How sensitive are computer parts?

Dolby

Dolby

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For the last few yeasr if I've needed to install PCI cards, RAM and do any tinkering the PC, I've just done it. I hold the cards on the green boards and the RAM whereever it's most comfortable.

The IT guys at work saw me holding something incorrectly and told me about the static and telling me how sensitive the parts are. They said RAM is especially sensitive :/

They have me worrying whenever I see something out of 'anti static sleeves' and stuff :/

Have I been lucky over the past few years? Or are these things really as sensitive as they made out?

I'm handling everything like a bomb right now ... very carefully.
 
Dude i have worked with computers for a very long now and sure in winter static is major problem but in all my years of putting pc's together i have never worried about it and nothing has ever been damaged, some okes will tell you this or that because it is what they get taught but unless your working on pc's in winter in a full carpeted office you should not have a problem.
 
killadoob said:
Dude i have worked with computers for a very long now and sure in winter static is major problem but in all my years of putting pc's together i have never worried about it and nothing has ever been damaged, some okes will tell you this or that because it is what they get taught but unless your working on pc's in winter in a full carpeted office you should not have a problem.
Click to expand...

+1 - Never had a problem and I can't really say I handle them like a bomb, just grab em and stick it in, no big deal. I know when doing my degree we were told never to handle components without a anti static wrist band etc, blah couldn't be bothered. Hopefully one day I don't regret it :D
 
I have also never really handled pc parts with great care, when I think static might be a problem I just touch something metallic to discharge myself.
 
Off the point of static ... I sometimes wonder how much of a battering parts can take.

I usually try and connect RAM and the CPU and heatsink outside of the box because the panel on which the mobo is mounted usually flex and bend if you exert pressure on it when you push the RAM stick down.

Put sometimes it's just too much effort ... :D
 
I dont believe a static spark will do anything to the components at all. I've had sparks flying inside a pc because of a messed up PSU and NOTHING got damaged. I've had a motherboard smoke and burn because of overclocking and heat, nothing else got damaged except for the cpu & mboard. So no i dont think pc parts are sensitive espacially as some of them come with life-time warrenties!
 
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my fan clips for the cpu broke...i proceeded to to bolt it to the motherboard.seriously i did it last night,now the mobo is a bitwarped due to the pressure.All work fine except the pc runs for 30 seconds and then switches off........arrrgh heat problemo
 
VERY Sensitive!!!! :eek:

NEVER talk bad about your computer parts... they will get extremely upset and sulk for days. They are VERY sensitive and emotional!
 
dablakmark8 said:
my fan clips for the cpu broke...i proceeded to to bolt it to the motherboard.seriously i did it last night,now the mobo is a bitwarped due to the pressure.All work fine except the pc runs for 30 seconds and then switches off........arrrgh heat problemo
Click to expand...
So it all works fine . . . except that the PC only runs for 30 seconds before switching itself off. :confused:

We clearly operate under a different definition of "work fine"[sic]
 
From the little that I know, the silicone based transistors (semiconductors) are quite resistant to heat and therefore also quite resistant to errant electricity discharges, but, the capacitors (caps) and some resistors are easily blown.

Depending on the manufacturer, a RAM chip may be using caps and it may be possible for you to overcharge the cap by touching it when you are charged.

If this act does not blow the cap, and possibly the resistors attached to the cap, then there is the possibility that the cap gets nuked when you add power to the situation, while the cap is still charged with your static charge.

This could happen after the installation of a RAM chip like so:
1 - Wear synthetic material and charge yourself up.
2 - Touch the capacitor and load it up with your generated current.
3 - Plug the RAM chip in.
4 - Turn on the motherboard.
5 - The motherboard adds a careful measure of power to the cap.
6 - The motherboard's power + the leftover power from you blows the cap.

I used to wait a minimum of 5 minutes before powering up a PC after I had assembled the thing to let the caps discharge in winter in Gauteng.
 
stoke said:
From the little that I know, the silicone based transistors (semiconductors) are quite resistant to heat and therefore also quite resistant to errant electricity discharges, but, the capacitors (caps) and some resistors are easily blown.

Depending on the manufacturer, a RAM chip may be using caps and it may be possible for you to overcharge the cap by touching it when you are charged.

If this act does not blow the cap, and possibly the resistors attached to the cap, then there is the possibility that the cap gets nuked when you add power to the situation, while the cap is still charged with your static charge.

This could happen after the installation of a RAM chip like so:
1 - Wear synthetic material and charge yourself up.
2 - Touch the capacitor and load it up with your generated current.
3 - Plug the RAM chip in.
4 - Turn on the motherboard.
5 - The motherboard adds a careful measure of power to the cap.
6 - The motherboard's power + the leftover power from you blows the cap.
Click to expand...
ROFL!

Thanks for this... Funniest thing I've read all week :D

stoke said:
I used to wait a minimum of 5 minutes before powering up a PC after I had assembled the thing to let the caps discharge in winter in Gauteng.
Click to expand...
That's good advice, though
 
Ok, maybe that was a flame... My bad...

The layman's definition of charge and current:
Charge (commonly measured in Coulomb) consists of (you guessed it) charged particles. Something can be positively or negatively charged (i.e. has more holes or electrons respectively). just sitting there, the charge is just a charge.

Current (commonly measured in Amperes) is the rate at which charge flows.

RAM modules have many, many, MANY capacitors and transistors. They're extremely small. You can't touch them.

Even if you could, you wouldn't overcharge them. A capacitor has a rated voltage and current. These ratings refer to the voltage across the capacitor's terminals at full charge, and the current the capacitor is able to deliver when discharged from full. The only way to "over-charge" a capacitor is to apply a voltage greater than the rated voltage across the capacitor's terminals. If you thought the capacitor was small (and un-touchable), you should see how small the terminals are. And then to apply 0V to one terminal and your body's charge to the other... It's pretty tough to do that.

Resistors easily blown? There's some truth in this. It depends on the power rating of the resistor (which is directly related to the current, because p = iv, remember?). But still, chances of blowing a resistor without first seeing some other damage is small.
 
static electricity is a myth!

lol....ok well maybe not but iv'e never had a problem with it...

i do however try my best when plugging in a new 3D card....hehe
 
If you are in Gauteng then static is a problem and i'd suggest you take precautions. At the coast it normally isn't a probem and here in Cape Town I 've never bothered with anti-static precautions and never had a problem.
 
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