slipstream56
New member
I work in a mobile phone call centre and have come across customers who have tried to dry out wet phones in microwaves duh.
Hardware on carpets!
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I work in a mobile phone call centre and have come across customers who have tried to dry out wet phones in microwaves duh.
OK, here's a controversial fact. I'm probably tempting fate with it, but here goes! 
I've been messing around with the innards of computers for over a decade now. I have never even owned an anti-static wrist strap, never mind used one. I've placed components on chairs, sofas, carpet floor, you name it. I'm careful when holding stuff, but not overly so and I'll accidentally touch the pins sometimes.
To this day, I have never killed a single thing with static.
True story.
I've been messing around with the innards of computers for over a decade now. I have never even owned an anti-static wrist strap, never mind used one. I've placed components on chairs, sofas, carpet floor, you name it. I'm careful when holding stuff, but not overly so and I'll accidentally touch the pins sometimes.
To this day, I have never killed a single thing with static.
True story.
OK, here's a controversial fact. I'm probably tempting fate with it, but here goes!
I've been messing around with the innards of computers for over a decade now. I have never even owned an anti-static wrist strap, never mind used one. I've placed components on chairs, sofas, carpet floor, you name it. I'm careful when holding stuff, but not overly so and I'll accidentally touch the pins sometimes.
To this day, I have never killed a single thing with static.
True story.
Neither have I. Been messing with computers for 24 years and not once has anything ever broken due to static electricity. Knock-on-wood :roll:
I do try to keep discs and harddrives away from magnets though
Just to point out, static damage doesnt mean "it doesnt turn on anymore"
You could just kill a couple of bits of the ram, never causing an issue most of the time.
Weird behaviour could be static damage and not obviously related.
You could just kill a couple of bits of the ram, never causing an issue most of the time.
Weird behaviour could be static damage and not obviously related.
What bugs me is ebay listings where people have electronic stuff outside in the open air - The humidity and moisture in the air does it no good
Also CDs on carpets - CDs are unreliable as it is - No need to scratch them up even more.
Also CDs on carpets - CDs are unreliable as it is - No need to scratch them up even more.
Now that HAS happened to me, just never to anything I was fiddling with
Better on a carpet than on a hard surface, surely?
slipstream56
New member
Static
Static
As a technician I was trained in the dangers of static and used to wear a wriststrap 24/7.
I gave seen just what can happen via electron microscope images and beleive you me, the damage can be fatal but not always immediate.
What can happen is a degradation of integrated circuits internally and they may not fail straight away but fall over badly later with what then seems to be no real explanation.
You would also be amazed just what voltages are produced by different causes.
Its when you see a neon lamp light just by earthing one lead and dragging the other one over a piece of bubble-wrap.
Also if you would believe some manufacturers that claim their IC's are "protected" which is where they place internal zener diodes from each leg to earth they overlooked the fact that the rise time of a static spark is much faster than the turn on time of a zener diode so the damage still happens.
Safest thing is to treat electronic equipment with care.
Static
As a technician I was trained in the dangers of static and used to wear a wriststrap 24/7.
I gave seen just what can happen via electron microscope images and beleive you me, the damage can be fatal but not always immediate.
What can happen is a degradation of integrated circuits internally and they may not fail straight away but fall over badly later with what then seems to be no real explanation.
You would also be amazed just what voltages are produced by different causes.
Its when you see a neon lamp light just by earthing one lead and dragging the other one over a piece of bubble-wrap.
Also if you would believe some manufacturers that claim their IC's are "protected" which is where they place internal zener diodes from each leg to earth they overlooked the fact that the rise time of a static spark is much faster than the turn on time of a zener diode so the damage still happens.
Safest thing is to treat electronic equipment with care.
I wash Keyboards in the shower
same here, before retr0bright them also I took some pictures of pieces using an ironing board as a background...
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Why does the outside have to be a higher humity than inside? It's completely dependant on weather conditions/if you've got the windows open or shut/if you've been drying washing in the house etc etc etc. I've had multiple weather stations over the years and I can tell you that the variances can be quite dramatic inside and out!
Additionally it depends on the temperature of the equipment when it gets moved into a new environment then you could get condensation etc to appear... I would argue to an extent that the worst place is an attic as it'ss subject to all sorts of temperture swings and condensation... especially if it hasn't been ventilated properly!
i have to agreee..
The last post i made stated how i borked a geforce gfx card which i can only imagine happend due to static..
the card worked but when drivers were installed there would be green squares every where.
finaly found out that was due to some of the ram being damages..
Which again i could only have done by static.
icardhaving said that i had LOTS of stuff before that that and never had an issue.
but i take a whole lot more care since then.
Ed.D
Active member
+1.
At HP (manufacturing) we had to do a yearly refresher course on ESD and I remember the microscope images of circuit traces damaged but still functional, just! Reminds me a bit of how battery corrosion eats away at tracks but on a smaller scale.
We once did a few tests looking for sources of static discharge in the workplace. One of the worst was anyone wearing a fleece type jacket or sweater. Those things store gigawatts of energy (well, a lot anyway) just waiting to cause damage.
I have to admit I don't tend to wear a wrist strap at home but try to keep an arm or hand grounded to a chassis when handling components.
I have a few computers and consoles outside right now in the rain - this way the rain will clean them, after a couple of days of getting cleaned out there I will put them under my car bonet and turn the engine on - this will allow them to dry. The one looking most clean at this moment in time (thanks to the rain) is a ZX80, other than that my Sega Mega PC is looking clean!
Unfortunately, I live in a flat and don't have a great deal of room for working on hardware. I do work on the floor, but I have an anti-static mat or ten LOL so lay out these as appropriate when working on hardware.
Well I blew up the VGA card of friend once with static, I could see it jumping on there :-D
But that was due to me with my fury sweater that makes your hair go up when you get it off.
But other than that, nothing, just like Andy, I never use anything, I just hold the case from time to time and have this on plug with only a ground wire when working on an Amiga.
But that was due to me with my fury sweater that makes your hair go up when you get it off.
But other than that, nothing, just like Andy, I never use anything, I just hold the case from time to time and have this on plug with only a ground wire when working on an Amiga.
people saying they don't worry about esd and don't bother, then in the next sentence describe doing esd prevention procedures.
If you are touching cases etc, then you are worrying about esd and attempting to prevent it :-/
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk. Please excuse any crazy auto corrects or lack of detail (links to info sources)
If you are touching cases etc, then you are worrying about esd and attempting to prevent it :-/
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk. Please excuse any crazy auto corrects or lack of detail (links to info sources)
I used to touch the radiators in our old house to ground myself and discharge anything, but with the new build house we have now they all have these silly new radiators that are connected to flexible hosing instead of pipes so there is no metal to ground them to the actual ground, although don't radiators and other metal work need to be grounded by a grounding strip/wire these days in regulation?
I normally touch the PC case first before doing any work, obviously leaving it connected to the plug socket to ground it, before then unplugging to begin work.
Annoyingly in our temp rented house everywhere is carpeted. In our own house the whole downstairs is wooden flooring so no static there and I can happily work on something without worrying.
I normally touch the PC case first before doing any work, obviously leaving it connected to the plug socket to ground it, before then unplugging to begin work.
Annoyingly in our temp rented house everywhere is carpeted. In our own house the whole downstairs is wooden flooring so no static there and I can happily work on something without worrying.
Tripped across this website today and it reminded me of this thread. Expand out 'ESD Illustrations' and have a gander..
http://aaq.auburn.edu/taxonomy/term/15
Chris
http://aaq.auburn.edu/taxonomy/term/15
Chris
Indeed, but there's a huge gulf between making a token gesture and taking all the recommended ESD precautions.
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