[rodeognome]

Have you ever damaged computer components by your own Electro Static Discharge.

All the computer repair book authors seem to treat it very seriously - like all hell will break
loose if you are not earthed ?

What are your real world stories \ experiences on this topic?

[Zaney1]

It's real, trust me! That's why all components come in anti static bags when shipping separately. I can attest to having fried 1 MOBO personally. BTW they taste much better steamed.

[rodeognome]

Originally Posted by Zaney1

It's real, trust me! That's why all components come in anti static bags when shipping separately. I can attest to having fried 1 MOBO personally. BTW they taste much better steamed.

well - whats the story? how did you fry it?

[Jackiefrost9]

We had this one place we used to go to LAN, and whenever you walked around the room you had to touch the bottom of your desk or you would shock your computer.
I shocked mine 3 times, it still works.
I've also hit the motherboard twice when it was on with a screwdriver, it shut off but all was good.
That was my old computer.
I've shocked my new one twice. Both were on the motherboard when I was shorting the 2 power sw pins to turn it on, well I missed and hit a capacitor and then I did it again and hit the motherboard itself. It still works.
I guess I'm really lucky, but that's my story.

[JohnWill]

It's possible, but assembled devices are more robust than you might imagine. Individual components are easier to damage with ESD. I've nuked a couple of chips with ESD, but I've yet to lose any major equipment.

One hidden issue of ESD is that it will sometimes weaken a part and cause a premature failure that won't be attributed to ESD, so it's best to take it seriously.

[rodeognome]

john, so would you "earth" yourself everytime you go near a pc or components?

[Jackiefrost9]

If you know static is a problem where you work then yeah, ground yourself.

[ferrija1]

I haven't heard of anyone damaging components by ESD but I would still be a little careful.

[Zaney1]

Originally Posted by rodeognome

well - whats the story? how did you fry it?

Well... I had an old PC sitting around and thought I would upgrade the MOBO & processor, give my daughter her own PC in her room. Everything was fine until I decided to upgrade the processor fan. I noticed a lot of dust in the tower & decided to start clean. To make a long story short I put it back together without wearing my ground strap & the MOBO was damaged. I'm certain it was the MOBO because I replaced that alone & proceeded without problem. I'm certain it was ESD because I'm anal retentive and usually, almost always, wear my strap. Johnwill is right,however, that in most cases the damage is gradual when it occurs.

[Jackiefrost9]

you would have felt a shock if it was esd

[Zaney1]

Not necessarily ! There is static electricity exchanged between your body & other objects constantly & it is not always an amount sufficient to be detected.

[Yankee Rose]

I changed the RAM in a system on a carpeted floor years ago and shorted out the mobo. First and last time I'll ever do that.

I always use a anti-static wrist strap now, and my wooden workbench.

[gotrootdude]

Lost/fried/killed:
1 stick DDR (didn't even notice, just unplugged and moved to different machine while holding the chips without grouding myself on both cases.)
1 1700+ Athlonxp (touched the pins and watched a spark.) (Note: I also blew one of these cpu's up while holding a heatsink down on it to test a motherboard by swapping cpu's, guess I wasn't making good contact with the core. Luckily, it wasn't my cpu, I borrowed it and the owner didn't care. )

I've built possibly around 100 machines though, so these are isolated incidents. (Building PC's is like having sex. Once you start, you don't want to stop, and you keep trying to perfect it) JohnWill is right when he says assembled components are surprisingly robust. Still, I should probably ground myself more often when handling parts.

[JohnWill]

Originally Posted by rodeognome

john, so would you "earth" yourself everytime you go near a pc or components?

I try to touch the case first when it's dry and static is an issue.

I lied, I forgot about one MB that I took out with a USB FLASH drive connection and static. I went to plug the USB drive into the front connection and drew a nice arc. The drive didn't work, and when I went to reboot, the machine refused to recognize any disks existed! I got a replacement MB on warranty, but it was a major PITA, since I had to move over to a backup machine, restore all my stuff and environment, etc. It can happen, and you should take precautions.