PC Hardware in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition

Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) Precautions

You’ve probably been startled by a static electric shock on a dry winter day. This phenomenon—formally called electrostatic discharge (ESD)—can destroy sensitive PC components instantly. Just because you don’t notice it doesn’t mean it isn’t there, either. Static potential must build to several thousand volts before you experience a shock, but levels of only a few hundred volts are hazardous for PCs. Worse, incremental damage may occur invisibly and is cumulative, so although any one zap may not kill a component outright, it will surely damage it and make it that much more prone to fail later on.

Although this may be off-putting, it’s really no big deal. We’ve worked on hundreds of PCs over the years, and haven’t damaged one yet, so far as we know. You can easily avoid problems with static electricity by following three rules: (1) don’t wear rubber-soled shoes or synthetic clothing, (2) work in an uncarpeted area, and (3) ground yourself to dissipate the static charge each time you are about to touch a PC component.

The first generally recommended line of defense against static is an antistatic wrist strap. One end wraps around your wrist. The other end may have alligator clips intended to connect to the PC case or power supply, or it may have a plug intended to fit a standard power receptacle. You can buy these things for a few dollars from most mail-order places. They are sometimes included with expensive chips such as processors. ...