I am about to install 2 internal components in my cpu.
I have heard that static discharge can damage these components during installation. On the other hand, I watched a video of a tech installing a SATA drive without any mention of damage from static discharge.
Exactly how significant is this problem?
If I rub my fingers on the metal case every 30 seconds or so, will this alleviate this problem?
Thanx.
Generally yes, pick up the part with one hand, touch the computer case (a metal part of course) with the other hand, you are now safe to touch the two parts together.
There are a ton of caveats to that but that'll at least save you 99.9% of the time :)
An anti static wrist strap is a good idea if you're working in a computer regularly. You'll want to discharge static before you pick up components or stick your hands inside a computer case. The computer case (for a desktop PC) needs to be plugged in to a grounded outlet. Then you can touch the metal chassis to discharge static electricity in your body. I've ruined sticks of ram before by not following static guidelines.
Harddrives don't matter much at all.
Static discharge is mainly a worry if you're going to be touching the chips, like a RAM stick or graphics card.
Discharge of static electricity i.e. electrical charge built up on you by friction can have a devastating effect at component level however things like HDD surrounded by a metal cage or similar is relatively safe provided that you are not directly touching the circuit board itself. It is generally good practice to use a wriststrap or heel strap with the recommended resistive circuit to ground when working with computer parts.
Rubber floor and bench mats, and a (known good) earth clamp fixed to the chassis...
Personally I don't buy into the earthing wrist strap theory or grounding yourself on a case that is, itself, not grounded, because the charge may have nowhere to go...
Worst thing you can have are synthetic carpets and plastic soled shoes, I've seen some really classic static discharge damage on components as diverse as motherboards, cards, memory sticks, and drive controllers...
I have seen under a microscope the effect of static discharge on a microprocessor (I used to work for Motorola) and the effect on the aluminium layer is similar to a crater formed after a meteor has landed !!!! .
Last edited by ibshaw; 10 Feb 2012 at 18:30.
Thank you all for the assistance.
I have installed the storage drive successfully, and formatted it.
Next I must install a tv tuner card in a PCI-E 1x slot. As mentioned previously, I expect static discahrge will be more of a danger in this case. I have a wrist strap, but have found it somewhat constraining; however, I will wear it anyway. I will follow your instructions during the installation. I am on a wooden floor, no carpeting.
Then, I wish to install an internal floppy drive in the expansion bay on my cpu, from my old Dell Dimension desktop. I have many 3.5" diskettes I wish to access.
I actually have 2 of these floppies. The first I purchased from a local supply shop. The cabling they supplied did not fit the Dell; I ended up ordering the unit from Dell anyway. I expect one of these will work with my HP Pavillion a4310f computer.
However, I have been unable to locate information concerning this on the HP website. The Dell installation was simple; I am hoping this will be also.
Any suggestions on what sort of difficulties I may encounter?
"Idle hands do the Devil's work", or so I've heard.
I am endeavering to stay as busy as possible.
Thank you again.
3.5" floppy drive = easy install. One end of the ribbon cable attaches to the motherboard, the other to the drive. The stripe on the edged of the cable designates pin #1 on the connector. You align that with an arrow or 1 marked on the mobo. Then connect the floppy drive power connector.
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