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Static Electricity and Component Handling
It’s estimated that every year
as much as a billion dollars of otherwise good computer equipment is
destroyed by static electricity, also known as electrostatic discharge
(ESD). Careful component handling and a few basic precautions can help
assure that you don’t contribute to the pile of destroyed hardware!
Components sensitive to ESD include
mainboards, memory chips, PCI and AGP plug-in cards, and the bottoms
of hard drives. Any time you see a circuit board, you should take precautions
to protect the board from ESD.
You’re familiar with static
electricity. If you’ve ever touched a door knob and gotten a shock
or if you’ve ever pulled a sweater over your head and saw your
hair standing up like you’re in a horror movie, that’s static
electricity. If you’ve ever crawled into bed on a winter night
and saw a spark, that’s static electricity.
ESD is worst when it’s dry.
Winter months are generally the worst for static electricity, because
it tends to be drier in winter. Moisture dissipates the build up of
charge. If you live in a dry climate or if it’s winter, you might
want to purchase a misting spray bottle, the sort that’s used to
spray house plants, and mist the room where you’ll build your PC
right before you assemble your PC. Mind you, I’m not saying spray
the mainboard and other components. Computers don’t need watering!
But, go to the other end of the room and spray some water into the air.
This will increase the humidity and decrease the likelihood that static
electricity will build up.
Carpet floors are bad because the
process of feet rubbing against the carpet tends to generate electricity.
If possible, work in a room with hardwood or linoleum flooring. Otherwise,
try not to move around a lot as you install components. For example,
after picking up a component, install it into the computer without walking
around. Have your components laid out so you don’t have to move
around a lot. And, always touch the metal of the case before picking
up a sensitive component. I’ve upgraded PCs on carpeted floors
without a problem, but hardwood floors are better.
Professional builders have mats that
have grounding straps that ground the mat. Then, they can set all the
PC components on the grounded mat. As a nonprofessional PC repair person,
you probably won’t have a grounded mat. And, it’s not really
necessary. Just place your components on a flat, clean table. Or, you
can set the components, like the mainboard, on the boxes in which they
came.
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How to Build Your Own PC (http://www.PCGuide.com/byop/) on PCGuide.com
Version 1.0 - Version Date: May 4, 2005
Adapted with permission from a work created by Charlie Palmer.
PCGuide.com Version © Copyright 2005 Charles M. Kozierok. All Rights Reserved.
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