When we're using electricity, we're so used to plugging into
a power source and having that electricity
move through a device.
It completes a circuit.
It's able to power our equipment.
And it's constantly in motion.
But static electricity doesn't work that way.
Static electricity doesn't move at all.
The problem that you have with static electricity
is not that it exists.
The problem is when it decides to actually move
and discharge itself.
That's when you start to have problems with equipment.
When you look at computer components especially, those
are extremely sensitive to electrostatic discharges.
You can see an example of this from NASA's JPL.
They have an electron microscope that they use to
look at what the damage actually is.
You obviously wouldn't be able to see this
with the human eye.
But you can clearly see that there are problems when you
have a static electricity discharge.
If you start doing the measurements of this, you can
feel a static discharge when you rub your feet across a
carpeted floor and touch a doorknob.
You'll feel it at about 3,500 volts.
When you start to damage a component however, you don't
need anywhere near that type of voltage.
You can have as little as 100 volts or less, and you've
already created a problem.
You've already damaged that very
sensitive electronic equipment.
There are many different ways to control
electrostatic discharge.
One way is to keep the humidity in a room or an area
somewhere around 60% humidity and higher.
The problem you have of course is when you're working with
electronic equipment or even when we are working in an
office environment, it's air conditioned.
And that air conditioning itself is pulling humidity out
of the air.
So that's not always the best possible scenario, and our
electronic equipment doesn't like to sit
in very humid areas.
And it's uncomfortable for us to work in.
So perhaps that's not the best way to prevent ESD.
But obviously in very humid areas, there's not as much ESD
of an issue as it would be in areas where there wasn't as
much humidity.
When you're working with your computing equipment, there's a
very easy things you can do to help minimize the instances of
electrostatic discharge.
One is when you're working with your computer to of
course always disconnect it from a power source.
You don't want to have any part of you directly connected
to anything that might be with a wall outlet or power source.
Before you touch any of the components inside of your
computer, simply touch a part of the exposed metal case
surrounding it.
This will create a equilibrium of electrical potential
between yourself and what you're working on.
And if there is any type of ESD it will be on the metal
case, which of course isn't going to be affected by any
type of electrostatic discharge.
A good best practice is to never touch directly those
components that are on your adapter cards or your memory
chips or anything else that's inside of your computer.
If there was an electrostatic discharge, it would obviously
go directly from you into that component.
Instead, simply hold the edges of the device
you're working on.
That way if there is an electrostatic discharge it's
going to go into the edge of the component, and hopefully
not affect the actual components themselves.
Another best practice to minimize ESD is to use an
electrostatic pad or to stand on an electrostatic mat.
These devices are commonly connected to the electrical
ground that's on the power supply coming
right out of the wall.
But it's important to remember that these devices have
resistors inside of them that will prevent any type of
voltage from ever getting to you.
It's important to keep in mind that you should never directly
connect to any type of electrical wall outlet.
Always use something like this devices that are specifically
designed to connect only to the ground.
And they're designed to protect you from any type of
voltage discharge.
If you're removing components from inside of a computer and
you're taking them somewhere else, you're obviously not
going to be on an electrostatic mat or
electrostatic pad or even be protected from any type of ESD
as you travel from point A to point B. So you want to use
something like this.
This is an anti static bag, and this bag will help protect
these components from any type of ESD as you're moving them
from place to place.