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| Thread ID: 21799 | 2002-07-04 05:45:00 | Antistatic Procedures | prism (840) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 59791 | 2002-07-05 07:16:00 | Susan, I too suffer from seasonal static. Dry air, woolly jumpers and I zap myself on car doors, filing cabinets and the dog. Dad, a registered Electrical Engineer, did at one point suggest I tow an earthing strap around with me (like on cars). Contemplated the idea for a while then flagged it. I'd probably trip over it and fall down the stairs. Some things that can set off static are leather soled shoes, woolly jumpers, certain types of carpet and the weather. When it's really bad I keep out of the innards of a PC, the rest of the time I use a wrist strap and earth properly. |
Heather P (163) | ||
| 59792 | 2002-07-05 09:24:00 | Well that's a very appropriate question with a very appropriate answer. An antistatic mat would be ideal, but failing availability an antistatic bag that once held your soundcard/harddrive/memory etc would be fine. Just attach to any grounded metal e.g sink area, and discharge all that built up static with a single touch without the usual fireworks. The whole point of antistatic materials are that they are semi-conductive so voltage is transferred slowly (still a fraction of a second), as opposed to most conductive materials with which the transfer is extremely quick, in fact so quick that a shortcut is taken through a small space of air just before you touch that feared object, hence the spark. | prism (840) | ||
| 59793 | 2002-07-05 10:09:00 | Well Susan without knowing you, or what your wearing, makes guessing the cause of your discomfort a bit difficult, however, you will probably find it’s a garment your wearing that’s causing the problem. I have one particular Jersey that really fires up and should not be worn if one returns home late and wishes to sneak into bed because it’s like a lightning strike when you pull it over your head. (which wakes the wife and entitles you to further punishment) Going back to the original discussion, I don’t believe there is any merit in leaving the computer plugged in. By all means use all other antistatic precautions but leaving the machine plugged in or earthed exposes you to more problems than it solves. This is probably not the forum to go into electronic theory but for all you supporters of leaving the machine plugged in and earthed try this. Pull a couple of spark-plug leads off your car and earth them. (A good earth) Then hop in and start the car. It should start and run as rough as hell. So, you pull the bonnet catch to look under the bonnet and hop out. As soon as your feet hit the ground with a hand on the door handle wham-o you cop a belt as though you were hanging onto the plug leads. The reason is you have made the earth 20,000 volt positive in relation to the car chassis, or you have created a “potential difference” and the earth was of no help to you at all. So you see the answer is to keep everything at the same potential and if you’re connected to the computer by your anti static strap, then you must be at the same potential and no current can flow. A little bit like the bird sitting on the power line. To summarise, the best advice I can give is connect yourself to the computer and keep the plug in your pocket. Geeez that was long winded! Cheers Bob |
B.M. (505) | ||
| 59794 | 2002-07-05 10:50:00 | That's a very good theory/fact B.M. I'm going to remember that one. | -=JM=- (16) | ||
| 59795 | 2002-07-05 10:58:00 | Thanks for all the advice Heather, Prism and Bob . Between the three of you I think I've got it sussed . I'm now certain that the culprit is the woolly jumper . Have been wearing polarfleece until a few days ago and the bites have only started since then, I'm sure . Like Heather and Bob says, it's a combination of my slip-on shoes (possibly rubber-soled but I suspect they're synthetic rubber), the carpet, dry air and the woolly jumper . Like Bob, I get the musical crackles when I take the thing off, with my hair all standing on end - it's all adding up . I'll fish out the anti-static bag that my RAM came in and see if that helps before I ditch the woollies . This afternoon I got a belt without even touching the s . s . sinkbench - fingers were about ½cm away so it's getting pretty bad! :O Heather, does your dog run away when it sees you coming? :D |
Susan B (19) | ||
| 59796 | 2002-07-05 11:21:00 | I forgot to add. So should the antistatic matt not get earthed either. |
-=JM=- (16) | ||
| 59797 | 2002-07-05 11:27:00 | Susan, from memory the approximate rule is 10,000 volts per cm in dry air, for flashover. At 1/2 cm you had accumulated about 5,000 v. (Not much current though, so you can't run the house off it) Walk barefoot in the kitchen (reminds me of a joke..NO..) and you shouldnt have a problem (but the dog will probably run away even more?) |
godfather (25) | ||
| 59798 | 2002-07-05 11:43:00 | Hi Susan, you mention that you "get the musical crackles just like BM when you take the thing off." Just in case you missed the point about the lightning effect that BM mentioned, did you try removing it in front of a mirror in a darkened room? It really does put on a visual show like lightning. I once had a nylon shirt that would give off lots of sparks (mirror, darkened room) when removing it and would still give off a few if shaken immediately after it was removed. Once after stroking our cat, it sniffed my outstretched hand and I felt, heard and saw a small spark jump from my finger to the poor cat's nose. (For the cat's sake, please don't try to verify this.) |
exLL (515) | ||
| 59799 | 2002-07-05 11:53:00 | Wow, the things people do for kicks! Myself I hadn't thought to keep a nylon shirt specially to entertain myself in front of a mirror. B-) Do you entertain yourself this way often exLL? And Susan, now I come to think of it I haven't been having much of a static problem lately. It was particularly bad a few years ago at a previous place of employment. The carpet and the dry air were the main problems. The dog occassionally gets a surprise though. |
Heather P (163) | ||
| 59800 | 2002-07-05 12:06:00 | I have to say that this forum is really good entertainment value, it must be why I can't stay away! :p exLL, I never undress in front of a mirror, I can't afford to crack any more. But I might, just might try it tonight, just to see if there's potential entertainment for the kids tomorrow. :D godfather: hubby tells me to wear soxs, like he does. Yuk! Fortunately for the animals, we currently (excuse the pun) don't have any. |
Susan B (19) | ||
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