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Now that is a Strong Magnetic Attraction!

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  1. #1
    recyclersteve started this thread.
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    Now that is a Strong Magnetic Attraction!

    I was out scrapping last Saturday night (Curb Co. stuff). I was driving my usual vehicle, a late model SUV. It has one of those lift gates in the rear that you can open and close with the remote.

    Midway through scrapping I noticed that I could close the lift gate, but could not open it without using my hands. I immediately checked to see if there was something caught in the latching mechanism and initially thought it would be a piece of wire. Nope.

    So I moved everything about 6 inches or so away from the latching mechanism and still found the same thing occurring. I could close it just fine, but it was difficult to open- impossible with the remote.

    Well, here is what happened. At one house a contractor left boxes of nails and staples (all magnetic) by the curb with a sign that said "Free Free Free". Of course I loaded them into the back of my car. I figure that there were approximately 50,000 pieces that I loaded and that they weighed 150-200# all told.

    When I removed them from the car, the hatchback worked just fine. So by process of elimination, it was the magnetic attraction of that many staples and nails that made it so difficult to open up the back of my car. Not a perfect example, but imagine a magnet weighing 150-200# and the force that it would exert...

    Anyone think these would be good garage sale items?


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    Snowman18's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by recyclersteve View Post
    I was out scrapping last Saturday night (Curb Co. stuff). I was driving my usual vehicle, a late model SUV. It has one of those lift gates in the rear that you can open and close with the remote.

    Midway through scrapping I noticed that I could close the lift gate, but could not open it without using my hands. I immediately checked to see if there was something caught in the latching mechanism and initially thought it would be a piece of wire. Nope.

    So I moved everything about 6 inches or so away from the latching mechanism and still found the same thing occurring. I could close it just fine, but it was difficult to open- impossible with the remote.

    Well, here is what happened. At one house a contractor left boxes of nails and staples (all magnetic) by the curb with a sign that said "Free Free Free". Of course I loaded them into the back of my car. I figure that there were approximately 50,000 pieces that I loaded and that they weighed 150-200# all told.

    When I removed them from the car, the hatchback worked just fine. So by process of elimination, it was the magnetic attraction of that many staples and nails that made it so difficult to open up the back of my car. Not a perfect example, but imagine a magnet weighing 150-200# and the force that it would exert...

    Anyone think these would be good garage sale items?
    I think your telling a fib, those nails in the box would have been standing in an upright position which means had they been magnetic thier north and south poles would be at opposite ends.

    Staples shaped in a U shape would have similar characteristics to a horseshoe magnet. A horseshoe magnet requires a piece of iron be placed across the poles when not in use to preserve the magnetism .This is called a keeper.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnet_keeper

    You have an interesting imagination, just have to be a bit more creative in your stories.


  3. #3
    recyclersteve started this thread.
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    What I said was ABSOLUTELY TRUE! The back of my car was loaded with more than just staples and nails- there was other Curb Co. stuff in there. So perhaps something else in the car was causing the issue. But everything else was further away from the latching mechanism, so I figured it was the staples and nails. If if makes any difference, it was almost all staples. I think there was likely only one box of nails, but I haven't had a chance to really go through everything yet.

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    in2scrap's Avatar
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    I've gotta headache...They don't magnetize hardware. you have a liftgate issue.
    Last edited by in2scrap; 10-31-2018 at 08:16 PM. Reason: grammer

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    I've never heard of magnetic nails and staples. Do they exist? Couldn't find any. Tried to search and found magnetic crap sold by Staples. What would the purpose be?

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    Yes boxes of nails and staples would be good garage sale items. No they are not magnetic on their own. If they were they'd stick to hammers and staplers which would be counterproductive at best not to mention the chore that would be picking up just one nail.

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    We have to get to the bottom of this.
    Steve, you're going to have to reload your vehicle with the same scrap, in the same order in which you did the other day. Everything has to be in the same exact place in order to figure this out.

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  11. #8
    recyclersteve started this thread.
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    I don't know how I could possibly load everything exactly the same way it was loaded before. I did the next best thing. I took my neodymium magnet and went over to the boxes of nails and staples. They do indeed stick to the magnet. I believe the nails are galvanized steel and they are made by a company called Sterling.

    For anyone who doesn't believe me, take your own magnets and you should be able to test nails and staples that you have. These are the type of staples used by a homebuilder, not the kind you buy at an office supply store.

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    Of course they stick to magnets, they're iron. But they're not magnets themselves. They only way they can keep your gate closed is if you pound them through it.

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    Are you sure that you didn't have s ok me large speakers, or a bunch of hdd magnets, or maybe a whole lot of refrigerator magnets that you picked up previous to the nails. Maybe you didn't know there were magnets in some other item in ur suv

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    My head hurts, yet I am still intrigued by this.

    Take a piece of iron and wave it around everything that was in the load. Using your magnet is self defeating.

  16. #12
    recyclersteve started this thread.
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    I may have two large stereo speakers (no taller than 24" each) in the back of the car that I found scrapping, but I'm not sure. I found some recently but it is too hard to remember what else was in the load besides the nails/staples and at the same time.

    I thought I discovered something about my car. Maybe I was confusing cause and effect for some reason. Perhaps something else could have caused the lift gate to malfunction. The lift gate works fine now, which is the important thing. I had no idea this would get so involved. Let's just let this one die a natural death.

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    I am going to say your car is broken. What kind of car, what year is it, and what part of the country are you in? If it is a few years old and in the rust belt I bet the car is falling apart and the weight of stuff pushed down on the latch and wouldn't let it release.

    And you need to do some reading on magnets.

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  19. #14
    recyclersteve started this thread.
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    I'm definitely not a magnet expert.

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    Sorry Steve, I couldn't resist.




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