Is this a meme or do people actually use these?
I've built plenty of PC's and never used one of these, never had any issues with static.
>>55242420
Better safe than sorry I guess desu senpai.
>Is this a meme
No.
> do people actually use these?
Yes.
>I've built plenty of PC's and never used one of these, never had any issues with static.
It's not for people just assembling a PC.
Building pc's? I dont know, but with electronics it is very necesary
>>55242420
yes anon, the laws of physics are memes and electrostatic discharges are memes too
>>55242420
Companies are the only people who take ESD seriously
>>55242482
Alright, I meant specifically for usage with building PC's I can see how they are vital when working with very sensitive equipment. But in my experience, pc guts are not that sensitive, hence the wristband is not needed.
Or am I just really wrong here?
>>55242420
I think its a meme, everyone always says what you said and theres no proof that a tiny static charge can damage something that normally has 600w going through it
>>55242522
i would at least consider using one while handling the motherboard
I didn`t bother to buy one of those overpriced straps. I just taped a piece of cable to my arm and the other end to a radiator. I also used the case and my chairs metal legs as a ground just to be extra safe.
>>55242444
>>55242543
I guess it wouldnt hurt to buy one, just in case. I might have just been 'lucky' that no strong ESD happened in my cases, but it could.
>>55242538
it damages chips
>>55242548
realistically all you'd need to do is just touch the radiator itself to discharge yourself prior to handling anything sensitive
oh and btw, the wire ought to have a resistance of about 1M to be of any practical use
>>55242548
I guess you haven't seen the prices of esd safe equipment before
>>55242538
>600w
of 12 Volt, as opposed to static discharge which is a fuckton more.
>>55242420
They come from a day when computer hardware was god awful expensive and wasn't available with free 2 day shipping from amazon prime.
Besides being expensive older computer hardware commonly had mosfets on the input pins of ICs and for some reason, I'm not sure why, gate protection diodes were not common. So a 50V static charge, which ain't shit as far as static goes, could puncture the metal oxide layer and ruin your $500 part.
Expectation of loss = probabillity of damaging a single pc * average damage cost * pcs handled.
So you can get away with building one pc every few years and likely not have an issue. If you repair pcs and handle 10 on a day with no humidity in a carpetted room, you're going to have a bad time.
If you're playing with a $10k giant fpga that your company had to order 6 months before they got it, then you're wearing the god damn strap.
Better safe than sorry. I assemble my PCs in an underground bunker, which is also a Class 1 cleanroom.
I'd wear one if building on carpet was my only option.
>>55242644
>If you're playing with a $10k giant fpga that your company had to order 6 months before they got it, then you're wearing the god damn strap.
Just blame the supplier if you broke it :^)
>>55242705
>we have ESD safe environment so the problem is (You)
from: the supplier
>>55242742
Yeah and they tested it before it shipped. Your company tested it when it came in and declared it good. You even documented that it worked on the 20 things you tested in your engineering journal before you finally killed it. Test data from those 20 things you tried has already been saved by automated backup chron jobs. You're so fucked.
>>55242538
>a tiny static charge can damage something that normally has 600w going through it
This just hurts to read. Please get off of /g/, you do not belong here.
>>55242420
>I've built
you just assembled, anon, you haven't built anything
>>55242858
it can though, static is just tiny lightning, its extremely fucking hot, and it can damage PCB components in tiny little ways and break tiny little things that brick the whole fucking part
a single bit of static damage on a picometer sized trace on the back of a cpu can destroy it
>>55242893
I've built more stuff that's very complicated, like CPUs and soldering them.
>>55242936
>>55243030
>tfw you're MIT and you see this picture
>>55243030
terrorist clock boy
>>55243156
aloha clockbar
>>55242420
its a meme
Use the strap. What's a few dollars compared to the cost and time you'd spend on a fried motherboard/hdd/etc. Just cause you got lucky a few times don't mean it'll hold out forever.
>>55242420
You don't want to fucking blow your resisters do you? Ffs
Total meme.
You can usually just touch the case to discharge anyways.
>>55243405
by touching the case you don't discharge yourself, all you're doing is equalizing the charge on yourself with the case
you discharge yourself with grounding
>>55242420
Not a meme, in some jobs you can get warnings towards getting fired for not using one.
>>55242548
4 dollars is over priced?
>>55242420
>but with electronics it is very necesary
This.
It's not like they were made for people popping pre-built PC components together.
They were around long before the average person had a computer and if you were actually building something out of basic components, namely FETs and anything involving them like CMOS chips you would strap on the anti-static thing or risk frying a gate and wondering why what you just spent hours building isn't working.
They aren't some sales gimmick somebody came up with to get a few extra bucks off of PC builders, they pre-date all of that and are for people actually building circuits.
>>55242538
>no proof
Wow.
Don't go into engineering. You'd never make it.
>>55243030
The interview where he's holding up the clusterfuck of cables on a board and he says "It's a media player I'm working on"
Do you think someone would do that, go onto national TV and tell lies?
I always used rubber gloves while not wearing anything made of wool. Also you can discharge yourself by touching a large and conductive piece of metal
>>55242420
Mainly used by people assembling PC components, not building PCs. They do almost nothing to regular PC building, static from your carpet isn't going to blow up your motherboard.
I've never had a hard disk fail on me, actually I think it's a myth
>>55242496
explain?
>>55243444
ok smartass, touch a faucet
why not just wear rubber gloves? or surgeons gloves?
Touch your cat or dog before you operate problem solved, if you don't have any adopt one.
It's really useful for assembling the PC and when plugging in in cards. Don't use it when putting in the processor, literally will mess it up. Just ground yourself by touching a metal light switch panel.
>>55244777
>why not just wear rubber gloves? or surgeons gloves?
Because they hold static. They are insulators.
OTOH, having a conductive path to ground while I'm working on stuff that may be live from time-to-time is risky.
>>55243105
MEME INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ?
>>55242420
If you work in some kind of job where you are constantly handling hardware, then yeah you should use it because the chances over time are pretty good you might fry something.
But just at home handing hardware? No need because we've got these things called fucking warranties.
>>55242936
>>I've built more stuff that's very complicated, like CPUs and soldering them.
How did you build a CPU?
>>55242644
What fpga cost 10k and for what do you need that much space and speed?
>tfw u handle $10k+ equipment on a regular basis and never use ESD production
Just run a piece of coax from the ground wire on an outlet to your wrist.
>>55242538
>wattage is what causes the damage.
you know a static shock can be up to 25,000 volts.
it's always the voltage that does the damage, never the watts.
>>55245930
Wtf please go to school. It the current that makes the damage. Current make heat.
>>55242420
It's not a meme, but it's not entirely necessary if all you are doing is assembling off-the-shelf equipment in a low-static environment (aka putting a PC together from shit you bought off of ebay in your living room).
But there are about a billion other uses for them that are nearly essential, like performing repair work on all kinds of sensitive electronics.
Please do not confuse plugging together plug-n-play off-the-shelf computer components in a "custom PC build" with actual construction/engineering/assembly of sophisticated, sensitive electronic hardware. If it was actually difficult, jackass 14 year-olds couldn't figure out how to do it with 20 minute youtube tutorials.
I built my and 3 buddies PC's on my bed while standing on my carpet
