure to keep going, apparently you never needed to wind it (assuming you lived where there were lots of changed in atm press, ie UK)

2. there is the 'kinetic' watch which used the motion of the watch to wind it (see above).

3. there is the solar powered watch.....nuff said

4. there is a device called a thermoelectric generator wich uses heat insead of light to generate electricity. They are relatively expensive, but probably about as efficient as the old solar powered ones - I recon you could run a watch off the bodies heat using one, probably cost a bomb though.

There is no way you would generate enough power, volts yes power no, to run a watch and be able to look normal, touch electrical items etc. Furnther more static is staic, it doesnt move so you would only have the power generated at the watch wrist contact, not much there I think!

Hamish

[markja]

sickofmorons, don't worry about the spelling, you can call me what you want as long as you don't call me late for dinner!

with regards the gene pool mine is alarmingly thin allready! that's a dif'rent story tho' .

[mike b]

Was it Fred Flintstone who used to wear a miniature sun-dial on his wrist?