ESD precautions (Or "Is it a good idea to build in the bathroom?") ;-)

[Jonesy1499]

Hi guys

Well, I’m hoping to have all the parts for my computer tomorrow, and I’d appreciate your thoughts on how to avoid damaging it with static electricity when I build it.

Of course I’ve googled and learned that I should ground myself before touching sensitive components, and that some (few) people ground themselves permanently with a wristband. But I need some clarificiations on both how to ground myself properly, and on what components are sensitive to ESD.

Regarding how to ground myself:

1) All the radiators where I live are covered with paint. Will the paint insulate so I won’t be grounded, and if so, could I just touch this metal thingy in stead?

2) I’ve read that you could also install the PSU and plug it into the wall (without swithcing it on) and then ground yourself by touching a metal part of the case. On the other hand some people seem to think this method increases the risk of being electrocuted. What do you think? Should I only use this method when working with the motherboard, and disconnect the PSU from the wall when I work on the case?

3) I’ve also read that you can ground yourself by touching a faucet, but the kitchen is carpeted, which would increase the risk of ESD. So (and this is where my post gets a little weird) I’ve actually considered if I could build it in the bathroom in stead. I’d of course make sure everything was dry, and I could also put a table in there to build it on. Other than the risk of getting something wet, are there any other reasons why this would be a bad idea? (For instance I don’t know if the bathroom floor being connected to drains and stuff would make any difference?)

Regarding what components are sensitive to ESD:

4) Could you tell me what parts of what components I should be careful about? I’m guessing that ESD can’t hurt the case or the PSU, but can hurt the CPU, RAM, motherboard, and video card. Is this correct? Also, what parts of these components should I avoid touching? Anything metal?

Hope someone will shed some light on my questions (without making too much fun of me). ;-)

Cheers.

 

[slicessoul]

Parts such Mainboard, GPU, CPU, RAM, Soundcard, HDD, TV Tuner are sensitive with ESD.

You can touch those metal parts of the radiator, or do the second way (PSU off). Or you can use gloves (elastic gloves).

Building in the bathroom ? well, it's dangerous because of humidity and be carefull to not let your CPU flushed.

Don't get freak out on building PC, just touch the metal parts of radiator, build your PC, put the PSU and all parts will be grounded.

If the parts is new and you have problem...RMA it.

 

[evongugg]

You can buy a cheap antistatic wrist band and wear it while you build.
I have only burned out one computer speaker with static in many years of handling hardware.

 

[qwertycopter]

Graphics Card (and other expansion cards):
Hold the graphics card by the metal plate (the part which orients towards back of case when installed). Press down on the top edge when inserting it. You can hold the other edge for better stability (the side that orients towards front of the case when installed). Do not touch the gold-colored pins at the bottom of the card. Try to avoid touching either face of the card.

RAM:
Hold the RAM module by the edges. Do not touch the faces or gold-colored contacts. Press down on the top of the module to insert.

CPU: Hold the CPU by two corners diagonal from each other. NEVER touch the pins/contact points on the underside. Avoid touching the heatspreader on top as this will leave fingerprints/skin oils which may impede heat flow to the heatsink (touching the headspreader does not risk frying the CPU with static). If you do touch the heatspreader, clean the surface with a lint-free cloth and a bit of high-purity isopropyl alcohol.

Motherboard:
Hold the motherboard by the edges and avoid touching either face.

Hard Drive:
Avoid touching the underside of the hard drive as there is usually an exposed circuit board here. Best practice is to handle the hard drive by the edges. If you need to set the hard drive down, do it gently and flip it upside down so the circuit board is facing up.

Optical drives:
There are no exposed circuit boards, so these aren't statically sensitive.

PSU:
The circuit board is inside and there is nothing you will fry with static.

Case:
There may be a small circuit board for the power/hard drive activity lights. There is little risk of damaging these with static, but there's no reason to go touching it.

In review:
- If in doubt, hold the component by the edges.
- Never touch any pins/gold-colored contact points on the component.
- It's good practice not to touch the faces off a component (eg. graphics card, motherboard, RAM module, etc). However, doing so doesn't necessarily mean you will fry anything. The main things to avoid on the component faces are microchips. Examples:

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/imageview.php?image=299
http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_th...2/istockphoto_2576821_chip_on_motherboard.jpg
http://www.dansdata.com/images/oczpc3200/ramchip560.jpg

- If you need to set a component down, put it on the antistatic bag in which it came. If it doesn't have an antistatic bag, put it on top of the box with which it came, or any piece of cardboard, antistatic mat, wood surface.

Also, I think you are being overly paranoid about being grounded. The best idea is to not work on carpet and avoid walking around a whole lot. Also, if you sit down somewhere and then stand up, this will build up a static charge. You can discharge it by simply touching some nearby steel/aluminum/copper. In fact, you can touch the inside of your metal case (and it doesn't have to have the PSU plugged in) and it will sufficiently discharge any built up static (obviously avoid touching components when you do this).

In general practice, touch your the metal in your case before handling a component. Additionally, touch your case anytime you feel you've built up a static charge (examples: you sat down and stood up, you walked around the room, you came in contact with carpet, etc) and follow the tips above on handling your components. You should be fine.

Oh, and yes you can touch your radiator to discharge static as long as you are coming in direct contact with the metal.

 

[Zorg]

qwertycopter has got it covered. To reiterate one thing, don't build it on the carpet if you can avoid it. It isn't my first choice but if you have no alternative you can build it in the bathroom no problem. Avoid doing it right after someone has taken a shower, dry the place down with a towel to avoid getting something wet, close the toilet cover etc., but I'm sure you know that already.

 

[nukemaster]

while ure at it why not set this up....only takes a few minutes

http://www.google.com/tisp/install.html

 

[Zorg]

while ure at it why not set this up....only takes a few minutes

I've]http://www.google.com/tisp/install.html

I've been dying to get that setup, but they are still charging way too much for it. I am going to wait for the price to come down and then I'm going to buy two. Sweet

I was going through the FAQs to flush out my understanding of this state of the art system and I found this

I am definitely going to get the "Royal Flush", but I had some questions about the sewer line condition caveat. You know they always sell bandwidth with the old "up to x amount of bandwidth" caveat. Does that mean that when I flush, my download speed will go down? Or is it just the upload speed that's affected?

 

[sailer]

I've been dying to get that setup, but they are still charging way too much for it. I am going to wait for the price to come down and then I'm going to buy two. Sweet

I was going through the FAQs to flush out my understanding of this state of the art system and I found this

http://i7.tinypic.com/66ow9l2.jpg

I am definitely going to get the "Royal Flush", but I had some questions about the sewer line condition caveat. You know they always sell bandwidth with the "old up to x amount of bandwidth" caveat. Does that mean that when I flush, my download speed will go down? Or is it just the upload speed that's affected?

Thank you nukemaster and zorg for a good morning laugh. While the downloads are fine, I really don't care to have any uploads from the designated receptical. Uploads can cause considerable time to be spent with cleaning up the system and removing all traces of viruses.

To the OP, I commonly work on my computers in the kitchen, which has vinyl flooring. The bathroom, or at least my bathroom, has too much moisture to make me comfortable with the idea of working there. I have even done work while on a carpeted surface, of which many will disapprove, but keep myself well grounded when doing so. Wall to wall carpeting sometimes leaves little choice when working, so I'm very cautious about it. To date, I've lost no parts due to electrostatic shock.

 

[Grimmy]

From my understanding, or 2 cents... The PSU helps ground the PC case as well as the MB. As long as the outlet has a good ground (3rd prong) you should be able to discharge any static electric from yourself simply touching the case, or hooking up the wrist strap to the case.

If you have a multimeter, where you set it for continuity, you take both pos/neg prongs and touch them together, the multimeter should beep. So when you touch one prong to the metal chassis on the case, then the other to the ground on the plug from your PSU, it should beep.

That is why the PSU should be plugged in to the outlet, but the switch turned off so the MB will not power up.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

And honestly too, when I build, I have yet to use a wrist strap, no problems yet. I personally just keep touching an unpainted part of the case and if I'm carpet, I try not to move. However, when I installed to CPU, I did take that and the case/mobo onto my tile floor. But mainly be careful, and don't touch any pins on the cpu, or contact points of any memory etc, or anything that looks sensitive if you can help it.

 

[JuiceJones]

Not that I recommend it, but I've built many a computer on beds in carpeted bedrooms, in sock feet. I've never had a static problem, so the chances are pretty slim. Just touch metal and don't rub on TV screens while holding components.

 

[monsterrocks]

ESD is not a huge problem. On the Screensavers (a.k.a. Attack of the Show) on G4, it took a tazer to make the RAM stop working. They did a bunch of static discharges on it and the stuff ran fine. So short term, it takes a massive discharge to damage that stuff. However I think minor shock will do slight damage long term. Just touch your case or PSU before you start and you will be 100% fine; even with socks whilst walking on carpet.

 

[rodney_ws]

You can buy a cheap antistatic wrist band and wear it while you build.
I have only burned out one computer speaker with static in many years of handling hardware.

Heh heh... the geek strap!

 

[maury73]

All modern PC components must tolerate ESD as per the FCC and UL rules: at least 2kV for human body model and 4kV for the machine model.
It's not so high, in a very dry day and with synthetic t-shirts an human body can reach up to 15kV, but normal every day discharges are at 1-2kV approx.
The painted pipes are optimal, never discharge you to ground directly, it may be dangerous: security rules in electronics industry require minimum 1Mohm resistance for the antistatic wrist bands.
Do your math: 15kV / 1Mohm is 15mA and security switches are calibrated to 30mA... discharging yourself directly to ground equals to touch the mains wires for a few milliseconds: it's a very short time, but may hurt.

 

[SiriusStarr]

Not that I recommend it, but I've built many a computer on beds in carpeted bedrooms, in sock feet. I've never had a static problem, so the chances are pretty slim. Just touch metal and don't rub on TV screens while holding components.

Yeah, I built my latest rig wearing sweat pants and socks, sitting on a thick rug. In retrospect, not the brightest thing to do, but I've had no problems. If you want to be safe, just make sure you touch metal pieces of your case, don't be stupid with circuit boards, and be careful with the cpu.

 

[qwertycopter]

ESD is not a huge problem....They did a bunch of static discharges on it and the stuff ran fine....it takes a massive discharge to damage that stuff.

Actually the human body can easily gain a charge large enough zap the microscopic traces in a microchip. The ESD damage everyone is talking about amounts to these microscopic traces being severed/blown apart, effectively creating an open circuit and/or a short (on a microscopic level).

It is possible for ESD damage to occur but not cause any immediate problems. This results from a degredation of the micro traces rather than an open circuit or short (basically, a trace is partially blow apart but there is still a weak connection despite the damage). Operating in this mode puts the chip at a high risk of failure and can result in problems down the road.

 

[sailer]

If you want some ESD, try sitting on a nylon carpet in a dry, highly static atmosphere. Then pet a cat for a while to build a good charge. After that, reach for the new video card and watch the spark fly from finger to helpless transistors and ICs. Will it still work, or will your nice new part become so much junk?

Oh yeah, don't actually do this unless you like wasting good parts and watching your credit card bill go up for no good reason.

 

[Zorg]

Actually the human body can easily gain a charge large enough zap the microscopic traces in a microchip. The ESD damage everyone is talking about amounts to these microscopic traces being severed/blown apart, effectively creating an open circuit and/or a short (on a microscopic level).

It is possible for ESD damage to occur but not cause any immediate problems. This results from a degredation of the micro traces rather than an open circuit or short (basically, a trace is partially blow apart but there is still a weak connection despite the damage). Operating in this mode puts the chip at a high risk of failure and can result in problems down the road.

Thank you for bringing some clarity to this thread, I was about to stick a pencil in my eye having to read all the BS.

 

[Zorg]

All modern PC components must tolerate ESD as per the FCC and UL rules: at least 2kV for human body model and 4kV for the machine model.
It's not so high, in a very dry day and with synthetic t-shirts an human body can reach up to 15kV, but normal every day discharges are at 1-2kV approx.
The painted pipes are optimal, never discharge you to ground directly, it may be dangerous: security rules in electronics industry require minimum 1Mohm resistance for the antistatic wrist bands.
Do your math: 15kV / 1Mohm is 15mA and security switches are calibrated to 30mA... discharging yourself directly to ground equals to touch the mains wires for a few milliseconds: it's a very short time, but may hurt.

You know that all sounds official, and I'm sure there are documents that you can pull off the web to prove that the FCC and UL have these regs but I call BS. Depending on the kind of paint, you may get no static discharge at all. There is no reason that you can't touch bare metal in order to discharge static. As a matter of fact when you are looking to discharge static you always look for bare metal that is grounded. It is absolutely not dangerous unless getting a little snap on your finger will harm you, which we all know it won't. The mere thought that anyone would say that discharging static is like touching the mains boggles my mind. Touching the mains can easily kill you and is very dangerous. The 1M resistor is because you have the strap wrapped around your wrist and people are dorks. It's the same for the cutoff on the lawnmower handle, the clutch starter interlock on the car etc. etc. etc. As far as ESD, you may or may not damage the chips. They may fail completely or such that the weakening/partial failure is not evident. I had some electron microscope photos lying around that showed the actual damage to the chips, they looked like little meteor strikes.

 

[Grimmy]

Another thing to consider, that people may or may not know is the amount of voltage released. This should help you see why traces at greatest risk.

If memory serves.. It takes around 3000 volts of static electricity for your to feel it. If you hear the static discharge, that should be around 6000 volts. If you see the actual spark, that is approx 9000 volts.

So.. understanding that in order for you to feel the discharge, it will be around 3000 volts. You may not feel the discharge at 1000 volts, so you won't know if you accidentally zapped a component that was only designed for 1.3-1.8 volts.

Some people will not agree what I mention is correct, cause some people think you'd die from that amount of voltage. Whelp... it's not the voltage that kills people.. its the amps.

 

[RetiredChief]

Tryed taping my mouth shut - as you can see didn't help.

To monsterrocks - Gee you could make some mega bucks, Just sell this concept to all the corporations with ESD stations. All that money they could save. PS might want to pad backside for protection when hitting the pavement.

Very good points for Zorg and qwertycopter - Yes, I've also seen photos and movies documenting the damage caused by ESD.

Myself I perfer to were the stap. (1) PSU plugged in, rocker switch off. (2) when working outside the case (ie Installing proc in motherboard) I use a banna plug plugged into the ground on the power strip.

Side comment - ESD procedures require periodic testing of a wrist strap. Reason is to verify that the 1 Megohm resistor is still connected.

Edited - Well said, and correct. Grimmy
By chance, if it becomes detached (open), the wrist stap is useless.

PS I even recommend using a helmet when riding a motorbike.

 

[JuiceJones]

If you see the actual spark, that is approx 9000 volts.

Heh, I have visibly shocked a motherboard at its edge. Still worked though .

 

[Grimmy]

Heh, I have visibly shocked a motherboard at its edge. Still worked though .

While it was in the PC case, or out (if it was in the case, chances are it went to the ground of the outlet, if you have a good ground)? Your just lucky it didn't fry anything, or perhaps it did, it will take more time for something to fail.

Electricity will do weird things, as far as taking the easiest path, to where it will do no harm. But like I said, for components, zapping it below 3000 volts is mainly overlooked. If you can't see or feel it, you simply don't know, and wonder why your system is acting goofy, or not working at all.

 

[JuiceJones]

It was while I was screwing it into the case. I was big time concerned until it booted fine. I think I just got lucky

 

[RetiredChief]

Long time back (1957 Merc w/push button transmission), I was driving and a 12 volt wire came loose. I was driving so I asked my wife to reconnect it to ground. See said I will not get shocked. I replyed NO it's only 12 V. After getting zapped by 20 to 50KV - she still works - BUT she has never let me forget it either. Latter I learned the reason - A coil trys to maintain a contant current ie if that current is 1 amp and you open the circuit - with you on one end and your body resistance is 100K then YOU HAVE 100KV (Very short duration)