How easy is it to generate static electricity?

[Fat Cat11997]

I  am in the middle of building my first pc, and i am really paraniod about static electricity. Once, i went into a room to get something and i rubbed my feet across those weird tile mat thingies found in gyms that i have on the floor, and when i touched my mobo again i forgot to touch or put on my anti-static wrist strap. Is it probable that i shocked my parts and decreased their llifespan? Many experienced people have told me that anti-static wriststraps arent even that effective and that i shouldn't worry about static electricty very much, but i am really paraniod and want a 2nd opinion.

[Godlygamer23]

How is your wrist strap even connected? They're only as effective as their method of connection, including if the 'ground' connection is actually earth, or just a floating ground. 

 

Static electricity is everywhere, and you can never totally get rid of it. You can only mitigate it, which engineers have done for a lot of products - some datasheets will even list the safe voltage that they can take, based on the amount of time it takes to discharge a static charge, but it's usually only from a few hundred to a few thousand volts, which can be exceeded in normal day-to-day navigation. Humidity plays a huge role in how much is stored on objects, and within the human body, so if your environment is drier than it was yesterday, you'll store more charges.

 

The primary concern with static electricity, even with mitigations in place, are the latent failures, or product's not performing as they should(because of now present electrical issues) because once they become detected, it's usually long after the event has already taken place, potentially even years.

 

With that said, you can plug your power supply into a grounded outlet with the power switch turned off, and ground yourself to that with your wrist strap, or just touch it occasionally. 

[Fat Cat11997]

3 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

How is your wrist strap even connected? They're only as effective as their method of connection, including if the 'ground' connection is actually earth, or just a floating ground. 

Yea, it was connected

[Godlygamer23]

Just now, Fat Cat11997 said:

Yea, it was connected

Connected to what?

[Fat Cat11997]

9 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

Connected to what?

my psu off but plugged into the wall

[Godlygamer23]

Just now, Fat Cat11997 said:

my psu off but plugged into the wall

Then that's totally fine, provided the outlet is actually grounded.

 

Unless you are frequently getting shocked in your house when touching metal objects, I wouldn't freak out if you forget to discharge yourself, or forget to put your wrist strap on. 

[Somerandomtechyboi]

hard enough that it isnt a valid concern most of the time and this is coming from a guy that throws his boards on his bed with no hesitation and yet they still work and continue to do so, same thing goes for literally every other part like rams gpus psus cpus etc.

 

if it was that much of a concern then my p5q that i bought around 2021 would be dead by now considering how many times i just chucked it on my bed while i was working on something else but nope still works fine and overclocks fine enough atleast for a lowend asus p45, it has become such a regular occurance for me to just chuck parts on my bed that i forget static electricity is even a concern

[dilpickle]

I've never heard of anyone damaging a motherboard with static. You would feel it if you generated enough static to damage something.

 

This is just another one of those old wives tales that never dies.

[Fat Cat11997]

2 hours ago, Godlygamer23 said:

Then that's totally fine, provided the outlet is actually grounded.

 

Unless you are frequently getting shocked in your house when touching metal objects, I wouldn't freak out if you forget to discharge yourself, or forget to put your wrist strap on. 

While taking a break I was just wearing some furry slippers and forgot to discharge myself before touching my parts again, should i be worried? I hadn't discharged myself in more than an hour and it was basically the eqivalent of rubbing your feen on a carpet wearing those slippers.

[Godlygamer23]

1 hour ago, Fat Cat11997 said:

While taking a break I was just wearing some furry slippers and forgot to discharge myself before touching my parts again, should i be worried? I hadn't discharged myself in more than an hour and it was basically the eqivalent of rubbing your feen on a carpet wearing those slippers.

Static electricity is hard to predict. The only thing you can go by is if the part still works and functions as it should. Anything long term may show up later, but that's something that will simply take time. 

[saintlouisbagels]

12 hours ago, Fat Cat11997 said:

While taking a break I was just wearing some furry slippers and forgot to discharge myself before touching my parts again, should i be worried? I hadn't discharged myself in more than an hour and it was basically the eqivalent of rubbing your feen on a carpet wearing those slippers.

You're worrying too much. LTT even has a video of intentionally inducing painful static electric shocks and unreliably being able to cause any damage.

[starsmine]

14 hours ago, dilpickle said:

I've never heard of anyone damaging a motherboard with static. You would feel it if you generated enough static to damage something.

 

This is just another one of those old wives tales that never dies.

I mean I have blown up motherboards with as low as 15V. Its just where it discharges and what it has to flow through to get to ground. 

But also, static is not something I particularly worry about, because just grounding yourself or touching the case often will discharge you. 

[Rocketdog2112]

16 hours ago, Fat Cat11997 said:

While taking a break I was just wearing some furry slippers and forgot to discharge myself before touching my parts again, should i be worried? 

Don't you know that the furry ears on your bunny slippers act as static discharge wicks? 

[Mark Kaine]

usually touching the case is enough to be safe - and by that i mean at all times, with your arm for example... its not hard.

 

these wristbands are mosty placebo, im not even sure they actually work but i guess they'll do "something"

 

also using an antistatic wristband while also using "flurry slippers" i dunno... that seems very contradictory to me.

 

live and learn i guess... just remember that touching metal will instantly discharge you and is overall a safer and free method instead of these sus wristbands...

 

 

(and everyone saying they work - i doubt that... I've worked in SMD long enough we had wristbands but additionally also the whole section of the factory was also grounded and so where our shoes... so wearing a wristband strapped to a psu is only a half measure at best, if it does anything at all in my eyes)

[Mark Kaine]

On 3/20/2024 at 2:12 AM, Godlygamer23 said:

How is your wrist strap even connected? They're only as effective as their method of connection, including if the 'ground' connection is actually earth, or just a floating ground. 

basically as i understand it, that's exactly the same as touching any metal basically?  we're not talking about a lot of electricity here so i guess that would work, seems unnecessary tho since touching the case does the same thing and i would be scared to forget to plug it in at some point... i wont forget to touch my case, because its right there and i don't want to accidentally damage my components,  however unlikely that is as i have a hardwood floor.

 

[Godlygamer23]

18 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

usually touching the case is enough to be safe - and by that i mean at all times, with your arm for example... its not hard.

 

these wristbands are mosty placebo, im not even sure they actually work but i guess they'll do "something"

 

also using an antistatic wristband while also using "flurry slippers" i dunno... that seems very contradictory to me.

 

live and learn i guess... just remember that touching metal will instantly discharge you and is overall a safer and free method instead of these sus wristbands...

 

 

(and everyone saying they work - i doubt that... I've worked in SMD long enough we had wristbands but additionally also the whole section of the factory was also grounded and so where our shoes... so wearing a wristband strapped to a psu is only a half measure at best, if it does anything at all in my eyes)

What part of wristbands/wrist straps are you questioning? Anything that is sold can be a scam. However, I work for a DoD contractor, and verifying your wrist straps work is a requirement, so wrist straps alone are not suspicious. For us, they MUST work, or your ESD heel straps, depending on what you were doing, and if you're sitting or standing.

 

The wireless ones on the other hand...that's a totally different story.

 

With all this being said, I use a grounded mat that I put everything on, and just occasionally touch the mat, or maintain constant contact with it. The wrist strap is not really worn.

[Godlygamer23]

11 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

basically as i understand it, that's exactly the same as touching any metal basically?  we're not talking about a lot of electricity here so i guess that would work, seems unnecessary tho since touching the case does the same thing and i would be scared to forget to plug it in at some point... i wont forget to touch my case, because its right there and i don't want to accidentally damage my components,  however unlikely that is as i have a hardwood floor.

I think the opposite can be more likely. Eventually it becomes habit to wear your wrist strap, but if it's never beaten into your head, you'll never do it. Sometimes people at my workplace DO forget to wear it, but it's a scenario where I don't think it makes a lick of difference because of all the controls we have in place.

 

The floor is grounded, tables are grounded, humidity levels are controlled, etc. 

[wONKEyeYEs]

On 3/19/2024 at 9:02 PM, Fat Cat11997 said:

I  am in the middle of building my first pc, and i am really paraniod about static electricity.

For me the problem of static arose after the build once it was running.

When I got out of my chair I sometimes would accrue a static charge.

Touching the monitor as I stood could give it a shock which would cause it to loose picture for a moment.

Touching the PC could do things like turn off the USB attached GoPro.

I put a static sucking wire by the chair grounded to a wall plug with a 1MΩ resistor in line which I touch as I stand, or before I touch the PC.

Works great.

[Mark Kaine]

1 hour ago, Godlygamer23 said:

What part of wristbands/wrist straps are you questioning? Anything that is sold can be a scam. However, I work for a DoD contractor, and verifying your wrist straps work is a requirement, so wrist straps alone are not suspicious. For us, they MUST work, or your ESD heel straps, depending on what you were doing, and if you're sitting or standing.

 

The wireless ones on the other hand...that's a totally different story.

 

With all this being said, I use a grounded mat that I put everything on, and just occasionally touch the mat, or maintain constant contact with it. The wrist strap is not really worn.

yeah im just saying i would question the functionality of any gamery style wristbands... and why plug them to your psu? idk... i wouldn't do it.  

the good ones you plug into power and and a mat.

 

i didn't know you could use either wrist band or heel straps... we had to use both... but yeah, most people just used the heel straps because the floor was somehow grounded... but they did control this everyday (the heel straps)

[Mark Kaine]

1 hour ago, Godlygamer23 said:

I think the opposite can be more likely. Eventually it becomes habit to wear your wrist strap, but if it's never beaten into your head, you'll never do it. Sometimes people at my workplace DO forget to wear it, but it's a scenario where I don't think it makes a lick of difference because of all the controls we have in place.

 

The floor is grounded, tables are grounded, humidity levels are controlled, etc. 

oh yeah, if you do this everyday sure. but for building a pc? i just think that's too much (and i personally wouldn't trust one that's aimed at gamers at all) 

 

the only thing i really do is wear a t-shirt then i know my arm will most likely touch the case anyway and i only do it consciously if i work on something on the motherboard.

 

1 hour ago, Godlygamer23 said:

The floor is grounded, tables are grounded, humidity levels are controlled, etc. 

yeah same as at my work, but we still had to wear "something" at least...

[Godlygamer23]

Just now, Mark Kaine said:

yeah im just saying i would question the functionality of any gamery style wristbands... and why plug them to your psu? idk... i wouldn't do it.  

the good ones you plug into power and and a mat.

 

i didn't know you could use either wrist band or heel straps... we had to use both... but yeah, most people just used the heel straps because the floor was somehow grounded... but they did control this everyday (the heel straps)

If you're forming a ground connection, and the power supply itself is earthed, that's what matters. One area that's questionable when it comes to using the power supply as a ground is if it's on the painted portion of it. The efficacy of that is absolutely questionable, and could actually be worse than just touching bare metal, since it could lull one into a false sense of security. 

[Godlygamer23]

1 minute ago, Mark Kaine said:

oh yeah, if you do this everyday sure. but for building a pc? i just think that's too much (and i personally wouldn't trust one that's aimed at gamers at all) 

 

the only thing i really do is wear a t-shirt then i know my arm will most likely touch the case anyway and i only do it consciously if i work on something on the motherboard something on the motherboard. 

Maybe it is too much, but then you have people that say "oh hey I built my PC on carpet and everything is fine!" I'm not claiming they're liars, but they're also generalizing environments. Not everyone has an environment as convenient as that, and I would still find that questionable, depending on how often the part is touched. If it's a one-and-done deal, then the parts are probably fine. But say the PC doesn't work, and you have to troubleshoot? That lazy mindset might bite you in the butt if you have to constantly fiddle with parts, and take things out and reinstall them.

 

So you have people that sit on one end of the camp, and people that sit on the other end of the camp. Personally, even though I do advocate for proper controls of static electricity, I try to keep a level head about it, and not put people in a panic - most devices do have protections built in that can mitigate against some charges, but those mitigations are not perfect, so complacency isn't really a good option, but neither is constant paranoia.

[Fat Cat11997]

3 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

Most devices do have protections built in that can mitigate against some charges, but those mitigations are not perfect, so complacency isn't really a good option, but neither is constant paranoia.

So, i should be ok, and even if it did get shocked a little it shouldnt affect the lifespan too much? I did once put the thing in the case onto the bed but it wasn't grounded.

[Godlygamer23]

Just now, Fat Cat11997 said:

So, i should be ok, and even if it did get shocked a little it shouldnt affect the lifespan too much? I did once put the thing in the case onto the bed but it wasn't grounded.

Like I said in a previous post, you can only go on if the computer works or not at the end of it. Anything long term may show up at a later time. It's the ugly side of static charges that people don't think about it - it's just a "oh hey this isn't working all of a sudden. weird" scenario.

 

Either way, you'll just have to use it and see.

 

All in all, hope the build works, and works for years to come.

[Fat Cat11997]

1 minute ago, Godlygamer23 said:

Like I said in a previous post, you can only go on if the computer works or not at the end of it. Anything long term may show up at a later time. It's the ugly side of static charges that people don't think about it - it's just a "oh hey this isn't working all of a sudden. weird" scenario.

What parts can be damaged from static? Is it just the mobo or can the cpu or something be hurt?