My Compaq has A Bestec PSU

Status
Not open for further replies.
raybay said:
The grounded wrist strap, and the three pronged connector do little or nothing for the static electricity, as it is nod derived from the electrical connections. But rather from the swirling dust and particles, magnified by the force and speed of the blower or the suction.

Static electricity follows normal electrical rules to a point. You need a build up of electrons and then a place for them to be attracted to. This movement is called current. A good wrist strap will not allow electrons to build up enough, and a good ground might just attract these dangerous electrons away from the sensitive components, to a chassis ground. A tooth brush soaked with a little WD40 will not hold a static charge. A spray mixture of water and fabric softener can dissapate static too
 
Well, it is a whole lot more complex than that, when you use the power in which a lot of particles are present. Remember your readings of Benjamin Franklin's experiments where lightning is a form of Static Electricity.
You just need to be careful, and cnogizant that a blower can destroy a computer EASILY. Millions upon millions of dollars of damage are caused yearly in corporate environments. We run such tests at industrial locations.
You can Identify such static problems, if you care, with a Static Meter such as those designed for measurement by TlectroStatics, Incoporated. We have their model 9000, which measure the amounts, as well as the polarity. It requires test equipment to determine for certain whether the static electricity can be easily dealt with... Solutions might be humidity, Ionization, grounding, induction, or others. So sometimes the wrist strip will work. However, nothing works once you have dust swirling inside a computer case with the force of a vacuum cleaner or a compressor. Most often, static electricity does not occur. But anybody who owns a repair bench is wise to have protections against it.
You can also deal with it with electronic static neutralizers, that are close to a grounded shiedl or casing... breaking down the static electricity through ionization.
You need both necessary equipment, and experience. Static electricity in this environment is the not the joke of rubbing a balloon against a wool sweater or walking across a wool carpet with leather soled shoes.
It is always dangerous to blow dust out of a case, or to extract it through suction. Sooner or later, if one continues to do this, he or she will cause a failed motherboard or other devices.
 
Canned air is expensive. I have so many systems coming through here that using it is not cost effective for me. My main work station is a grounded metal rack. My desk is where I configure and assemble motherboards. It has a grounded static mat. My wriststrap is grounded to this mat. I have a meter system that tells me if I need to change straps or mats because of wear or damage. I am sure that most technicians are fully of static electricity and it's ability to damage. Home handymen may not be so careful. I see so many failed new computer build posts on this site, that I can't imagine how the computer parts might have been mishandeled. Good building habits need to be learned, and this takes time. I have been a electronic component-level tech for over 40 years, for the Federal Government and many of it's sub-contractors. I have worked in a military clean room. Boy, did I hate that!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back