Latex Gloves and ESD

[Goldstandard]

I have been thinking about something. I worry constantly about Electrostatic discharge when handling components, but I hate using the wristband. I had a thought recently about using rubber gloves. Since rubber can block electricity maybe latex gloves would prevent static from harming components. Does this seem like a good idea to you?

 

[envy]

very good question actually..

 

[Malpine Walis]

I would worry about latex actually. You can produce a fair amount of static charge by rubbing a balloon and that is also latex. In any case, you don't really need the grounding strap unless you are soldering. Just touch a cold water pipe if you have one near where you work of the exposed metal of your case after you take off the cover. Or if you are like me, I tend to have extra PSUs around and if one is plugged in, touching the enclosure should be a good ground as well. Be very careful with live PSUs. We want you to come back and help other people one day when you learn this stuff like the rest of us have.

 

[WejRepus]

i never wear a strap, and have never killed anything by just doing what malpine said...

 

[FoxBat]

i never wear a strap, and have never killed anything by just doing what malpine said...

Same here.

 

[JoT]

i never wear a strap, and have never killed anything by just doing what malpine said...

Ditto. I just touch my case, though. Never ever had an ESD problem.

 

[Goldstandard]

Thanks. I guess I was worrying about nothing then.

 

[Diggrr]

Latex gloves would have the same problem, because then you would be a statically charged capacitor, with the gloves as the dielectric.

Wether your case is unplugged or not (grounded or not), really doesn't matter. The point is that if you touch the case, you and the computer have equalized charge potential, therefore there's no shock to you or a component. Static shocks occur when two bodies with different potentials come into contact with each other. It doesn't matter what the actual voltages are, only that they are different.
For example, if you and the computer are both at 3,000 volts potential, there wouldn't be a static discharge. But if you are 3,000 volts higher or lower than the computer, there will most certainly be one when you touch it.
3,000 volts is not an unlikely number either, as a simple styrofoam coffee cup can transfer up to 3,500 volts static potential to you, carpeting can be even higher. Some components only need a 50 volt discharge to fry or scramble stored data (like bios chips).

Simply leaning your forearm on a case edge while working is plenty enough to remain safely equalized with your computer case.
If you do use a ground strap, hook it to the case, not a separate ground. A grounded strap only works if the object your touching is also grounded (zeroing the potential difference between you and it).

Have a great night, ya'll!

 

[MrBrian]

I dont beleive in the static electricity kills stuff crap. To prove it that I didnt beleive in it to my brother when I first got my 9800 pro before eeven plugging it in I rubbed my feet with socks on accross the floor then touched it, I took a baloon rubbed it accross my hair then touched the card agaist my hair and the baloon, then I rubbed the baloon onto the card, then I rubbed my feet on the floor for about 10 mins WHILE doing the baloon thing and touched it all over. The thing is fine and still working strong. =)

 

[w00p]

But it probably won't survive longer than a year...

 

[Diggrr]

Lucky once does not mean that it can't happen.

Example:
As a supervisor at a laser manufacturer, I was scrapping alot of circuit boards that turned up during second shift. The lasers simply wouldn't power up. Rework on the boards proved bad cpu's on a majority.
Investigation on my part turned up the fact that the humidifier for the assembly room (static safe area ) wasn't working...yeah, something that simple. Humidity had dropped to 30%.
Scrap rate went back to the usual 1-2 per shift (from bad sm components) the next evening.

If you've ever used an ESD meter as I have, you'd be amazed at the voltages things can have on them. A discharge through a circuit is exactly the same as plugging them into that same voltage and running them.
Have a 3,000 volt feed to your ATI?....You can....

From the sound of it, your experiment wasn't perfect either. If you'd had the board in your hand while scuffing the carpeting, then plugged it into the slot without touching so much as a finger to the case, you would be singing a different song. It helps too, that the bracket on the card is able to shunt the charge to the case without going through circuitry as soon as it's touched at the contacts (most of the time).
That's probably why my ATI had a ground wire on the heatsink.

Your gamble, bud.
One question though, if you had fried the card doing this, would you RMA it?

 

[Malpine Walis]

Hey there Brian. Welcome to the forums.

What was the weather like that day? I must ask because you have stumbled across overclockers rule #34: "You can get away with it until you can't anymore. Then it starts to get expensive". And the weather is only one of the variables. Was the card still in it's packaging? Can you be absolutely certain that you did not ground yourself before touching the card?

Oh BTW: You will not feel a spark less than about 5,000 volts (and it takes far less than that to damage stuff).

Edit: Thanks for the talk about humidity Diggrr. That was why I was asking about the weather. We haven't had any dry days around here since the frost broke.

 

[FoxBat]

Yup, don't mess with the static man!

A few weeks ago I was playing a game of "shuffle across the carpet and sneak up to the girlsfriend's earlobe and ZAPOLA!"
Well It cost me. Not only was there no nookie that night, but I also noticed that my el-cheapo $10 watch was completely dead, and it had been working fine just before.

So heed the advice friends. Touch case, ground yourself out, pick up your feet and don't shuffle (while you at it sit up staright!) and NEVER zap the girlfriend!

 

[MrBrian]

I dont think that im lucky I just dont think that the small amounts of electricity that I produce when im working on computers could not damage any parts that im working with. Although when im not trying to prove my brother wrong I do touch my case occasionaly just because it makes me feel all warm inside.

Diggrr: I would NOT have RMA'd it. I cant stand it when people do things like that and all it does is hurt the consumers in the end. I would have taken responsibility for my dumb actions.

Malphine: I live in southern california and it was about 90 F and pretty dry but not THAT dry. I dont have a humidifer in my house. Thanks for the welcome Ive been lurking around here just looking for awhile before I chose to become a active poster. =)

 

[Diggrr]

That's cool. I wasn't trying to be harsh. I was a supervisor for Laser Alignment/Leica Geosystems, and we made $500 to $100,000+ laser systems for the construction industry. With the price of parts and labor that went into those things, they were very adament about ESD, soldering skills, and calibrated equipment. Three things I was charged with following up on.


Southern Cali, eh? Mind sending up one of those hot babes ya'll got laying around?...FedEx does overnite
Michigan's been nothing but muggy for months, but I've got AC to keep her cool...