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I keep getting shocked!

rudeguy

rudeguy

Lifer
FARK!

I fix stuff, so I'm used to dealing with electricity and being safe but I can't fix this. I have a desoldering gun and a soldering iron that I use all the time at work. Sometimes if solder is being mean, I have to use them both at the same time. A good amount of the time after I put them back in their holders, POP I get shocked.

Its for sure a discharge coming from me, not me getting shocked from touching something live. What the hell could cause this? No bare wires, both are ESD safe. WHAT IS PUTTING JUICE THROUGH ME?

The last one was big enough that I'm a bit scurred.
 
spray water on yourself every 5 minutes. your welcome.

or wear grounding straps. winter air is dry, static builds up from your clothing and you become a big capacitor.
 
The fumes from years of soldering have given you super powers, you full abilities should kick in a few weeks after you die from solder fume poisoning.
 
Anubis said:
static?
Click to expand...

from what though?

This is more than what you would get if you take off your coat and then touch a doorknob. If I was braver, I would go do it again but grab the voltmeter.

I also really want to turn off all the lights then do it.
 
jaedaliu said:
and work on an anti-static mat.
Click to expand...

seriously what are you doing with a soldering iron without proper ESD protection?

rudeguy said:
from what though?

This is more than what you would get if you take off your coat and then touch a doorknob. If I was braver, I would go do it again but grab the voltmeter.

I also really want to turn off all the lights then do it.
Click to expand...

clothing can generate a lot of static. if you happen to be well insulated from ground, all those charges can build up.
 
rudeguy said:
from what though?

This is more than what you would get if you take off your coat and then touch a doorknob. If I was braver, I would go do it again but grab the voltmeter.

I also really want to turn off all the lights then do it.
Click to expand...

anything, i sit at my desk and if i move my feet and touch my keyboard i shock it, it actually rebooted my comp the other day, happens even if i have my shoes on

the humidifier goes through like 6 gallons a day and it still happens
 
dighn said:
seriously what are you doing with a soldering iron without proper ESD protection?
Click to expand...

Oh no...everything is ESD protected. Sorry I wasn't clear.

So after I do my soldering thing, I put both iron and gun back in their holders. So that is all good. But the next metal thing I touch, I get zapped. The only current going through the board is < 560 mAh.
 
All the positive energy you are putting into this forum has created an imbalance in your body leading to negative discharges.
 
Anubis said:
anything, i sit at my desk and if i move my feet and touch my keyboard i shock it, it actually rebooted my comp the other day, happens even if i have my shoes on

the humidifier goes through like 6 gallons a day and it still happens
Click to expand...

Can you do it again. And post a youtube link?

I think it might be time to find a way to do some time of anti static thing for me. I move around a ton though, so I can't be clipped to anything. Do they make ESD socks?
 
dighn said:
clothing can generate a lot of static. if you happen to be well insulated from ground, all those charges can build up.
Click to expand...

I think you are right. I wear a fleece nearly every day and its for sure dry as shit.

But that doesn't explain why this only happens and happens this badly when I use those two tools at once. I want to go poking around to figure it out but I'm seriously afraid of getting nailed again.

That hurt!
 
rudeguy said:
Can you do it again. And post a youtube link?

I think it might be time to find a way to do some time of anti static thing for me. I move around a ton though, so I can't be clipped to anything. Do they make ESD socks?
Click to expand...

Kind of. You can work on an anti-static floor mat and wear an ankle strap.

Clipping on and off is a small cost compared to the heart attacks you're having and the potential of spending a lot of time figuring out which chip is bad / replacing boards because of small shocks.
 
Also, some devices, just due to the way they operate, especially in the winter with extremely dry air, can develop a little bit of an external charge.

Ever hear of helicopters and planes developing static? It's basically all the time, and you have to be careful about not grounding it through your body as it's touching down.

Very different concept, but the idea is the same - a device or something can help develop a differential but it is isolated from ground for whatever reason, so that differential only builds/continues to exist - it likely never gets a chance to dissipate/ground. That is, until you ground it. Since you are almost surely isolated from ground due to rubber soles, you and the device are one. When you ground the device, it and you are both being grounded and together shed the differential.

Is there any kind of moving pieces in those? Or some kind of electromagnetic component? Or do they only do their trick by pushing electrons through coiled wire?
 
rudeguy said:
I think you are right. I wear a fleece nearly every day and its for sure dry as shit.

But that doesn't explain why this only happens and happens this badly when I use those two tools at once. I want to go poking around to figure it out but I'm seriously afraid of getting nailed again.

That hurt!
Click to expand...

i hate static and ground myself religiously using parts that are not likely to hurt (e.g. back of my hand or wrist watch). are you wearing a grounded strap at all times? if you are then you cannot be the source of the static. it may be that those tools somehow develop a charge over time like destrkor said.
 
rudeguy said:
Can you do it again. And post a youtube link?

I think it might be time to find a way to do some time of anti static thing for me. I move around a ton though, so I can't be clipped to anything. Do they make ESD socks?
Click to expand...

id rather not, i dont wanny fry something
 
dighn said:
i hate static and ground myself religiously using parts that are not likely to hurt (e.g. back of my hand or wrist watch). are you wearing a grounded strap at all times? if you are then you cannot be the source of the static. it may be that those tools somehow develop a charge over time like destrkor said.
Click to expand...

If it happened other when I used those two together, I could believe that I am the source. I never wear grounding straps though and its never been an issue before.

I know both the soldering iron (x-tronic 5040) and the desoldering gun (Aoyue 474a) are both ESD safe. But maybe because they are esd safe, the board has a little charge and I have some charge, it makes a perfect storm for static?

By the way....does anyone know exactly how much electricity would have to go through a bullet to set it off? Asking for a friend of course.
 
rudeguy said:
If it happened other when I used those two together, I could believe that I am the source. I never wear grounding straps though and its never been an issue before.
Click to expand...

it's hard to say exactly what's going on without seeing your environment and sequence of actions. maybe it's the desoldering gun. do you ever use it by itself? maybe it's better grounded so it provides a better discharge path, or maybe it's imbuing a static charge on you somehow. best way to check is to keep yourself grounded and see if it still happens.
 
Is this a static shock or an actual electric shock? If it's an actual electric shock maybe you got an outlet that's reverse polarity or a bad ground or something and there's a potential between the two soldering irons, or perhaps between the soldering iron and the station, so when you touch it you get zapped.

Take a volt meter and start testing different points to see if you get a voltage.
 
rudeguy said:
from what though?.
Click to expand...

It's from the knitted alpaca wool ball warmers you're using to protect The Boyz from the polar vortex.


Edit for pictorial Justice
a7a5amyj.jpg
 
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You have to raise the room humidity above 10-15% to stop these static discharges. Either stop heating the room so much or use a humidifier. Maybe even a little waterfall running the background would aerate enough water into the air to raise the humidity. I bet the room temperature is well above 68F.
 
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