FS639 Static King, Black

I have been using a battery power static grass applicator with mixed results. Beside not have enough power to really do what it's supposed to, it is very easy to get shocked, especially if you don't ground it when done. Believe me, even though it's only 9V, the amperage is high enough to make it very unpleasant to get shocked. I had read that the Woodland Scenics Static King is pretty much the "go to" one to get. I elected to also purchase the power supply transformer instead of relying on battery power. The static king includes fine and coarse screens, as well as a removable divider and combo fine/coarse screen to apply 2 sizes of grass simultaneously. It also included some pretty nice instructions that even have color pictures in addition to diagrams and written instructions. In use, it does take some practice so I recommend trying it out on some scrap material to develop a technique. For most of my areas that I am applying the grass, I utilize a small stiff brass rod instead of the large 4 prong grounding piece. The hopper is large and the unit self-discharges when done so very low risk of getting shocked. One observation I've had in use is to use Woodland Scenics grass. Other brands of grass don't seem to work as well, at least not for me. I also use Mod Podge for the adhesive instead of the Woodland Scenics adhesive, which like most of their other products, are horribly overpriced. Still, this is a high quality item and works quite well.

If you're experiencing issues with this product, make sure to use a proper AC converter. It worked perfectly for me after using the correct power source.

There are several complaints about the applicator not coming with a power supply, but it's also capable of being powered by 9v batteries. My battery door wouldn’t close over a 9v battery but the dimensions of those can vary quite a bit. That said, it does work substantially better with a power supply. Much like the cranking amps of a car battery or the power of a vacuum cleaner, bigger is better (230mA from a power adapter vs 50mA from a 9v battery), so that should be no surprise. But, before you run out and pay $25 for the Woodland Scenics power supply, adapters from most consumer electronics have standard-sized barrel connectors. I checked my junk drawer and immediately found one from an old networking hub within spec with the right plug. If you have an old adapter that's 12 volts and puts out at least 230mA (the specs are on a small label or molded into the housing), you might already be good to go. The one caveat, and the reason I dinged this by a star, is that it requires an unusual “center negative” adapter and doesn’t mention it anywhere (see the tiny diagram in the picture). Most power supplies are "center positive". That just means the polarity is reversed and you have to snip the barrel plug off, swap the internal wires, and solder them in reverse. Without that fix, the applicator doesn’t turn on. It seems like a shady way to get people to buy the branded adapter. As for the complaints about being tethered by the alligator clip, they're clearly from people who don't understand the physics involved in causing the grass to stand up. Without that alligator clip, you might as well just sprinkle the grass with your fingers.

Used for the first time after seeing it in hobby stores or more exact seeing grass bags. It was really easy to use. Just grab your vacuum and use paper towel and float over after to pick up excess and drop in the container again. It made nice realistic upright simulated grass..yeah pricey but worth as it's the better rated of all others.

The 9 volt battery function is totally inadequate! When using the power cord it is not much better in terms of the percentage of grass that will actually stand up. The SMALL percentage of grass that hits the glue in a vertical position is easily weighted down by the load of grass that is not statically charged. When you remove the grass that is not glued you have a thatch look at best. Not a patch of standing grass.

Good, solid static grass applicator. There are more expensive models out there which I'm sure can perform better, but this represents for me a nice middle-high quality option that is safer and better than the cheap options, but still doesn't feel like an excessive luxury spend. Comfortable to use and lays down grass nicely.

You should probably buy the extra power supplies, I did. It worked great but you do need to buy special glue and grass for it.

Let me first start off by stating that I've had this since mid 2020 and it's an OK static grass applicator but just OK nothing more. While it works sorta standing the grass straight up on over half the applications I've done it hasn't stood them up very well maybe somewhat. What really has me pretty much disappointed is the static ground cable that plugs into the unit. It just plugs into a hole on the side with a banana type plug and there's a long rod attached to the plug and then the cable which then terminates into the gator clip. The issue is while your sitting there shaking the thing to get the grass to come out, out pops the ground cable because all that's holding it in is remember...the banana plug. So your constantly having to plug it back in taking your focus off applying your grass because your under a time constraint to get the grass laid before the glue decides to film over preventing the grass from penetrating the glue and if it doesn't penetrate the glue then it lays flat which is not what we want to happen. If Woodland Scenics had used some other type of plug and shortened the long solid part connected to the plug then maybe it wouldn't fall out so much. I'm now at my wits end with it and going to buy a different brand most likely the WWS Pro Micro Grass Applicator and Detailer Applicator. In a YT video it was run head to head against other grass applicators, the Static King being one of them and it did better. The only reason I didn't go for the WWS products over the Static King the first time around is because I have Prime and the WWS products don't have Prime attached to them and the Static King does. On the WWS Pro Micro and Detailer applicators the ground cable is attached internally and there's no worry of it falling out. I've included a pic and circled the problem with the Static King that is the problem with it and set the story straight about it. If you feel like always having to plug the ground cable back in after it falls out allowing your glue to film over then by all means get the Static Kink but if you want a trouble free static grass applicator then you might consider one from WWS as they seem to be more specialized in this area of interest. You do the math and let the facts speak for themselves...