static electricity

[andrew911tt]

I know that this has been talked about in many places and at many times but

How do all of you deal with static electricity when building a new computer.

I have heard everything from i do nothing to just touch a door knob before you start to you have to sit with a static band on for 2 hours before you start anything.


What are all of your thoughts?

 

[EhJayKim]

I touch my power supply. IMO static bands are a waste of time...two hours before? beyond overkill. An argument could be made for the band, but I just see them as unnecessary...
-A

 

[Borgschulze]

I usually rub my feet on the carpet before I work on my computer...
I have never worried about it, I don't think a shock from your finger would have as much affect on a component as brown outs and loss of power...

 

[Elledan]

First you must understand what ESD (ElectroStatic Discharge) is. As the name says, it's the discharge of an electrostatic charge. A charge exists when there's a difference in potential (i.e. number of electrons on each side). The goal of preventing ESD is to balance out this difference by establishing a common ground.

If the mainboard is installed in a case, the metal of the case (and the installed) PSU forms the ground plane. There's no need to connect the PSU to an outlet.

With smaller, individual components, such as expansion cards and RAM sticks, it's a good idea to establish a link (wrist-strap, or by frequently touching) with the ground plane (case) of the system you're installing those components in.

As always, the best way to avoid ESD is by not touching (or even brushing against) any of the exposed metal parts of any components you're handling. A stick of RAM is best held by its edges (not the bottom with the connectors).

 

[MD_Willington]

I touch my power supply. IMO static bands are a waste of time...two hours before? beyond overkill. An argument could be made for the band, but I just see them as unnecessary...
-A

Pretty safe to just do what EhJayKim suggested...

But a ESD workmat for a machine is not very expensive...

MD

 

[Kaiga]

best thing to do you say, I have one of those electrostorm globes, run your fingers around it a little bit like 5 seconds you have just lost all of your static electricity.

There are other ways, like the psu, or you could go and touch a fork even.

 

[incomudro]

befor i work or my computers i aways am sure to do the following:
Pet cat
run around with socks on
run a balloon on my head......then dig in

 

[SAS91]

befor i work or my computers i aways am sure to do the following:
Pet cat
run around with socks on
run a balloon on my head......then dig in

Yup thats common practise in my household.

 

[Devine]

I don't think a shock from your finger would have as much affect on a component as brown outs and loss of power...

Well you would be suprised at how much voltage static electricity can produce.

Im in the Air Force and during tech school they STRESS ESD all the time. The reason for this is, and this is straight from the book that they teach from,

Walking across a carpeted floor generates 1,500 to 35,000 volts of static electricity.
Walking across a vinyl floor can generate 250 to 12,000 volts of static electricity.
A worker at a bench can generate 100 to 6,000 volts of static electricity.
Picking up a common plastic bag can generate 1,200 to 20,000 volts of static electricity.
A static charge of 2,000 volts could cause the complete destruction of an integrated circuit (micro chip).

So thats word for word, so is static electricity something to think about when your messing with your computer?? Yes, but it isnt something you should completely freak out about. Just dont do anything to try and build of static electricity before you start tweaking with your computer and you should be fine.

 

[Retne]

I ground the case and I ground myself with a wristband and discharge before I ground myself. Also I stand on a cardboard box unfolded. It may seem like overkill but I haven't discharged into any piece of hardware yet . I might even pick up an ESD mat.

 

[towert7]

I usually rub my feet on the carpet before I work on my computer...
I have never worried about it, I don't think a shock from your finger would have as much affect on a component as brown outs and loss of power...

I would avoid rubbing your feet on carpet, that usually BUILDS up Electro statics.
When working with computer parts, its not "the servarity of the damage", but rather the fact that it gets damaged.
(it does'nt matter if you send an electric shock into your graphic card, or just shoot it with a gun.... eaither way they end up not working).

befor i work or my computers i aways am sure to do the following:
Pet cat
run around with socks on
run a balloon on my head......then dig in

I think he's joking. ^_^ (PS, don't do this, these are other ways to build up electro statics).

Lastly, im not sure where you live, but you need to really worry about ESD with low humidity. Below 40% is when you really need to be careful.

So far, i have just eaither touched the case, or the PSU, but im about to build an expensive computer, so i might consider one of those wrist bands and just connect it to the closest pipe that is grounded.