Does attaching yourself to the case really do anything?

[DeadlyPilot]

So I've done a lot of  research on preventing damage from ESD to components. I know that it's all about keeping yourself at the same potential as the system you are working on. So why do so many people say that all you need to do is attach yourself/touch bare metal or a screw on the case? I realise that this brings you to the same potential as everything in the case, but if your starting fresh with a new build, touching the case will not bring you to the same potential as the parts that you're about to put into the case. Correct? So is it best to attatch yourself to the case while having the PSU screwed in and plugged into the wall? 

 

Just wanted to make sure that what most say about preventing ESD is complete BS..

 

[ShadyHost]

2 minutes ago, DeadlyPilot said:

So I've done a lot of  research on preventing damage from ESD to components. I know that it's all about keeping yourself at the same potential as the system you are working on. So why do so many people say that all you need to do is attach yourself/touch bare metal or a screw on the case? I realise that this brings you to the same potential as everything in the case, but if your starting fresh with a new build, touching the case will not bring you to the same potential as the parts that you're about to put into the case. Correct? So is it best to attatch yourself to the case while having the PSU screwed in and plugged into the wall? 

 

Just wanted to make sure that what most say about preventing ESD is complete BS..

 

I've completely disregarded any warnings for ESD for 10+ years of PC building. Not to say the warnings aren't valid it's just I've never had any issue building while standing on carpet or hardwood floor. 

 

I always touch the case for that just in case factor but I don't stress out with wrist straps and all that jazz. 

[Enderman]

the static electricity from touching a large metal object like a case is dissipated enough that the potential difference between you/the case and the components is not dangerous

thats why you need to touch a large metal object, a small metal object isnt enough

 

what a metal object does is facilitate transfer of charge between you and the world around you

its not that easy for an electron to transfer from your body to the air, but its easier for it to transfer to a metal object like a case, then from the case to the air

 

thats what "grounding" is

basically a large metal object or wire that transfers electricity to the earth

[Totallycasual]

At the end of the day as slim as the chance is whats the problem with just taking precautions anyway? Its not like some huge effort or something  

[Aytex]

8 minutes ago, Newenthusiast said:

 Its not like some huge effort or something  

cause you could be working with hundreds/thousands of dollars in pc equipment, and i sure in hell would not want to go through RMA/buying it again

i think the PC Parts you bought are a huge effort to keep safe

[Totallycasual]

6 minutes ago, Aytex said:

cause you could be working with hundreds/thousands of dollars in pc equipment, and i sure in hell would not want to go through RMA/buying it again

i think the PC Parts you bought are a huge effort to keep safe

Did you misinterpret my post as me promoting not taking precautions or something?  I'm lost. 

[BenjaminC]

7 minutes ago, Aytex said:

cause you could be working with hundreds/thousands of dollars in pc equipment, and i sure in hell would not want to go through RMA/buying it again

i think the PC Parts you bought are a huge effort to keep safe

He said people should do it

[DrMacintosh]

I always disregard ESD warnings. My apartment seems almost incapable of generating static electricity  In all reality, you are probably worrying yourself, just discharge yourself on something if you are really worried about it. You'll be fine.  

[mariushm]

 

Quote

 

I know that it's all about keeping yourself at the same potential as the system you are working on. So why do so many people say that all you need to do is attach yourself/touch bare metal or a screw on the case?

Quote

Just wanted to make sure that what most say about preventing ESD is complete BS..

 

 

Yes, it is possible to damage chips on a motherboard by touching IC pins or just putting your fingers on a chip or the pcb, your skin only needs to be less than around 1 cm close to a metal contact or pin for a spark to jump over.

Modern chips these days have better ESD protections built in, that's why you don't see lots of motherboards failing, but it still happens. In the past, it was much more common but people were also more knowledgeable, and being more expensive people usually were more careful.

It only works if the computer case has a power supply AND a power cable plugged into a grounded power supply.

 

The idea is that if the computer is earthed through the mains socket, that spark caused by static discharge from your hands into the metal of your computer case has a way to go all the way down to the ground and dissipates.

If you just use the plain computer case, often sitting on rubber or plastic legs therefore insulated, or sitting on a - by nature - wooden desk or some plastic material that doesn't dissipate electricity .. then you didn't do squat. There must be a metal conductor all the way to ground.

 

Those anti-static bracelets are basically a wire touching your skin in series with a large value resistor to limit the current flow (to keep you safe and for other reasons) and you're supposed to connect the end of the anti-static bracelet to the ground/earth "socket" on an anti-static mat or basically you use the ground wire of a mains socket. 

 

You can get charged with static electricity if you're dressed with some types of cloth, like synthetic materials , fur, wool... and other materials. Luckily these days we're using less and less such materials, it's more cotton or plastic based materials, polymers and various fibers that are kind of neutral esd wise. 

Lots of carpets were made with nylon which is also bad.. and when combined with wool socks it's super bad.

 

So basically these days it's harder to have buildup of static electricity in your body but it's still a good idea to make a habit out of touching a grounded piece of metal (case -> power supply -> power cable -> mains socket with earth pin  or just get a power splitter / extender and touch the ground pin with your finger) every 5-10 minutes, especially if you get up from the chair and move around.

Or you can use an antistatic bracelet as long as you actually connect it to ground ..

 

Oh, and I always recommend to everyone to simply hold PCBs by the edges of the boards, not by having the fingers under the board touching vias or components. if necessary, I just grab a piece of cardboard which would act as insulator and then I can grab the pcb and the cardboard and I know it's safe.

 

I repair electronics from time to time, i design electronics with microcontrollers and various things and i don't have such a bracelet, but i touch a grounded thing every 10 minutes or so and I know what I wear won't charge me up with electricity.

 

...

  // edit : can't be bothered to fix the quotes, this message composer is the sucks

 

 

[Aytex]

8 hours ago, Newenthusiast said:

Did you misinterpret my post as me promoting not taking precautions or something?  I'm lost. 

i think so