Is this Crazy?

[bharatwaja]

if its an off topic post please excuse... couldnt really figure out where this wud go...

Is it absolutely necessary to wear ESD gloves when assembling?

If we dont what might happen??

Also... Could we use surgical gloves off a pharmacy shelf instead of ESD gloves? (i guess ESD is what they call it, not sure.. what is it by the way?)

 

[AmberClad]

ESD gloves?! I've never heard of such a thing. ESD wrist-straps, sure, but gloves...that's a new one.

No, it's not necessary. Just touch the back of the case occasionally to discharge yourself.

 

[Lionblade]

Of course it isn't necessary. ESD gloves purpose is to cut down on the possibility of static electicity. Just use a ground strap or continuously touch your chassis and youll be fine.

 

[bharatwaja]

what about the so called destructive oils on the surface of ur fingers and so on??

 

[jdkick]

It's a little over the top. Just handle your components gently/by the edges and don't slid your feet on carpet with a fist full of DIMMs.

 

[Tempered81]

yah and dont wear a big sweater laying on shaggy carpet covered by an aphgan with an afro wig on.

 

[bharatwaja]

Well, I dont wear shoes or socks or dont even stand on a carpet... (this is India, already dusty enough without a carpet and too hot to be wearing shoes at home )... how does this work out for me? would i be static free???

 

[BrownTown]

I've never had any problem doing stuff like changing out video cards and memmory and stuff. Especially if you never touch any of the pins and stuff there really isn't a way to fry a part. PCBs have a layer covering the traces so you can't touch them directly, so you would have to touch components and stuff. But jsut be safe and wear a wrist strap.

 

[THERESONATOR]

lol

 

[Peelback79]

Another thing that I feel is important is remember to wash and thouroughly dry your hands. As a maintanance man I can vouch for the finger oil things. But it's only with high watt halogen bulbs and small needle bearings. And then the amount of oil need to do damage is pretty high. So if you've showered in the past week you should be all right. But I'd still recommend a wash. Also, follow the advice about touching your case every once and a while. I was a little paranoind because I didn't have a wrist strap. So I sat on a metal folding chair in my skivvies too. I touched the case before installing the processor, and once for both my mem sticks, and my HD cables, and my vid card. Now that it all works I still touch my case, but it's more of an affectionate rub than a precautionary measure.

 

[themisfit610]

You will kill things from ESD. It will happen eventually. I've killed a couple motherboards and a couple RAM sticks.

By using a strap, you reduce the chances, but it can still happen (and god knows we all hate wearing the damn things).

I don't even bother. I work on a linoleum floor and a wooden table, and ground on the PSU while it's connected to the wall every time I walk away. Seems good enough, and I haven't zapped anything in awhile.

~MiSfit

 

[Mondoman]

The main issue with touching/finger oils is that you don't want to touch the actual metal contacts of items such as the CPU, PCIexpress cards, and so forth, so there is no future issue with bad electrical contact.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: bharatwaja
what about the so called destructive oils on the surface of ur fingers and so on??

Just wash your hands before and after handling computer gear, and don't touch the contacts. Ground yourself before handling stuff. That is all.

 

[james1701]

Just plug it in, and touch the outside metal case housing. This should ground you out.

 

[Boyd117]

I would say your going to have high temps on your components then a danger of installing them to ESD, since you claim its very hot where you live...

 

[bharatwaja]

Its hot where I live... but My "TECH-ONE"... that's what I call my room with my PCs and Laptops LOL... Is fully Airconditioned and I maintain an Amb temp of 18-22 C...

Always I make sure that the temps inside dont go beyond 40....

 

[Boyd117]

LOL savor the cold air for the TECH-ONE ROOM!!!

 

[hans007]

i worked at one of HPs manufacturing plants back in high school one summer. this was 10 years ago, when they were still in america ...

that said, we just got wrist straps to clamp to our desks which were grounded. most of the time we didnt even wear them as it was pretty hard to generate a lot of static in a concrete warehouse .

basically if you arent say building your computer in a carpeted area you shoudl be ok. and even then its pretty unlikely that anything will happen.


ESD= electrostatic discharge

 

[Regalk]

Been building for years on my carpeted basement floor without any strap etc. Never killed a thing in 12 years - nada, nothing, zilch

 

[bharatwaja]

Totally off topic question...

I am planning on changing the Name of my TECH-ONE room to somethng else.... Got any suggestions?

 

[bfdd]

i've never even wore the wriststraps and I can't even remember how many computers I've built. Never experienced any static problems before.

 

[ch33zw1z]

I wear the wrist strap as often as I remember. It's more likely your components will fail over time from ESD, not fry them right away.

 

[idiotekniQues]

never used a wrist strap or anything like that. i build on tables or floors, away from carpet and constantly ground myself on the case - built over 10 rigs never zapped a thing.