Static discharge

JohnJSal

JohnJSal

Active Member
Just out of curiosity (as are all my questions, since I'm nowhere near building a PC yet!), do you only need to discharge yourself once, or is it something that you keep doing over the process of building? Do you do it every time you touch the sensitive components?

Also, is it a bad idea to build your system in a carpeted area?
 
I have built over 10 computers and never discharged once. Nothing ever came up. Just touch a plugged in PSU on the case before working on it.
 
I have a carpeted room and I have built a comp there, nothing happened just don't roll on it!! LOL!
 
Like oscaryu1 said, I have built a ton of machines and have never discharged. If you are that paranoid, just make sure you have rubber soles on your shoes and get a wrist strap. And if you don't, you should be fine. No need to worry too much.
 
Just make sure you ground yourself to your case, it prevents static electricity. I have built 5 computers and never had a problem.
 
You usually end up holding on to the case several times during the build anyways, so it's not a huge deal. Just make sure you discharge yourself before touching sensitive components.
 
Make sure to discharge yourself. Over the course of my work, I've discharged on a hard drive, but luckily it didn't affect anything. Better safe than sorry, in my opinion.
 
And watch those spare screws! I just stepped on one with my heel and it HURT like a SOB!!! (wood floors though) :mad:

But yeah, I always touch a plugged in case/psu first just in case.
 
If you plug the PSU into a grounded socket, the PSU and case will become earth grounded. This was what people used to do with AT style PSU's. With the advent of ATX style, it became a no-no, as ATX style power supplies utilize something called soft-power. It basically keeps a 5v current running through the unit and to the components at all times, which is far from ideal settings when working on the inside of a PC. So keep the PSU unpluggled, unless you prefer being grounded and are capable of being careful not to touch any chips, lead, or IC, and work soley with the PCB board itself.

The best setup would be: PC unpluged, with a clip running from case to a separate ground source and a clip from case to you. This is sorta anal, it's fine to keep the case "not-earth-grounded", and just touch the case to discharge any ESD into it. It will stay there, collectively and over time, but isn't in you, which is a good thing.

I'll also like to point point that you won't even notice that you've discharged onto any vulnerable items most the time, all it takes is a couple volts to damage Integrated circuitry and the like, and when a person can accumulate thousands of volts safely, and not notice a shock till the higher end of that spectrum, it can be disconcerting. Just touch only that which you need to, and handle everything by the edges of their PCB boards (if the component has such) and you'll probably never end up killing anything. ;)
 
On a desktop, you're pretty safe, but when I'm working on a laptop, I either discharge all the time or use a wristband.
 
hermeslyre said:
The best setup would be: PC unpluged, with a clip running from case to a separate ground source and a clip from case to you. This is sorta anal, it's fine to keep the case "not-earth-grounded", and just touch the case to discharge any ESD into it. It will stay there, collectively and over time, but isn't in you, which is a good thing.

I'll also like to point point that you won't even notice that you've discharged onto any vulnerable items most the time, all it takes is a couple volts to damage Integrated circuitry and the like, and when a person can accumulate thousands of volts safely, and not notice a shock till the higher end of that spectrum, it can be disconcerting. Just touch only that which you need to, and handle everything by the edges of their PCB boards (if the component has such) and you'll probably never end up killing anything. ;)
Click to expand...

Hmmm, now I'm getting a little paranoid about it. :)
 
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