a technical poser...

I figure this is the place for some technickel advice. I have to replace a DVD RW unit in my tower. I would like to know how, and if it's necessary, to ground myself before touching anything that could result in a short that could fry components that prefer to not be fried. What say you?:distant:

I have replaced hard drives, CD-ROM, DVD-RW, CPUS, fans, memory, etc thru the years... Altho' I always worried a little, I have never had anything get fried by a static discharge. Here's the precautions I take...

Do the work on a desk/table in an uncarpeted room, and stand up or sit in a metallic chair... carpets and upholstered or plastic chairs are the major sources of static in my environment.

After you carry the tower to your work place, plug it into a properly grounded power outlet. Touch the back/chassis of the tower to ground yourself, then unplug the tower and do all your work w/o walking on any carpet or sitting in an upholstered chair...

It may not be perfect... but it has always worked for me.

After you turn off the system and unplug it, hold the power button in (or switch on) for 10 seconds or so, then turn off.

That discharges the capacitors in the power supply, which can hold charge for a surprisingly long period of time.

If it is a really dry day and you are zapping yourself when you walk across the rug and touch a doorknob, then pay particular attentions to discharging yourself.

Walking Man said:

I figure this is the place for some technickel advice. I have to replace a DVD RW unit in my tower. I would like to know how, and if it's necessary, to ground myself before touching anything that could result in a short that could fry components that prefer to not be fried. What say you?:distant:

Click to expand...

Not to dispute Gardman's input, but think of it as "insurance".
My experience is 30 years old but Apple always said wearing a grounding strap on the wrist when performing any service was mandatory in their authorized service centers.
Boards/components blown by static discharge were expressly denied warranty compensation.
If you've ever walked across a synthetic rug in tennis shoes on a cold dry day and then shocked yourself on a metal doorknob, you'll understand why.
:biggrin-new:
(oops, posted that before I saw GJM's note, lol!)

gjmalcyon said:

After you turn off the system and unplug it, hold the power button in (or switch on) for 10 seconds or so, then turn off.

That discharges the capacitors in the power supply, which can hold charge for a surprisingly long period of time.

If it is a really dry day and you are zapping yourself when you walk across the rug and touch a doorknob, then pay particular attentions to discharging yourself.

Click to expand...

I'd love to see a reference to that capacitor thing, 'cause I've never heard that one before. The PS in a PC is generally well shielded from curious fingers unless your in a laptop and even then it's pretty hard to shock yourself.

The only time I'm careful is when handling memory and most expansion cards. It isn't often that expansion cards are used anymore aside from Gamer graphics cards. Back in the '80s when I used to work on mainframes we used static straps because it was an official lab, but I've never done so at home. I've build and repaired more PCs that I care to remember going all the way back to the IBM PC and I've never ruined anything by following a simple rule: Touch the case before you start working and don't touch the edge connectors on anything.

GAD said:

The only time I'm careful is when handling memory and most expansion cards. It isn't often that expansion cards are used anymore aside from Gamer graphics cards. Back in the '80s when I used to work on mainframes we used static straps because it was an official lab, but I've never done so at home.

Click to expand...

With Apple during that era it was also that in addition to the known sensitivity of memory chips/modules, they used a high percentage of CMOS components which were supposed to be more vulnerable.
Don't know WTH anybody's using these days as far as component substrates.

GAD said:

I'd love to see a reference to that capacitor thing, 'cause I've never heard that one before. The PS in a PC is generally well shielded from curious fingers unless your in a laptop and even then it's pretty hard to shock yourself.

Click to expand...

This is more about protecting the computer components than you - since the power supply is attached to the motherboard as well as any storage devices (like the DVD-RW in question), you don't want to be pulling power and data cables that might still have a little current in them. Didn't really think about it until I had a PC case open and saw how long it took a couple of on-motherboard LED's to go dark after I unplugged the A/C cable from the power supply.

gjmalcyon said:

This is more about protecting the computer components than you - since the power supply is attached to the motherboard as well as any storage devices (like the DVD-RW in question), you don't want to be pulling power and data cables that might still have a little current in them. Didn't really think about it until I had a PC case open and saw how long it took a couple of on-motherboard LED's to go dark after I unplugged the A/C cable from the power supply.

Click to expand...

I understand why it might be a good idea. I just don't believe the "holding the power button for 10 seconds" to be a real thing. Have you ever seen this documented?

GAD said:

I understand why it might be a good idea. I just don't believe the "holding the power button for 10 seconds" to be a real thing. Have you ever seen this documented?

Click to expand...

The PS caps will discharge by themselves with or without holding the power button. Holding in the power button seems to speed up that process. Next time you have a PC case open (and the motherboard has LED's you can watch), try it. The motherboard LED's go dark much faster with the power button pressed than not.

But like I said, if you dawdle enough the caps will discharge anyway.