Good Anti Static Wrist Band?

mikeblas said:
Including the MOSFETs that implement the outputs on chips, or just discrete MOSFETs? Can you explain why you think there is "no point" to using proper precautions when handling other ESD-sensitive devices?

there are no other ESD sensitive devices in a computer. unless you like groping your components. discharging static electricty into the edge of a board isnt going to hurt it.
 
Darkala said:
there are no other ESD sensitive devices in a computer. unless you like groping your components. discharging static electricty into the edge of a board isnt going to hurt it.
So your take is that the whole industry has it wrong, huh?
 
omg! this thread still going about a stupid static controll? Dang, forget it, just drop it, I hate to see a flame war. Its just my 2 cent yo.
 
Darkala said:
there are no other ESD sensitive devices in a computer. unless you like groping your components. discharging static electricty into the edge of a board isnt going to hurt it.

the man speaks the truth, if you touch the edges and not the traces you should be ok
 
arabdon1203 said:
the man speaks the truth, if you touch the edges and not the traces you should be ok

"if you touch the edges and not the traces" and "discharging static electricty into the edge of a board isnt going to hurt it." aren't equivalent statements.
 
When I said true ground, I mean it is not same potential as earth ground.

When I said about the sticky, it was aimed at everyone who reads the post, and not one person in perticular.
 
fuck, this thread makes me angry... ESD EXISTS! Go on the web, start finding some electronics manufacturing/assembly companies and start clicking on "factory tour" links. You'll notice that *EVERYONE* has wrist straps on.

If I take you on a tour of the company I work at, you'll find the same thing - everyone in the lab or on the production line has static mats on their benches and wrist straps, all soldering irons are ESD safe, and all equipment is tested for proper ground connections and resistance on a regular basis. Even the screwdrivers we use are ESD safe - they've got conductive handles designed so when you hold them with your wrist-strapped hand any static charge is removed from the tip.

This isn't paranoia or bullshit or anything... it's just part of the way you manufacture equipment with a high production yield and send a stable product out the door. It's not bullshit, it's not a waste of time, it's a highly researched and completely accepted part of the electronics industry.

And to anyone saying "i've never had a problem with ESD" - how do you know? surely you've had a Win98 box that bluescreened all the time, a stick of ram that would render a computer unstable... maybe even an old PCI modem or something you left in a drawer that strangely doesn't work anymore. All this can be attributed to ESD.

I don't expect anyone on here to go out and buy a couple hundred dollar workstation ESD kit... but at the very least, buy a $2 ESD strap with an alligator clip. There is *NO SUCH THING* as a cordless ESD strap - a proper wrist strap puts you at the same potential as your workstation, and this requires a cord.

So here's a short guide on how to not fry your stuff...

- You don't necessarily have to be electrically grounded, or have a "workstation" for that matter. Using a wrist strap and alligator-clipping yourself to your computer's case, wether it's unplugged or not, is adequate PROVIDED YOU FOLLOW EVERY PRECAUTION LISTED HERE.

- A static bag is worthless unless you ground the bag itself to a grounded surface and *then* remove the contents. There's no magic to them; they're just conductive plastic. Whenever you put a new I/O card, stick of RAM, hard drive, motherboard, etc. in your case, first touch the static bag to the case for a few seconds, *then* remove the contents and put them in your computer.

- You should do this with any other tools you have (screwdrivers, etc) - touch them off the case before you use them. A screwdriver tip can hold enough ESD charge to destroy a circuit board.

- If you leave your "workstation", clip yourself onto your case and wait 10 seconds before you touch anything inside. ESD straps aren't instantaneous.
 
gee said:
fuck, this thread makes me angry... ESD EXISTS! Go on the web, start finding some electronics manufacturing/assembly companies and start clicking on "factory tour" links. You'll notice that *EVERYONE* has wrist straps on.

If I take you on a tour of the company I work at, you'll find the same thing - everyone in the lab or on the production line has static mats on their benches and wrist straps, all soldering irons are ESD safe, and all equipment is tested for proper ground connections and resistance on a regular basis...

My company too... and I still see some really stupid shit! Like somebody puts a computer in a black ESD safe tote box (with no cover and no ESD bag)... puts it on a cart and wheels it from one side of the lab to the other. Or puts a circuit card into an ESD antistatic bag... and then shoves the manufacturing paperwork in with it. And this isn't a $300 video card. It is $200,000 military flight computers going on a fighter your son or daughter is flying over Iraq and it damn well better not fail because ESD killed it.
 
One of the companies we supply systems to, will not buy from us, unless they know we are esd protected. They do military radar and comunication systems, and they cannot aford a production system to go down.
 
Here's my (current) electronics workbench:

workstation_gee.jpg


The mat and grounding kit are a Desco 16213, and the wrist strap is a Desco 09069. The two cost me slightly over $100 CAD taxed and shipped from digikey.ca.

Considering the chipped playstation2 shown costs twice as much as that, I think it's worthwhile...
 
I guess for 5$, better safe than sorry.I mean its not like it makes you a man that you dont wear one to change your components. :D :rolleyes:
 
altec said:
I've NEVER used a wrist strap. I've also never killed any hardware because of it. Not sure what that means, but i'm not losing any sleep over it. ;)
paintb4707 said:
Anti-static wrist band? Whats that?

:p
ViriiGuy said:
So long as you have one hand on the case, you are grounded.
In (counts......) 15 years I have never ever fried a piece of equipment.
And the only time I have ever worn a wriststrap is when I am doing
a government onsite, as they require it.

But, to each his own. I see the reasoning behind a grounding strap, but I also know
if you follow proper precautions you do not need it.
xrdotimcr said:
Never used one, never needed one. Just stick my hand on the case, for about 5 seconds before, put other hand on, hold for 2 seconds, then work. I do that every time I move away from the machine and come back to it. Works for me. No fried equipment here.


xrdotimcr
all qft
 
i built mine without an anti-static wristband, but i constantly grounded myself once every minute or so. find that one place in your house you always get shocked. try to not swish your legs or feet when you walk or move and just keep grounding yourself. oh yea, try not to TOUCH anything but the pcb lol.
 
Sometimes I scuff my feet around the carpet for like five minutes then I randomly touch different parts inside my case.
Of course I unplug the psu first, I'm not dumb or anything.
But I always thought that if I did this that my OC's would get better. :D
 
gee said:
So here's a short guide on how to not fry your stuff...

- You don't necessarily have to be electrically grounded, or have a "workstation" for that matter. Using a wrist strap and alligator-clipping yourself to your computer's case, wether it's unplugged or not, is adequate PROVIDED YOU FOLLOW EVERY PRECAUTION LISTED HERE.

- A static bag is worthless unless you ground the bag itself to a grounded surface and *then* remove the contents. There's no magic to them; they're just conductive plastic. Whenever you put a new I/O card, stick of RAM, hard drive, motherboard, etc. in your case, first touch the static bag to the case for a few seconds, *then* remove the contents and put them in your computer.

- You should do this with any other tools you have (screwdrivers, etc) - touch them off the case before you use them. A screwdriver tip can hold enough ESD charge to destroy a circuit board.

- If you leave your "workstation", clip yourself onto your case and wait 10 seconds before you touch anything inside. ESD straps aren't instantaneous.
I'm resurrecting this thread as I have a simple question. When you touch a static bag, screwdriver etc. to your case before doing anything further, as indicated by the steps above, should the case have the power supply in and turned on?

:confused:
 
All you need is to have the case grounded. The easiest way to do this is to have the PSU installed and plugged in. It doesn't need to be switched on (and for safety's sake, it's probably better if it isn't. Being plugged in is sufficient.
 
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