Just wanted to mention something on this in case anyone passes by.
There are two types of static that plotter owners generally try to eliminate: static buildup in the vinyl material (Most common) and static discharge between the cutter and the stand (arcing). The two are very much the same problem. You can solve these issues in MANY different ways as evidenced by the countless posts here and on the web in general.
The first step you should take is doing a check of your building's ground connections. If you didn't wire it yourself and test it afterwards, assume it's bad.
This is a great suggestion assuming you know the outlet is grounded, but you should ALWAYS verify this. If your outlet is bad or someone who didn't know what they were doing replaced ANY item along that wiring branch, you could have a bad ground. This is especially true if you operate out of an older building. While you could go off the assumption that a chassis ground will work effectively, induction is a bitch, and it only gets worse if you have carpet or a dust collection system.
Side note: If you operate out of your home, pull your stove out and make sure that the neutral and ground bond has been removed, or better yet, have an electrician do it.
Yes. If you bought your stand separately, it may have came with a grounding kit. I trust the one in attached photo about as far as I can throw it, hence why it's still in the packaging. Metal to metal contact at multiple positions. On my MH 1351, I have two ground connections. They run from right beside where the rubber feet sit on the stand directly to a modified plug/cord that powers my machine.
Upgrading is the best solution overall. We can discuss mitigation all day long, but it's time consuming, and there are countless factors that can attribute to static problems.
This is great advice, but it's absolutely imperative that you do not use the antistatic kit and ground the stand at the same time. Feedback discharge will very quickly fry an I/O board, especially if you're connected over USB rather than serial.
Vinyl Capacitor (Cardboard roll, release liner, material)
Rollers (including bearing grease which may contribute)
Plastic/Metal Roller Arm
Stand Assembly
Ground Wire
Plotter
Voltage Source
When you use an anti-static kit and a grounding wire between the stand and device, you are creating a battery that tries to charge itself by creating a very direct link between the chassis and part of the capacitor. If you're connected over USB, you are introducing yet another ground loop within that system. As for the electronics wizards that will try to challenge that with "Isolation Transformers" and similar arguments: Electricity is nothing more than a magnetic field. Measurable current is near instantaneous upon circuit completion while voltage is much slower. Your Vinyl Roll is an effective capacitor so you have a large RC circuit sitting on top of everything else. Low end machines do not have the technology onboard to detect, track, and counter this problem.
