Have you ever killed equipment due to static discharge?

[mikeymikec]

I'm just curious, I've never had the problem while working with the innards of a computer.

Otherwise, on one occasion I bought some memory from a computer fair, then went into Virgin Megastore (this was about ten years ago), where they had some big steel stairs, and when I put my hand on the rail I got a massive static discharge. The memory was in a packet in my pocket, and didn't work when I got home. The packet wasn't one of the standard grey/silver metallic-style packets with the anti-ESD symbol on it.

 

[It's Not Lupus]

I touched exposed metal from a USB port that froze my PC, but after a manual restart everything seemed fine. But now I'm convinced of how bad static could be.

 

[KentState]

Killed stuff, but never from static discharge in over 20 years. Most common causes for me are crushing the cpu, not taking the time to unplug the computer from the wall or put a component in the wrong way.

 

[piasabird]

Never damaged any parts from static electricity. If you grab onto something like a metal case you should discharge any static electricity.

 

[RaistlinZ]

Haven't killed anything so far from static. I always discharge it by touching my computer desk or something before I start working in my case.

 

[cubby1223]

Static electricity was a serious problem 20+ years ago, but components today are built far more resilient to static electricity.

My PS3 generates a lot of static electricity for some reason, sometimes picking up the usb cable to the controller gives off a massive shock, to the point where the muscles in my hand & wrist spasm a little bit. But the PS3 has always continued to run without a hiccup.

I've had a couple times static electricity cause a computer to shut itself off, but no damage. The last time I fried a component was a long, long time ago.

 

[Doppel]

Nope, never ever have.

I've destroyed several hard drives by moving the unit while they're running. The most recent example was moving it by slamming my fist into the keyboard of a laptop. That was a painful lesson. But not the one you think; it didn't teach me not to slam that laptop when it pisses me off (it was locking up again or some such crap it loved to do). Instead it taught me the laptop is even weaker than I thought, it failed me yet again.

 

[mfenn]

Never killed anything due to static discharge. I have killed plenty of parts by being impatient and not checking to see that they were fully seated before applying power.

 

[denis280]

I did once with the network lan port.

 

[bononos]

Killed a card or 2. Both were in an office were I seemed to experience zaps/pops much more frequently.

 

[bryanl]

Static electricity was a serious problem 20+ years ago, but components today are built far more resilient to static electricity.

Wasn't the ESD tolerance reduced from 3000V to just 2000-1500V in the last 1-2 years?

I probably damaged some bits in a 64K or 16K bit DRAM chip on an early 1980s CGA video card when I was modifying its screen blanking circuit. Originally, hardware blanking worked only on the foreground but left the background displayed. The DRAM chips were all socketed.

There was also the matter of some hotel CRT TVs with controls made of membrane switches located very close to the screen, so users could easily pick up high voltage static from the screen and send it into those switches.

 

[LostPassword]

just burnt my mobo today. was just trying to clean out the dust. guess its an excuse to upgrade to haswell.
edit: i've been messing around with computers since i was a kid, over 15 years. first time ever. was just careless, didn't unplug my powersupply, didn't ground myself.

 

[lakedude]

Fried some brand new RAM at work. I was helping another guy and I grounded myself the first time I stuck my fingers in the box. We were having trouble shoehorning the thin blade like server back together. I had to leave and get some sort of part or tool and I didn't ground myself the second time my fingers went in the box. A spark about a foot long (not really) jumped off my finger and landed right on the RAM we had just put in there. Needless to say that was the end of that. Careless, just like LostPassword.

 

[biostud]

nope

 

[mikeymikec]

I have a habit of touching a metal part of the case's insides (or what I can identify to be the nearest equivalent in a laptop), so perhaps that's how I've missed a few ESD opportunities.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

I get static build up like crazy. I guess this thread will have to be a reminder that I should always discharge before fooling around..

 

[JimKiler]

Yes, once 13 years ago I did it when i went to move a modem card and i did not touch the case. I could see the spark jump from the screwdriver to the modem and luckily only the modem was fried.

When i was in 6th grade we had a computer room with so much static electricity that we would put our hand on each others shoulders and touch a PC to give them a shock. We figured out it got worse with more people connected so we had a chain once of at least 6 kids, dragged our feet a few feet and then the front person touched a PC and it hurt. It also fried something in that PC we touched cause it never worked after that, oops!

 

[lagokc]

Does a tesla coil count? Oh you meant unintentionally. :whiste:

A long time ago I had a Microsoft USB keyboard with a built in USB hub. The keyboard would always stop responding whenever I was sitting at the computer and pulled off a fuzzy sweater. For a while I just had to unplug it and plug it back in and it would work again but eventually it did die completely.

 

[Blue_Max]

I fried my very first internal 2400 baud modem when I was a young'un. I didn't know better and when I installed it, I did so in a fluffy wool sweater and killed it with a silent snap.

 

[serpretetsky]

It's a hard question to answer because it assumes I have diagnosed and therefore know the cause of all of faulty hardware (that includes hardware that works but with errors) that I have touched.

Have I ever experienced a static shock while handling computer hardware? no. Is it possible that I deposited voltages that are signficantly less then I could have felt as a shock but could have still damaged electronics? Maybe. I'm not sure.

My first computer I built never quite worked right, it seemed to always have some sort of errors. Replacing the motherboard seemed to really help a lot.

Was the motherboard faulty from shipping, somehow not compatable, or damaged from ESD (electrostatic discharge)? don't know

My second computer would, rarely, experience BSOD's, and I eventually narrowed it down to a memory stick. Was the memory stick bad on shipping? did it slowly degrade? Did I somehow damage it from ESD? dont know.

I used to proclaim ESD was a bunch of BS until my brother asked me these questions one day.
Ever since these questions have begun to pop into my head, I've been a little more careful around electronics. Large manufacturers seem to consider ESD a real threat. I usually prefer to keep the computer case and PSU plugged into the wall but switched off while I work on it. I also try to keep my arms contacting the case as often as possible.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Killed anything outright? No. ESD damage is not often immediate. Although, I was at a coworkers house one time and he killed his mobo. Walked across the carpeted living room, shocked his system, RMA mobo.

I almost always wear the ESD protection while touching components at home. I always wear it while touching components at work, there it's not my money I'm wasting.

 

[ShintaiDK]

Never. I dont think I seen any happen in the last 20 years in person either. But thats not saying it cant or wont happen.

 

[schmuckley]

Maybe once:At my friend's house a 9800GT died.I was wearing socks on his carpet.
It may have just randomly kicked the bucket, too.They were good for that.

 

[nickbits]

Yes- killed an led on my case. Wife broke our treadmill as well. I think other things too but I don't remember.

 

[DigDog]

i went to college in a dorm which had no grounding (or so legend would have it), i once got a shock from touching a doorknob so hard i got a burn inside a muscle in my arm.

So, static electricity, sure, back in the days of freon-based air conditioning and all-steel office buildings, i guess *someone* must have killed some cheap piece of hardware, but nowadays, i doubt it.

I went into my first build with massive paranoia, but nowadays, i just stick my hands inside the case, who cares.

I do however keep one precaution alive - before i do anything to the PC, i switch it off from the PSU, then i press the ON button.
This sends the remaining, stored electricity to the board, which uses it up immediately.

Try it. You'll see that a switched-off PC will try to turn on, fan spinning n'all, for a second or two. The PSU has quite a lot of electricity left inside it after you turn it off.