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Wicked bad static! Worried...

K

Kongar

Gawd
Joined
Oct 25, 2004
Messages
779
I'm concerned about static electricity in my house. It's REALLY bad. I think it's a combination of the southern California dryness, the carpets, etc. Anyway, it's really quite bad, so much so that I have a habit now of touching the lamp, or my phone's charger cable to dissipate the static before I touch my PC. Which mostly works fine until every once and a while I forget, and I zap my PC.

Now what concerned me happened last night - I forgot, zapped the PC, and the damn thing crashed and rebooted LOL. Anyway - I'm concerned about the static frying something, and I just built the damn thing, and I really love this PC (it's my favorite build ever, out of like 10 personal builds). I'd hate to damage my baby.

Looking for recommendations? Anyone deal with this? Any crazy inventor solutions out there to ensure I discharge my static before I touch the PC?
 
I've heard of this happening before, and have seen it.

Curiosity question... Your case doesn't have a Window on the side by chance?
 
It does have a window, and yes it contributes to the static. I'd change that except the worst offender is me. Charging myself up and walking around on the carpet. I touch the lightswitch, zap. Lamp, zap. Car, zap. And the same goes for the family.

Anti static mat - as in a floor mat? Maybe someone makes one with a grounding strap. That might work...
 
Kongar said:
It does have a window, and yes it contributes to the static. I'd change that except the worst offender is me. Charging myself up and walking around on the carpet. I touch the lightswitch, zap. Lamp, zap. Car, zap. And the same goes for the family.

Anti static mat - as in a floor mat? Maybe someone makes one with a grounding strap. That might work...
Click to expand...

Ah, I suspected the window.

Ghetto fix. Cover the window with aluminum foil to complete the Faraday cage.
 
How about adding a humidifier to the equation. If it's that dry you aren't doing yourself any favors.
 
Ya I tried the humidifier to no avail. Just can't keep up. When its normally like 10-15% humidity, the walls and everything are desert dry. Thus the static.

I'm curious about the window. I've noticed it's always carrying a charge - you can feel the static on your arm hairs - say when cleaning/dusting. But how would covering it up complete the cage - there are other holes and plastic parts to the case.

The other thing that bugs me (specifically about the reboot) is how is the static hitting the board to begin with? You'd think the discharge would travel around the outside othe metal case, and ground out through the ac ground wire. Makes me wonder if my case or more specifically the power supply is isolated. I can't be the onl person experiencing this in southern CA - theres like 11mill people living here. Maybe I only notice it because in not native to the area.

Things that make you go hmmmm.
 
Spray diluted fabric softener on the floor -- carpet, vinyl, wood.

Get a USB hub and use it instead of plugging stuff directly into your computer's USB ports.

What's your table top made of? About any plastic but Formica will give static.
 
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