anti static wrist strap really necessary?

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iron man

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ok so i've been posting alot lately and by my questions most of you will notice that father christmas is bringing me pc parts so i can build a new rig. my question is: is an anti static wrist strap really necessary?

people say who need it to ground yourself so that static wont fsk up your pc. do i really need this?

i am going to be assembling my pc on a wooden table and my feet are definately going to be touching the TILED floor,

do i need this thing and if so, where and how much?
 
Static can be a nasty thing, but alot of the new devices can take a heck of alot of ESD. I don't use one either, but mileage varies from situation to situation.

If you are really concerned with this then what you can do is always fit the PSU first, plug it in, but leave it off and ground yourself on the casing. The PSU will remain earthed, iirc, and get rid of static that way.
 
iron man said:
ok so i've been posting alot lately and by my questions most of you will notice that father christmas is bringing me pc parts so i can build a new rig. my question is: is an anti static wrist strap really necessary?

people say who need it to ground yourself so that static wont fsk up your pc. do i really need this?

i am going to be assembling my pc on a wooden table and my feet are definately going to be touching the TILED floor,

do i need this thing and if so, where and how much?
Click to expand...
If you intend to do this without any clothing, and shed all your hair, then you should be ok without wearing a grounded anti-static wrist strap, otherwise I recommend you follow the sensible advice.

At work, I use such straps all the time, and we have anti-static mats on the workbenches and the floors as well.
 
I've been building pc's for 11 years, from a 386 to a dual-quad Xeon Skulltrail rig, and I have yet to fry a component.

Just avoid touching the connectors and open conductors on the ram/gfx/cpu and discharge yourself by touching the metal of the psu or chassis before handling the components.
 
what if i wear tekkies with a rubber sole:D

ok so these things are necessary?

and seeing as theres no diffinitive answer, would it not help to just have your feet on the ground? wouldn that make me grounded? im not arguing with your advice i would just like to know for interests sake.
 
iron man said:
what if i wear tekkies with a rubber sole:D

ok so these things are necessary?

and seeing as theres no diffinitive answer, would it not help to just have your feet on the ground? wouldn that make me grounded? im not arguing with your advice i would just like to know for interests sake.
Click to expand...
The point of being earthed, is that any electrical charge runs to ground and not into the components you are handling.

So, you could use a copper plate to stand barefoot on, and earth that plate, that would work just as well as a wrist strap. Your floor tiles are not likely to be as conductive as a wrist strap or a copper plate.
 
Earth the PSU which in turn should earth the chassis and touch that before fiddling with anything else. I mean, what you going to connect the wrist strap to anyway?
 
Earthing the PSU(plugging it in) while it's seated in the chassis causes the chassis to be earthed. So touching the chassis regularly while you're working will discharge any static charge.
 
just touch the chassis b4 you start this will discharge you and all should be good.
 
It really depends on your location. If you are in a location with low humidity and high static levels, such as Gauteng, I would strongly suggest using one. In areas of high humidity, low static, you can probably get away without one.

The real question is to weigh the cost of blowing a component against using anti-static protection.
 
There are other ways of grounding yourself. A wrist-strap is convenient, because it's constant, but if you touch grounded metal just before you work on your PC, I'm sure it's fine. I've never had any problems that way, and I've changed many CPU's.

Lightning is the most dangerous problem, in places where you get a lot of it, like KZN.
 
I fried components by touch once while working on a pc.

(PC was ON though :) )
 
I also have never used one and never will.

If you wonder around Rectron and Frontosa IT etc... none of their techies use it either.
 
Static is mostly a silent killer afik. A component can receive static and be damaged, but still function. It might just not work for the expected life exspectancy.
It might pack up over 6 months, instead of 7 years for example.

Make no mistake, static is a killer for electronics. Use any or every precaution when working with electronics.
 
ok thanks for the advice. looks like il just put my parts on a boogie board and assemble it while standing in the pool. seems safest
 
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