I'd Be Interested In hearing Your Thoughts On Anti Static Precautions

[Baldbloke]

Hi,

Out of interest, and perhaps to get some people thinking about static electricity....Including me.

I suspect many folks do not use anti static precautions. I never used to. Not really. Then half heartedly sometimes. Then I learned a bit about static.

Electronics was my hobby back in the day when integrated circuits such as Cmos and Fets' were a novelty. I'd read in the electronics hobby magazines that static electricity was something we should take care to eliminate or reduce wherever possible.

Before I any knew any better, I was one of those people that boasted "I've never damaged an electronic component or circuit board as a result of static electricity"
How naïve I now realise that was.

Many moons ago I watched an instructional video by some large manufacture (I forget which one). It was intended to educate employees about the causes of failure regards static when manufacturing electronic devices.

A couple of pointers I took from that video were: Static can whack a huge voltage in to a component. Sometimes destroying it completely and instantly, sometimes damaging it so it still works at first but unbeknown to anyone, that static whack could have weakened the P-N junctions in transistors.
Over time, that weakened P-N junction fails due to heat (or whatever) when in use and the component can then fail catastrophically.
"Over time" could be anyone's guess.

Point being, we, the hobbyist PC builders may fail to observe static precautions. Component/circuit board fails or becomes intermittent months or years later.
Time passes.
The cognitive link between failing to take precautions and the delay in the component failing is not made. We then blame manufacturer for not making a long term reliable product, when in fact it may have been our own doing.

I'm tempted to say I think things may have improved regards static affecting circuit boards these days. I really don't know though.

I've waffled a bit here but I'm sure some of you can explain this better than i've tried to.

Or perhaps you see things differently?

What are your thoughts?

 

[moogle]

I've always grounded myself after moving before touching any components. Ideally I'd plug the PSU into the case, then touch the frame or any bare metal parts (the unpainted screw that connects the PSU to the case is a good one) to ground myself.

It's true it does take a lot to damage parts but I'd rather be safe than sorry and the manufacturers know it's bad for the components which is why there's always a disclaimer for it.

I've still had items fail on me and whilst you can never pin it down why, it's been minimal which is great and less hassle for me.

 

[Minstadave]

Never bothered about it and haven't killed anything yet.

 

[Baldbloke]

Never bothered about it and haven't killed anything yet.

I used to think that. Have I damaged components? I'm not sure. The link between handling, time passing and failure is a difficult thing to identify with certainty.

 

[Ragnarok88]

I've always been aware of static electricity and the issues associated with it when working with computer hardware, but used to scoff at it back when I started building computers.

I take a few more precautions these days, usually by building on an anti-static mat and making sure I've grounded myself before handling components.

 

[Semple]

I remember back in my early days at work i was actually trying to destroy some RAM chips with static electric, we even had a van de graaff generator and even that couldn't build up enough static energy to destroy the chips.

 

[Meatysy]

It's hard to know what damage you are doing but unless you are on a wooly carpet with fluffy socks then you are probably ok. I haven't built a pc but have done plenty tinkering. I usually try to at least be on a hard floor or touch a nearby radiator.

It's an interesting thing to think about however. I will probably wear a grounding bracelet in future knowing what I do about electronics now.

 

[Dg834man]

Ideally I'd plug the PSU into the case, then touch the frame or any bare metal parts (the unpainted screw that connects the PSU to the case is a good one) to ground myself.

This is all you need to do, wearing one of the bracelets is a pain in the ass, and echoing most of the posts above never killed anything

 

[MissChief]

I've been building PC's for two decades or more. Never taken more than half-hearted precautions. Touching the case occasionally when it's plugged in but the power is off etc. Not killed anything outright AFAIK.

Linus did a video on it.

 

[moogle]

This is all you need to do, wearing one of the bracelets is a pain in the ass, and echoing most of the posts above never killed anything

True, I'm just super careful I guess. I used the continuity setting on my multimeter to make sure the part of the case I touch is connected to ground, and the unpainted screws connect to the unpainted part of the PSU making a good connection.

Another good grounding point is your central heating pipes (unpainted of course).

 

[KompuKare]

I blame youtuber's once again!

I guess the most important thing to remember about youtuber's is that get most of their stuff for free so don't care!

Nearly always putting their fingers on everything without any precautions whatsoever!

I have to say even though I generally always touch ground (the case) when handling any parts, I also never touch the contact of expansion cards, memory modules or CPUs like those youtubers.

I remember back in my early days at work i was actually trying to destroy some RAM chips with static electric, we even had a van de graaff generator and even that couldn't build up enough static energy to destroy the chips.

I would think that the smaller the nodes get, the more sensitive they are to static. Modern packaging techniques might play a minor role (manufacturers can't ship something which breaks all the time), but there is only so much they can do.

 

[Jason]

i always ground myself before messing about with PC components, never had an issue so far, touch wood.

 

[Baldbloke]

Question:
If you briefly touch a radiator to discharge static,
After you let go or remove your connection with ground/earth , how long does it take for a static charge of several kilovolts build up?

 

[Jason]

not sure on how long it would take. i just ground myself on the case each time i dive in.

 

[Tetras]

The way I see it, if you're spending hundreds of pounds to buy a computer or upgrade it, it's silly not to take precautions that cost you nothing (or a few quid on a mat / wrist strap). I'm not sure there are many people who can test something like this properly, but most motherboard, ssd, graphics card, etc manuals say you should be careful, so... I'll follow their lead.

 

[Baldbloke]

Answer: depending on circumstances, it'd take roughly 1 millisecond.

Would I be in the ball park with that figure?

 

[Meatysy]

Question:
If you briefly touch a radiator to discharge static,
After you let go or remove your connection with ground/earth , how long does it take for a static charge of several kilovolts build up?

I don't think you could judge it as it is based on a lot of factors like flooring, shoes, clothes, dragging feet etc.

 

[moogle]

The thing is static doesn't destroy the components straight away, but it weakens the microscopic electrical channels/gates so current or voltages can leak over time and you get the component degrade.

Like others I'd rather be cautious than risk shortening the lifespan of the product. If you're a serial upgrader though I guess it doesn't really matter.

 

[Baldbloke]

I don't think you could judge it as it is based on a lot of factors like flooring, shoes, clothes, dragging feet etc.

Totally agree with that

 

[Jason]

The way I see it, if you're spending hundreds of pounds to buy a computer or upgrade it, it's silly not to take precautions that cost you nothing (or a few quid on a mat / wrist strap). I'm not sure there are many people who can test something like this properly, but most motherboard, ssd, graphics card, etc manuals say you should be careful, so... I'll follow their lead.

I totally agree, i'd rather be overly cautious than be full of regret.

 

[moogle]

I don't think you could judge it as it is based on a lot of factors like flooring, shoes, clothes, dragging feet etc.

Yep it depends on materials. I know as soon as you lift your foot off a surface, that's charge built up. If you rub along something that's also another. Humidity also affects how fast it discharges too I believe.