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View Full Version : Question about static electricity...

Denart
10-24-2006, 02:39 AM
I just bought an internal harddrive and on all these "how-to-install" websites, they are warning me about the damages that static electricity can do...

They tell you to constantly ground yourself by touching the power outlet but that sounds too risky...another method they had was to buy a "grounding-wrist-band"

but if I simply wear latex gloves, would that be fine?

Thanks!

:)
RiKToR
10-24-2006, 04:54 AM
I think latex gloves will do it. It is a risk but not as big of a concern as they make it out to be, I have built machines with no static protection... The anti-static wristbands are cheap if you are that worried about.
UrbanFuturistic
10-24-2006, 07:55 AM
but if I simply wear latex gloves, would that be fine?I dunno, you might look a little weird :p

But seriously, if you just touch a metal part of the case before handling any components or taking the new hard drive out of the anti-static bag that should ground you sufficiently.
Srek
10-24-2006, 08:39 AM
Latex? Not a good idea. Latex is a pretty good insulator and therefore NOT advisable. The whole idea behind grounding is to get rid of electric charges, not isolating them.
Simply touch a faucet or any other large or grounded metal object before handling.
Cheers
Björn
RiKToR
10-24-2006, 12:36 PM
Ok dont use latex... Im not a electrician. Again its not really a big deal touch your tower or something thats already grounded. Dont wear wool socks and run around your carpet before doing it and you should be fine.
GregHess
10-24-2006, 05:25 PM
Just touch the case or any ground point periodically while working. I actually do wear gloves, but only when working with the cpu/hsf interfaces. A misplaced greasy finger can prevent thermal paste from creating a proper thermal interface between a hsf/cpu. Always wipe mounting surfaces with 100% alcohol prior to applying paste to ensure there isn't any skin cells or burger king left on the cpu surface.
Denart
10-24-2006, 05:48 PM
ok then. latex gloves are out. thats good because I don't even have one. haha

I'll stick with the "touching metal part" to ground myself...about how many minutes should I re-ground myself?


I'm concerned because I'm pretty sure I messed my last harddrive thru static shock....

:)
GregHess
10-24-2006, 07:18 PM
You'd have to zap a harddrive in just the right section of the pcb to do any real damage. Static electricity is most dangerous to system memory, such as DDR/DDR2/SDRAM etc.
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