How to properly ground an anti static wrist band


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Old 10-20-08, 02:23 PM
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How to properly ground an anti static wrist band

My son is about to start building his own computer. I bought him an anti static arm band but i'm not sure where to clip it to . Is the new case a good place?
 
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Old 10-20-08, 03:00 PM
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Normally you clip it to your antistatic floor mat or desk mat.

I've built numerous pc's and normally just wheel my chair over a piece of cardboard and touch he side of the computer case before handling the mobo or other cards. I don't use a wrist band, but there's nothing wrong with using one.
 
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Old 10-20-08, 03:12 PM
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Originally Posted by HotinOKC
Normally you clip it to your antistatic floor mat or desk mat.

I've built numerous pc's and normally just wheel my chair over a piece of cardboard and touch he side of the computer case before handling the mobo or other cards. I don't use a wrist band, but there's nothing wrong with using one.
Thx ...don't have the mat thing....so do you think just to be on the save side he could just clip it to the new metal computer case?
 
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Old 10-20-08, 03:30 PM
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Anti-stat bands are over rated for consumer use....but better safe than sorry. They have their place when working with individual chips. Yes, clip it to the case of the PC, it should be fine.
 
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Old 10-21-08, 08:26 AM
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I"ve built and worked on hundreds of pcs over the years and have NEVER used any type of anti static band, and never had a problem. As long as you touch the case before you do anything (which you usually do naturally anyway) then it discharges any static you may have on you and you'll be fine. Also it's good practice to handle cards and chips by the edges to reduce the probability of static discharge to fragile components.

Don't worry about it too much, there's realistically very little danger in harming a part with static electricity.
 
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Old 10-21-08, 05:19 PM
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Actually, there is a good probability that static electricity will hit any device you touch. Electricity wants to equalize to zero volts, and the human body will always have a different potential than the component you're about to contact.

We did tests in our shop to determine whether a wrist strap is necessary versus simply grounding yourself by touching the chassis. The wrist strap won every test.

However, the electrostatic shielding on all of the devices we tested was far above both methods of protection, provided the devices were grounded.

As I recall, grounding by touching the chassis was good for 10,000 to 20,000 volts. The wrist strap took it up to 50,000 volts. But the minimum protection of the devices was 100,000 volts, with some up to 400,000 volts. (The voltage numbers seem ridiculously huge, but remember that the current is also ridiculously low.)

Still, a wrist strap is good practice when dealing with sensitive electronic components.

If it helps to prove that point, I visited a manufacturing facility last year. Before I could walk the floor, they made me put electrostatic booties over my shoes that made electrical contact with their special flooring. I was not allowed to pick up any parts unless I attached the little snaps on the booties to the wrist band they gave me.

For the record, the largest buildup of static happens when the part is removed from the conductive plastic envelope. That's when it's critical to ground yourself.
 
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Old 10-22-08, 05:14 PM
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Great point as always Rick. I'm a Trainer/Techy in a Military Simulation facility and I'm forever replacing cards and boards. I don't do anything without the wrist strap.
 
 

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