ESD Computer Damage , How can you reduce the risk ?

ESD Computer damage is one of the most common reasons for hardware failures in computers - ESD or Electro Static Discharge can damage just about any electronic component is less than a second, make sure your computer is protected against static electricity damage.

How many people give a thought to Electro Static Discharge ESD computer damage , come on be honest , I’ll admit sometimes I’ve not bothered and never had a problem , that was until I was fitting a new screen on a laptop,

I just felt a small electrical crack, and hey presto a non working screen.

The cost of this was around $400. So from now on I earth myself, Always.

Ever stepped out of your car and got an electric shock, this is usually caused by cloth seats or the steering wheel ? , this is the same principal , sometimes the shock can be as much as a pin prick.  Of course like any device , including your car you just need to earth yourself . “ for your car or vehicle just hold the metal part of the door before you step onto the ground outside your vehicle, this will discharge all static ..

When it comes to electronic components , you probably won’t feel a static shock , but the electronic components will , static can easily be fatal to electronic components.

Most static eliminators on the market that cost next to nothing, so it’s really not worth taking the risk.

To earth yourself there are a couple of methods , the first static eliminator is an anti-static wrist band, these generally come with motherboards and some other components, this then has to be connected to the metal part of something that is earthed.

Anti Static wrist band can be obtained for next to nothing from most decent computer stores.

computer-adviser.com esd computer damage article


The second method although not as good as the wrist band , but will still greatly reduce the risk of ESD damage.

To earth yourself just touch something that is earthed.

If you move around or walk away from where you are working , you’ll need to earth yourself again.

It does not harm to earth yourself every few minutes to be on the safe side in any case.

By earthed I mean an electrical device that has an earth connection.

Any part of a electrical device which comes in contact with you must have be earthed connection, this includes , all electrical appliances.

To earth yourself you just need to touch a device such as this.

You could always earth yourself by touching the metal side of your computer , but you have to have the mains cable plugged in to earth properly , then you’ll have to remove the mains cable before you perform any kind of hardware work on this computer.

Most modern computers have a small current running through them, even when they are powered off , which can cause damage if left in while you add or remove any components.

If your computer has a power switch on the rear by the power supply use this,

otherwise you’ll have to remove the power cable either from the power supply or the wall socket.

The reason for the small current is due to the soft boot type of computers , this also gives you the option of remotely switching your computer on over a network.

Words can’t express how frustrating it can be to get a great piece of hardware such as a flashy graphics or sound card, and suffer ESD computer damage , make sure you reduce the risk of this happening to your computer.

Need help installing hardware ? checkout our install and buyers guides

computer-adviser.com ESD computer damage article , use one of the above static eliminator suggestions to reduce the risk of static and computers

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