A low-wattage incandescent lamp placed under the Van de Graaf generator
overnight is one of the tricks I learned in a much earlier life as
lecture demonstration support. Placing smaller electrostatics demo
items overnight in a ventilated box with an incandescent lamp got them
dry enough to work in virtually any humidity.
In a pinch, I dismantle the Van de Graaf and wipe it down with ethanol
to dry surfaces - particularly the column and the belt.
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"A mathematician is a machine for turning coffee into
theorems." -- Paul Erdos
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Dr. George Spagna
Chair, Physics Department
Randolph-Macon College
P.O. Box 5005
Ashland, VA 23005-5505