How to protect your hardware from electrostatic discharge
From ArticleWorld
Static electricity is a very common phenomenon in our world. You are probably familiar to it, either because you have felt the soft tickle of touching a TV set's CRT screen, or because you had a little shock when touched a door knob after playing with your cat.
They didn't hurt you at all, but integrated circuits are very sensitive to static electricity. Electrostatic discharges can destroy computer hardware, which you should always handle with care. Therefore, there are some general guidelines for handling computer hardware:
1. Try to wear an anti-static wristband. These are very cheap and easy to find (most local electronic stores sell such things). Wear them on your wrist. They work by providing a conductive path to ground, thus capturing static charges before they get to the sensitive objects you manipulate.
- If you don't have a wristband, try to keep one hand in contact with a metallic object at any moment. If your computer's case has a bare metal frame, it will do. Of course you cannot do everything with one hand, so it is normal not to have a hand touching metal literally all the time. Also, make sure your PC is grounded. If your plug is grounded (if it is a 3-prong one), you can leave your computer plugged on, as long as its power supply is turned off (it has a switch). Otherwise, unplug it.
2. If it is possible, avoid opening a computer while standing on thick carpets. While working with hardware, do not play with your hair, with your cat or anything else that can build up static electricity. As a general note, if something can be rubbed, rubbing it will build up static charges.
3. Holding the boards from their corners and avoiding to touch electronic components on them is a good practice. The plastic they are made of is not as sensitive as the components they contain.
Notes
You may wonder how serious can the discharges be. Your body can carry up to 25,000 volts of static charge at a moment. However, because your body's electric resistance is very high, you rarely notice it until you touch a metallic object. Remember Ohm's law: the lower the resistance is and the higher the tension is, the higher the current is.