[SOLVED] Does an anti static mat offer enough protection alone?

[jedi55]

Hello,
I recently had my PC built by a local PC builder. He's been in business 19 year. I was there to oversee the installation, I brought my anti static mat and grounding plug. He was wearing what he believed to be a wireless anti static wrist band.

I routinely asked him to touch my grounded mat because of my OCD, that's why I couldn't build the computer myself, I have the knowledge but not the restraint.

My question is, since his wrist band is junk but he routinely touched the mat, is my new £2000 PC safe from long term static damage?

Thanks for your time

 

[kanewolf]

Hello,
I recently had my PC built by a local PC builder. He's been in business 19 year. I was there to oversee the installation, I brought my anti static mat and grounding plug. He was wearing what he believed to be a wireless anti static wrist band.

I routinely asked him to touch my grounded mat because of my OCD, that's why I couldn't build the computer myself, I have the knowledge but not the restraint.

My question is, since his wrist band is junk but he routinely touched the mat, is my new £2000 PC safe from long term static damage?

Thanks for your time

I would say, it is OK. Not optimal, but OK. There is no such thing as a "wireless anti-static band". I have to do ESD training at work every year, and "wireless" is never mentioned. One thing that is "wireless" that can be used for ESD is an ion generator. These are the types of devices we have at work -- https://www.grainger.com/product/2GAC6

 

[justin.m.beauvais]

I'm pretty sure you have nothing to worry about. As long as he was discharging regularly he shouldn't build up enough of a charge to be dangerous. Honestly, I've built dozens of PCs and never had one damaged by static. In college to prove my point I took my CPU out of my system, combed my hair with it, cleaned the hairs it pulled off with a toothbrush, and plopped it back into its socket, all in front of the entire class. It continued to run perfectly for 6 years and the cause of death was the PSU exploding. You have to be significantly negligent to damage a component with static.

 

[tennis2]

I've never used a mat or a wrist band. Touch your forearm(s) to the case before you handle stuff and don't rub your plastic slippers around on the carpet and you'll be fine.

 

[DeauteratedDog]

I had never heard of wireless anti-static wrist bands before this - I had to re-read the OP to let it sink in. I was so shocked that I ran to Google; link from NASA: https://sma.nasa.gov/news/articles/newsitem/2018/01/10/esd-wireless-wrist-straps-the-shocking-truth

Anyway, probably nothing to worry about with the new build - not 'best practices', but PCs aren't THAT sensitive.

 

[jedi55]

I had never heard of wireless anti-static wrist bands before this - I had to re-read the OP to let it sink in. I was so shocked that I ran to Google; link from NASA: https://sma.nasa.gov/news/articles/newsitem/2018/01/10/esd-wireless-wrist-straps-the-shocking-truth

Anyway, probably nothing to worry about with the new build - not 'best practices', but PCs aren't THAT sensitive.

Yes I saw that too, it's shocking (no pun intended). justin.m.beauvais I wish I could have seen that, the teacher must have been beside themselves. Hope you got points for dramatic flare

Thanks for the words of comfort guys. OCD sucks and I don't fancy spending the next 3 years worrying about my dream PC croaking.

Asus Gene board
2TB EVO NVME
16 GB Vengeance ram
Seasonic fanless 600w
MSI 2070 Super
I9 9900k CPU
Fractal Design C case

You can see why I worry, I only buy a new PC every 10 years or so. My current PC is from the Sandy- bridge years.

 

[Alabalcho]

I've never used a mat or a wrist band. Touch your forearm(s) to the case before you handle stuff and don't rub your plastic slippers around on the carpet and you'll be fine.

The mat' primary purpose is to protect your desk' surface from scratches

Having the habit to touch a metal everytime before you touch electronics is the other important thing.

 

[cryoburner]

Electrostatic discharge is not likely to be a problem, unless perhaps one is shuffling their feet through carpet in a dry environment and not touching something to ground themself before touching sensitive components. If the computer were damaged from ESD, it would have already happened, so I wouldn't be concerned about hardware randomly failing in the future due to static discharge during installation. A "wireless" ESD bracelet is not going to help, but just touching the computer case from time to time will, so I doubt there would be a problem.

 

[jedi55]

Electrostatic discharge is not likely to be a problem, unless perhaps one is shuffling their feet through carpet in a dry environment and not touching something to ground themself before touching sensitive components. If the computer were damaged from ESD, it would have already happened, so I wouldn't be concerned about hardware randomly failing in the future due to static discharge during installation. A "wireless" ESD bracelet is not going to help, but just touching the computer case from time to time will, so I doubt there would be a problem.

The computer was built outside the case, on the motherboard box placed on top of the grounded anti static mat. We moved on a vinyl floor, the large work bench was glass topped and temp was 6c humidity 86%.

I live in the U.K so we have a dedicated ground prong on are plugs. At my request he occasionally touched the mat with his hands. we didn't touch the case until we installed the finished motherboard.

Sometimes static damage can take time to appear, months or even years, isn't that true?

Thanks

 

[kanewolf]

The computer was built outside the case, on the motherboard box placed on top of the grounded anti static mat. We moved on a vinyl floor, the large work bench was glass topped and temp was 6c humidity 86%.

If it was 86% humidity, then static electricity is not much of an issue.