Running a PC outside of a computer case

[Meat Plow]

Meat Plow Inscribed thus:


I would suspect that based on the OP question, that might not be a safe
assumption.

I don't disagree. But then you and I have been doing this kind of work
for a good many years. I'll bet that you will have had odd failures,
particularly in the early years that you couldn't explain. ;-)

I've damaged things with ESD. Just because myself or anyone else didn't
bring it up in this thread until you did does not make you any better.
Comprende?

I found your reply a bit acerbic and degrading to the group denizens who
might have a few hundred years of combined electronics service
experience.

 

[Meat Plow]

I am assuming grounding myself on the grounded PSU case would be
sufficient, correct?

Dan

Keeping a hand on an earth ground always helps. Don't forget before you
remove or add components to the mainboard to allow the 5 volt supply to
drain. Most mainboards have a green LED to indicate when it's safe to
make hardware changes.

 

[William Sommerwerck]

Don't forget before you remove or add components to the

mainboard to let the 5V supply drain. Most mainboards
have a green LED to indicate when it's safe to make
hardware changes...

....the light being off, being the indication.

 

[Baron]

D Inscribed thus:

I am assuming grounding myself on the grounded PSU case would be
sufficient, correct?

Dan

The point being that any potential difference between you and whatever
you are handling must be minimised. Its easy to generate more voltage
on your body than a semiconductor device can tolerate. Simply getting
up from a chair or opening a postal packet can often be more than
enough to generate damaging voltages.

As William mentioned anti static wrist bands help by equalising the
potential difference between two points. The nasty thing about damage
to semiconductors is that the damage doesn't always appear straight
away and can cause creeping failures.

 

[Mark Zacharias]

Meat Plow Inscribed thus:


Ignorance ! An awful lot of the new build failures that I see are from
people who have no understanding of how easy it is to cause damage to
components simply from not being aware that damage can occur during
handling.

It seems that all made the assumption that the OP is aware of this. The
original question suggests that the OP isn't !

I don't think static is a common failure mode of bipolar devices. And no,
I'm not saying it never happens, anything is possible. Just not common,
that's all.

Mark Z.

 

[D]

I don't think static is a common failure mode of bipolar devices. And
no, I'm not saying it never happens, anything is possible. Just not
common, that's all.

Mark Z.

Well, I'm not a professional like many of the people here, but I have to
say I have done a fair bit of work on the numerous PC's I have owned
(including replacing a bunch of those infamous leaky caps on a couple
MOBOs a few years back), and so far, I haven't had any difficulties.
I'm not saying it's impossible, but I would also think it's pretty rare.
I now live in Seattle which, being more temperate compared to the
winters when I was in central Ohio, seems relatively low-static (less
use of central heating). I haven't had any trouble yet just grounding
myself periodically and being careful.

Dan

 

[William Sommerwerck]

I now live in Seattle which, being more temperate compared to

the winters when I was in central Ohio, seems relatively low-
static (less use of central heating). I haven't had any trouble
yet just grounding myself periodically and being careful.

I live outside Seattle, and can't remember the last time I built up a charge
walking across the carpet. The RH (when it isn't raining!) is relatively
low, but doesn't seem to contribute to static build-up. I never turn on the
heat, even during cold weather, which keeps the RH from being driven even
lower.

 

[baron]

Mark Zacharias Inscribed thus:

I don't think static is a common failure mode of bipolar devices. And
no, I'm not saying it never happens, anything is possible. Just not
common, that's all.

Mark Z.

I agree static damage to bipolar semiconductors is less likely than it
is to cmos ones since they don't have an intrinsic insulation layer to
puncture.

 

[baron]

D Inscribed thus:

Well, I'm not a professional like many of the people here, but I have
to say I have done a fair bit of work on the numerous PC's I have
owned (including replacing a bunch of those infamous leaky caps on a
couple MOBOs a few years back), and so far, I haven't had any
difficulties.

Good ! Its nice to hear of successful outcomes.

I'm not saying it's impossible, but I would also think
it's pretty rare.

Its all relative. You see only the machines that are yours. To someone
who sees 30, 40 or more machines a week it can appear quite common !

I now live in Seattle which, being more temperate compared to the
winters when I was in central Ohio, seems relatively low-static (less
use of central heating). I haven't had any trouble yet just grounding
myself periodically and being careful.

Dan

Its wise to be aware of this invisible hazard and to take precautions to
avoid causing damage.