Static-free?

[pelark]

Ey

I just ordered a FD define C and a Corsair MM300 Extended mousepad among other things. I don't own a antistatic mat, but I will be using an antistatic wriststrap. What I'm wondering is if the MM300 mousepad can be used as a small antistatic mat? Like for throwing some HDDs and a gpu on when I'm transferring components from my Carbide 330r? I'm not sure if the surface is electrically conductive or not, any insight would be helpful

[Loot]

if its neoprene (fabric covered rubber) you should be fine

[pelark]

2 minutes ago, Loot said:

if its neoprene (fabric covered rubber) you should be fine

IDK only says it's cloth

[Loot]

its nonslip rubber on the bottom

[pelark]

1 minute ago, Loot said:

its nonslip rubber on the bottom

Yeah, I figured that had very little to do with the surface material

[YedZed]

Well at least the odds of actual damage due to electrostatic shock are low.

[pelark]

Just now, YedZed said:

Well at least the odds of actual damage due to electrostatic shock are low.

Would I be better off just putting them on the wood IKEA table?

[YedZed]

6 minutes ago, pelark said:

Would I be better off just putting them on the wood IKEA table?

Your choice, IDK if it will make any difference.

[mariushm]

I don't use any anti-static bracelets or anything like that.

 

Just discharge yourself from static electricity from time to time, in particular if you move around from your desk (if your clothes rub against your body to charge it with static electricity, or your socks against the floor mat causing charge buildup etc).

 

In Europe we have these mains plugs that have the earth (grounding pins) on the side which are easy to touch by hand, so what I usually do is just have a power strip on the desk (where I usually plug things to test them) and from time to time I just touch the earth pins of a socket and discharge myself.

 

A more easier way would be to simply plug your computer's power supply in the mains socket even if it's not installed in your computer. Then, even turned on or off, the metal case of your power supply is grounded (connected to that Earth wire). So by touching the metal case of your power supply (where it's not covered with paint) or by touching a metal part of the computer case if the power supply is screwed to the case, you're basically discharging yourself from static electricity.

 

Anti-static mats, anti-static bracelets, these all work only if they're connected to ground by some way.  Anti-static mouse pads are just static dissipative or something like that, they spread static electricity they may not protect against it.

 

Anti-static bracelets are basically a metal band  that touches your skin at some point, the band is then connected to a high value resistor (something like 1 megaohm) and then the other end of the resistor is connected to the wire which you're supposed to connect to some ground point so that the static electricity will discharge to ground. The resistor is just for extra protection.

 

And if you work often with computers, it's just easier to learn what materials can cause static electricity buildup and just avoid them .. for example wool, synthetic materials or materials with large percentage of synthetic fibers..  if you stick with regular cotton clothes or stuff like blue jeans there's minimal risk of static build up

 

You can work with your components on anything that's an insulator .. wood, paper, cardboard.

[pelark]

1 minute ago, mariushm said:

I don't use any anti-static bracelets or anything like that.

 

Just discharge yourself from static electricity from time to time, in particular if you move around from your desk (if your clothes rub against your body to charge it with static electricity, or your socks against the floor mat causing charge buildup etc).

 

In Europe we have these mains plugs that have the earth (grounding pins) on the side which are easy to touch by hand, so what I usually do is just have a power strip on the desk (where I usually plug things to test them) and from time to time I just touch the earth pins of a socket and discharge myself.

 

A more easier way would be to simply plug your computer's power supply in the mains socket even if it's not installed in your computer. Then, even turned on or off, the metal case of your power supply is grounded (connected to that Earth wire). So by touching the metal case of your power supply (where it's not covered with paint) or by touching a metal part of the computer case if the power supply is screwed to the case, you're basically discharging yourself from static electricity.

 

Anti-static mats, anti-static bracelets, these all work only if they're connected to ground by some way.  Anti-static mouse pads are just static dissipative or something like that, they spread static electricity they may not protect against it.

 

Anti-static bracelets are basically a metal band  that touches your skin at some point, the band is then connected to a high value resistor (something like 1 megaohm) and then the other end of the resistor is connected to the wire which you're supposed to connect to some ground point so that the static electricity will discharge to ground. The resistor is just for extra protection.

 

And if you work often with computers, it's just easier to learn what materials can cause static electricity buildup and just avoid them .. for example wool, synthetic materials or materials with large percentage of synthetic fibers..  if you stick with regular cotton clothes or stuff like blue jeans there's minimal risk of static build up

Nice, I'll just strap a plugged in PSU to my back with electrical tape, remove my carpets and build the computer naked. 

Jokes aside, thanks for the info  

[mariushm]

You don't get dangerous levels of static electricity building up in your body just by moving around the desk, bending down and all that. You also don't suddenly get charged up, it's a gradual process.

 

Just discharging yourself every few minutes, or before you think you're going to touch some components which may have exposed metal contacts very close to your skin .. is enough.

Static electricity can only jump around 2-3 centimeters over the air, so if you work with a hard drive and you only touch the metal case, it's no risk. If you grab the motherboard by the edges, it's again fine. If you think you're going to grab the motherboard in some way that would make your fingers touch the back of a motherboard (and as consequence be very close to exposed metal contacts), then maybe touch something grounded first.

If you get up from your desk to go to bathroom or to kitchen to get a drink or something, when you come back just touch something grounded before you get close to circuit boards because walking over carpet or just rubbing clothes against your skin may cause a build-up of static electricity.

 

These days motherboards also have ESD protections built in, so most chips on motherboards can handle static discharges just fine but i just say why worth the risk. I typically grab motherboards with one hand on the cpu heatsink and one on a pci or pci-e slot , or by the edge of the motherboard .. generally there's no static sensitive chips right by the edges.