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| Thread ID: 77961 | 2007-03-29 03:13:00 | Beware - Static Electricity | sarel (2490) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 536660 | 2007-03-29 03:13:00 | Hi guys I think I caused my PC to die slowly - last week, when installing a new VC, as I sat down and reached for the old one this long sliver of electricty shot from my hand to the Mobo. Needless to say, it's fried (see other posts re Nod 32). Needless to say, I do have a Static electricity armband thingie now, a bit late I would say. So to all DIY -ers out there - I thought I did discharge all static when I sat down and obviously I did not, so please take care. sarel |
sarel (2490) | ||
| 536661 | 2007-03-29 04:00:00 | Bad luck. Years ago we had an Amiga 500 apart to repair a loose port and didn't pay attention to which way the metal shield at the back went, putting it back the wrong way and turning it on caused an exciting purple bolt to arc across from both ends. It lived. In fact it lived for another 3 years until it was sold. What happened then I don't know. |
pctek (84) | ||
| 536662 | 2007-03-29 04:05:00 | If you leave the PSU cord plugged in and remain touching the chasis at all times, this usually keeps static at bay. | SolMiester (139) | ||
| 536663 | 2007-03-29 04:10:00 | If you leave the power cord plugged in for an earth make sure you turn the power switch off at the wall! | CYaBro (73) | ||
| 536664 | 2007-03-30 00:30:00 | If you leave the power cord plugged in for an earth make sure you turn the power switch off at the wall! And if it is an old PDL outlet from the 80's or earlier, don't count on it having an earth at all. Many of those have the earth connections spread so wide now that they don't earth at all. Cheers Billy 8-{) |
Billy T (70) | ||
| 536665 | 2007-03-30 04:04:00 | A possible cause for dissenting opinion, but what is the purpose of earthing yourself when working on a PC? Surely the only relevant precaution is to have yourself and the PC at the SAME potential - whether that is earth potential or not is pretty irrelevant as far as the PC components are concerned ? In fact, where mains are concerned, having yourself at earth potential is not good . Avoiding the mains is a very good practice; however human nature being what it is . . . |
R2x1 (4628) | ||
| 536666 | 2007-03-30 05:51:00 | A possible cause for dissenting opinion, but what is the purpose of earthing yourself when working on a PC? Surely the only relevant precaution is to have yourself and the PC at the SAME potential - whether that is earth potential or not is pretty irrelevant as far as the PC components are concerned ? In fact, where mains are concerned, having yourself at earth potential is not good . Avoiding the mains is a very good practice; however human nature being what it is . . . While the purpose of grounding is to ensure that you and your static-sensitive equipment is at a common voltage potential, you cannot guarantee that happy circumstance in any practicable way other than by using the body of earth as your common reference . You may think that you have established an alternative reference, but unless using a grounding strap between yourself and the computer, just shifting your feet may be enough to generate a critical static charge . Of course if you are able to simultaneously levitate both yourself and the computer, you will have no problems, but until the arcane art of simultaneous levitation has been perfected, you are infinitely better off to use the ground from your electrical supply as your common reference . Should the mental or physical strain of switching the power off be too much for you, then perhaps it would be better to allow a professional to blow up your computer (they probably don't see the need for grounding either) because you at least have some comeback if they fry it . Cheers Billy 8-{) |
Billy T (70) | ||
| 536667 | 2007-03-30 06:16:00 | And if it is an old PDL outlet from the 80's or earlier, don't count on it having an earth at all. Many of those have the earth connections spread so wide now that they don't earth at all. Cheers Billy 8-{) What's the best & safest way to test the earth on a power outlet? |
CYaBro (73) | ||
| 536668 | 2007-03-30 08:47:00 | Of course if you are able to simultaneously levitate both yourself and the computer, you will have no problems, but until the arcane art of simultaneous levitation has been perfected, you are infinitely better off to use the ground from your electrical supply as your common reference. Doesn't seem to be all that effective, for example lightning involves a bit of levitation (though clouded in mystery). Then it becomes more of an "arcing" than "arcane" art.:help: If you connect your watch strap via a couple of alligator clips, 1M of hookup wire and a 4M7 resistor to the chassis of the PC, then no mains connections are required. (This is a bonding strap, as opposed to a grounding strap.;) ) |
R2x1 (4628) | ||
| 536669 | 2007-03-30 11:02:00 | If you connect your watch strap via a couple of alligator clips, 1M of hookup wire and a 4M7 resistor to the chassis of the PC, then no mains connections are required . (This is a bonding strap, as opposed to a grounding strap . ;) ) No it's not, a bond is low impedance while a grounding connection (in static protection parlance) is by definition high impedance in order to limit current flow from static discharges . Yes, you could argue it's semantics, but the ground I was referring to was the electrical ground which is the body of earth . Incidentally, you would never use a low impedance "grounding" strap because that could potentially electocute you if it came adrift and hit a wire at mains potential . Always use the right tools, don't use home-made shortcuts like linking to a watch strap, and make sure the power is off and the chassis connected to mains ground/earth via the power socket . I was working on a job a couple of weeks back that was generating 25kV or more of static from a large surface area (took my static meter right off scale) . The sparks were leaping 2 . 5-3 cm and the discharge current was more than enough to kill if you got it hand to hand or hand to ground via your body . I'm currently working on solutions to eliminate the static completely . Cheers Billy 8-{) |
Billy T (70) | ||
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