Just wondering if any of you have ever fried a motherboard b/c you let it touch carpet or b/c you built the pc standing on carpet. My friend is building a pc and was building it on carpet and the mobo even touched a his mattress without sheets on! He is scared shitless that his mobo is fried, but he doesn't know yet b/c he is waiting on his video card and cpu to arrive.
Have you ever fried a mobo b/c of carpet or building on carpet?
- Thread starter scheibler1
- Start date
its probably not fried unless he got a static "shock" while touching a circuit board.
static shocks can be easily 10,000's to 100,000's of volts with very low current, enough to fry certain components.
static shocks can be easily 10,000's to 100,000's of volts with very low current, enough to fry certain components.
Modelworks
Lifer
- Feb 22, 2007
- 16,240
- 7
- 76
nope.
I have never witnessed any pc board being harmed by static.
The main things that are highly succeptible are items, like memory, cpu, and other chips that are not installed.
Memory especially.
I have never witnessed any pc board being harmed by static.
The main things that are highly succeptible are items, like memory, cpu, and other chips that are not installed.
Memory especially.
If you get a static shock enough that you can feel, then that could be enough to cause damage.
That said, unless he was wearing silk or rayon pajamas and/or the humidity was low and he was getting zapped everytime he touched the doorknob, then no, shouldn't be a problem. I wouldn't suggest setting it on a conductive surface and powering it up on the other hand.
That said, unless he was wearing silk or rayon pajamas and/or the humidity was low and he was getting zapped everytime he touched the doorknob, then no, shouldn't be a problem. I wouldn't suggest setting it on a conductive surface and powering it up on the other hand.
Sorry but many of these replies are WAY off base.
Modern components can EASILY be fried by ESD that is WAY too small of a discharge to feel or hear with one's own senses.
They've had anti-static grounded wrist straps, grounded conductive mat work table covers, grounded conductive floor coatings, etc. for decades now for a reason.
I'm sure you've all heard about the 45nm generation of CPUs that is what the latest Wolfdale/Penryns are. That's like 1/1000th the thickness of a hair, or one millionth of a millimeter. If you damage the dielectric coating that is only that thick the chip will never
work properly again.
It doesn't take too much imagination to realize that a static zap doesn't have to be too powerful to arc arcoss that tiny distance...
Invest in a $5 grounded wrist strap and clip it to the PC power supply's conductive cage when you're working on the PC, and leave the grounded AC cord connected to the PSU (with the power switch OFF) while you work so it'll be grounded.
Lay out a few square feet of aluminium foil on the table and put the grounded PSU and motherboard / other components on that while you work.
Better yet, get a real grounded conductive work mat and screw the ground lead to the wall outlet's ground screw. I just picked one up at a local surplus place for $5; I'm sure they're available online for cheap somewhere too.
And contrary to popular belief ESD damage isn't a black or white absolute as in something is either FINE or DEAD -- worse -- what often happens is it is just DAMAGED and doesn't ever work QUITE right again, like driving a car around with a blown head gasket or piston ring. It may sort of work for a while, but it's not right. Know all those random crashes, excessively high temperatures, mysterious failures a year down the road? Well that could be the ESD damage.
If you REALLY want to do it right, use a grounded -- wrist strap, floor mat, table work mat, and get a balanced neutral ion blower. And even THEN you'll have to be careful
around the most sensitive of the components (CPU, memory, northbridge, GPU) since it's still possible to fry them if you move too suddenly and build up a charge faster than the dissipative surfaces can neutralize it. The styrofoam / plastic packing peanuts and generic plastic wrap / bubble wrap packaging is especially bad.
Modern components can EASILY be fried by ESD that is WAY too small of a discharge to feel or hear with one's own senses.
They've had anti-static grounded wrist straps, grounded conductive mat work table covers, grounded conductive floor coatings, etc. for decades now for a reason.
I'm sure you've all heard about the 45nm generation of CPUs that is what the latest Wolfdale/Penryns are. That's like 1/1000th the thickness of a hair, or one millionth of a millimeter. If you damage the dielectric coating that is only that thick the chip will never
work properly again.
It doesn't take too much imagination to realize that a static zap doesn't have to be too powerful to arc arcoss that tiny distance...
Invest in a $5 grounded wrist strap and clip it to the PC power supply's conductive cage when you're working on the PC, and leave the grounded AC cord connected to the PSU (with the power switch OFF) while you work so it'll be grounded.
Lay out a few square feet of aluminium foil on the table and put the grounded PSU and motherboard / other components on that while you work.
Better yet, get a real grounded conductive work mat and screw the ground lead to the wall outlet's ground screw. I just picked one up at a local surplus place for $5; I'm sure they're available online for cheap somewhere too.
And contrary to popular belief ESD damage isn't a black or white absolute as in something is either FINE or DEAD -- worse -- what often happens is it is just DAMAGED and doesn't ever work QUITE right again, like driving a car around with a blown head gasket or piston ring. It may sort of work for a while, but it's not right. Know all those random crashes, excessively high temperatures, mysterious failures a year down the road? Well that could be the ESD damage.
If you REALLY want to do it right, use a grounded -- wrist strap, floor mat, table work mat, and get a balanced neutral ion blower. And even THEN you'll have to be careful
around the most sensitive of the components (CPU, memory, northbridge, GPU) since it's still possible to fry them if you move too suddenly and build up a charge faster than the dissipative surfaces can neutralize it. The styrofoam / plastic packing peanuts and generic plastic wrap / bubble wrap packaging is especially bad.
How did you guys manage to get what that guy was talking bout? All I understood is that his friend built a computer and touched the carpet and his matress without the sheets on.
Anyways, I build my PC on the carpet all the time. Been doing so for over 10 years. I place parts on my bed, parts on the carpet, whereever I have space really. No problem, touch wood.
That being said, ALWAYS work using anti static wrist strap in a dust free environment.
Anyways, I build my PC on the carpet all the time. Been doing so for over 10 years. I place parts on my bed, parts on the carpet, whereever I have space really. No problem, touch wood.
That being said, ALWAYS work using anti static wrist strap in a dust free environment.
Here's the benchtop that I used to assemble my rig 
nicely grounded
http://img253.imageshack.us/my...?image=dsc02756xc5.jpg
I just keep part of my skin touching the metal when holding any components.
nicely groundedhttp://img253.imageshack.us/my...?image=dsc02756xc5.jpg
I just keep part of my skin touching the metal when holding any components.
Me neither. I use an old power cord with all but the ground prong cut off plugged in & the ground wire exposed on the other end that I clip a wrist strap to.
mentalcrisis00
Senior member
- Feb 18, 2006
- 522
- 0
- 0
I've been building computers for 4 years now ( I know not a long time) and I've built them everywhere, carpet, desk, couch, bed, dusty environment, clean environment, I've dropped parts on the floor before, fumbled with screws all over the place at times, and all my builds have been successful hardware wise. I even tossed an older board under my bed once, I literally took the board out and flung it under the bed. Months later I dug it out and put another CPU/RAM/HDD on it and it booted up fine surprisingly. It takes a number of unusual circumstances to completely fry a board, there are safeguards that keep your system safe for the most part. I didn't have an anti static wristband until a week ago and the only reason I got it was because it was free with my latest purchase. I used it for awhile but it's so annoying being tethered to my PC that I take it off in some situations. It is nice to have the security to know that you won't mess up your board or other components from static shock.
Also I tend to avoid touching the board as much as possible, hold it by the PCB edges and just put it directly into the case. I think the only way you can take out a board with static shock is if you touch a metal contact, die, or the bios chip which is possible but it's never happened to me. And if you have the board in a case and you have the case on the floor there is no way for static to move through the case into the board unless the board is touch a metal part in the case. Most cases use the brass or plastic buffers to mount the screws that hold the board in.
Oh and dust gets sucked into your computer on a daily basis if you have case fans, I usually blow out the slots on my board when I replace or install new parts if it's dusty in there.
Also I tend to avoid touching the board as much as possible, hold it by the PCB edges and just put it directly into the case. I think the only way you can take out a board with static shock is if you touch a metal contact, die, or the bios chip which is possible but it's never happened to me. And if you have the board in a case and you have the case on the floor there is no way for static to move through the case into the board unless the board is touch a metal part in the case. Most cases use the brass or plastic buffers to mount the screws that hold the board in.
Oh and dust gets sucked into your computer on a daily basis if you have case fans, I usually blow out the slots on my board when I replace or install new parts if it's dusty in there.
Somebody has read his A+ book...
The only response I read so far that is factually correct and worth reading. PEOPLE READ THIS GUYS POST! Now commit it to permanent memory paying special attention to the "FINE, DEAD OR WORSE"...Did you catch that FINE part? I am :disgust: by the fact that nobody pays attention to ESD. BTW those mats are expensive. My two were both over $100 (custom made for larger tables, 2 layers one side sucks juice from you and dissipates it below, their blue on top black on bottom). But I build more than just my own PC on them... Supposedly they can dissapate quite a lot without the wall though I'd never test that theory anyway. I even go a step further when building my own stuff. Just a pair of jockeys on (no socks etc)...ROFLI've proven ESD is a problem. I walked with a module that worked upstairs in my house (it was old cheap and I was in a hurry...sue me) and it was dead by the time I got to the bottom of the stairs...LOL. I was young and stupid then. That was the only time, and since have been completely paranoid with other peoples stuff and Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious anal retentive paranoid with my own...LMAO;
One hilarious thing? My dad and me tried to kill a chip (wouldn't OC for crap and wanted an RMA...LOL) by rubbing our A$$ on my car seat which would seriously charge you up, i mean it hurt to zap the car door. We kept getting in and out of the car doing this shocking (visually too, we could see the spark AND FEEL it) a Celly 300a. We hit that thing on the golden contacts repeatedly (old slot1 job) and everywhere else too. NOTHING. Worked like a champ. We think the Devil let us get away with it so we'd get careless with more expensive stuff...It was pretty worthless when we did it. But damn...How did it survive?
I watched a guy blow 3 BRAND NEW cards by working on carpet (walk 50feet on it and you could cause a heart attack by touching someone...hehe). All 3 networking cards from the same place/maker etc. Same model. He thought there was a bad run on this card and gave up. He left and I was told to check out the PC. Grounded, I fixed it in minutes and laughed. He was never asked back for work after I explained to the boss what happened.
To clarify that FINE part. How many of you have had RMA's that were not DOA? Like 6mo or a year later. Now you know why. I'd venture to guess that QuixoticOne has NOT had many. His parts probably always seem to last MUCH longer than his friends (well, unless he told them what he just told you...LOL). If my part isn't DOA or hasn't got a KNOWN problem that others have had in great #'s, they outlast the warranty always.
The thing I always tell people building computers is that its generally really easy except WATCH OUT for ESD!!!!!
My first fried component was when I was fixing my sister's friends system when all of a sudden she comes in picks up the CPU from the ground and puts it on the bare carpet!! Luckily it was a old Celeron 500 when P4 3 GHz was top of the line. Oy....
I've also had the misfortune of frying 2 sticks of Mushkin PC-3500 L2 BH-5's >_<....I decided to wipe off some of the dirt with a moist cloth, and realized too late that tap water was very capacitive. It was immediately dead but strangely after leaving it out for a few days I decided to try it again and it worked...albiet damaged (1.9 Million errors of MemTest LoL). Luckily Mushkin allowed me to RMA it for Samsung TCCDs :-D.
My first fried component was when I was fixing my sister's friends system when all of a sudden she comes in picks up the CPU from the ground and puts it on the bare carpet!! Luckily it was a old Celeron 500 when P4 3 GHz was top of the line. Oy....
I've also had the misfortune of frying 2 sticks of Mushkin PC-3500 L2 BH-5's >_<....I decided to wipe off some of the dirt with a moist cloth, and realized too late that tap water was very capacitive
. It was immediately dead but strangely after leaving it out for a few days I decided to try it again and it worked...albiet damaged (1.9 Million errors of MemTest LoL). Luckily Mushkin allowed me to RMA it for Samsung TCCDs :-D.Originally posted by: TheJian
Somebody has read his A+ book...
I've proven ESD is a problem. I walked with a module that worked upstairs in my house (it was old cheap and I was in a hurry...sue me) and it was dead by the time I got to the bottom of the stairs...LOL. I was young and stupid then. That was the only time, and since have been completely paranoid with other peoples stuff and Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious anal retentive paranoid with my own...LMAO;
One hilarious thing? My dad and me tried to kill a chip (wouldn't OC for crap and wanted an RMA...LOL) by rubbing our A$$ on my car seat which would seriously charge you up, i mean it hurt to zap the car door. We kept getting in and out of the car doing this shocking (visually too, we could see the spark AND FEEL it) a Celly 300a. We hit that thing on the golden contacts repeatedly (old slot1 job) and everywhere else too. NOTHING. Worked like a champ. We think the Devil let us get away with it so we'd get careless with more expensive stuff...It was pretty worthless when we did it. But damn...How did it survive?
I watched a guy blow 3 BRAND NEW cards by working on carpet (walk 50feet on it and you could cause a heart attack by touching someone...hehe). All 3 networking cards from the same place/maker etc. Same model. He thought there was a bad run on this card and gave up. He left and I was told to check out the PC. Grounded, I fixed it in minutes and laughed. He was never asked back for work after I explained to the boss what happened.
You're both overly paranoid and you're also an ass.
Boy, you sure do make some stupid assumptions, kiddo.
Who said they don't pay attention to ESD?
Personally, I always have paid attention to it......but I haven't gone out and bought an expensive mat and wrist strap...needless expense.
You can easily prevent it by just continually touching metal, like the inside of a case, for example. Keep yourself grounded, don't touch places that common sense tells you not to touch and you'll probably never have a problem, either.
14 years of building systems and I have yet to lose one piece to ESD......well, other than an old video card I left out on purpose and was laid on by several cats over a few months.
Now that'll short out a card......cats fur is full of static. But it was a useless ISA video card out of a way old system I was cannibalizing for screws and such and didn't care one whit if it died or not.
Wow, if you are building other people's PCs and making money off of it, I would understand spending $200+ money on mats and other precautions, but I think for most people just grounding themselves with a simple strap or by touching the PSU and not rubbing their feet on the carpet while they work on their machine will work just fine.
bunnyfubbles,
You had to be there to appreciate the comedy of the whole situation. Can you imagine being the neighbor and watching 2 guys passing a chip back and forth doing this? We both laughed endlessly while we did it. The to our shock/horror the freakin thing still worked...
Sorry you're not as amused as we were by the whole thing...I still chuckle when I think about that day...
You had to be there to appreciate the comedy of the whole situation. Can you imagine being the neighbor and watching 2 guys passing a chip back and forth doing this? We both laughed endlessly while we did it. The to our shock/horror the freakin thing still worked...
Sorry you're not as amused as we were by the whole thing...I still chuckle when I think about that day...
Thanks....At 37 i'm young again...rofl.
I'm basing my opinion on watching/listening most of the people I've seen around pc's. IT was a generalization, but also related to most of the responses not jumping all over this ESD post. Most of the posts just excused the notion of ESD causing harm which is just laughable. I watched people bouncing around on carpet (our entire IT dept was carpeted...No idea who approved that one) all day with 1GB dimms in their hands with no wrist strap or anything. Yes I'm still shocked by this. They wondered why they spent so much time troubleshooting servers etc. These were $70,000+ Tech Analyst 3's. Maybe they operated differently at home and just didn't care about the company's stuff. I don't know.
NEEDLESS EXPENSE? You missed the part about doing other people's PC's? I owned a PC business for 8+yrs. It was rather important to not apply ESD to customer parts before they went on their way especially since I was responsible for them for the next year if they came back (damn warranty....
). I chastised a competitor one day when I needed a part I had no stock on (he wasn't far from my business, and much closer than my distributor) and he just walked over to me after handling my part. I refused and wanted another because of ESD. He laughed and explained his entire floor was covered with Static Dissipative tile and he was wearing ESD shoes! I thought I was paranoid (in a good way) until that day! I also had a TOMATO red face! I had no idea they existed outside rubber tiles. I couldn't even tell! I thought I was such a bad ass with my mats until that day...rofl. Here, just googled one for people that still don't get it. http://ultrastat2000.com/index.html Get a load of all the crap they sell for this at a business that lives or dies on ESD knowledge.I didn't say it couldn't easily be prevented...But that wouldn't put you in the group I was talking about now would it? Sorry if you think I went overboard here, but people really should be paranoid about this stuff to some degree. How many parts get bad names on newegg etc just because of people that have NO business building a pc (I mean read some of those reviews from complainers)? How much of your pc part cost goes to guys (gals too
, sorry to leave you out ladies...heh) that just blow stuff and RMA it? I'm hoping to instill the fear of God in people rather than tell them it's alright don't worry. Take a look at the white labels all over fry's (RMA's if you have no fry's near you). If you actually were foolish enough to buy a white labeled fry's product, what fool touched it first? How long will it last now that they DID get their mitts on it?Agreed...My mats are a complete waste for home users. Though a constant upgrader should invest in a small ESD kit or something. 9/10 times these guys work on friends pc's etc and it's a small investment for a home kit while they last forever (barring your dog getting at it). IF nothing else they serve as a reminder.
Oh and Tweakin,
Jeez man, get a maid at least...ROFL. Unfortunately last company I worked for we had to keep a clean cube. Too many Vice Presidents etc running around...We were always getting chastised about our IT image and dirty cubes. :frown:
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