i've watched a ton of people build PC's and ive never seen someone use these before. whats the point and is it even worth it?
i've watched a ton of people build PC's and ive never seen someone use these before. whats the point and is it even worth it?
25 Comments
Nope. They are essential especially in low humidity environments.
As an European I just touch a wall outlet before working on electronic.
Working barefoot is also an alternative if at home.
If for some reason you’re a fucking animal and are building a PC on a carpet while wearing socks and a wooly sweater on the driest room to ever exist, that will make sure you don’t destroy your PC with static discharges.
its not, unless its a wireless version.
I worked with MOSFETs during high school apprenticeship, they are really vulnerable to static charge, we used special bootstraps that grounded us and also the ground itself was grounded. Talk about grounding… So ye, this one should work considering you connect it to something that is grounded, like a radiator of central heating or such. Might be overkill for PC parts, they have some basic protection in place, but if you shock say CPU chances you fucked it up are there.
They are not a scam. I wear them often professionally, if I work if delicate electronic parts. The topic here is [ESD protection](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrostatic-sensitive_device). If they are correctly connected, they will discharge electrostatic charge. The question is more if they are needed. Many of today’s electronic components have integrated ESD protection. Also, components soldered to a PCB with other components are less susceptible to ESD damage.
A ESD discharge can kill an electronic component immediately. Or the trickier case, just reduce the lifetime of a component and create an early failure of the device. So, you can have an ESD discharge with no immediate effect. But then components maybe fail early in a few years. And this is often not recognized as an issue caused by an ESD event during the build time.
Scam no, it does what it states. Do you need one building today with all the extra protections we have now put in place over many decades of dealing with discharge. Likely you will be fine, but that is not a 100% guarantee, sorry. Low humidity adds to static discharge effectiveness and the rate at which it can occur (just science facts don’t get upset at messenger) Today most companies use antic static mats (floor and desktop) if they are worried about this. If you use common sense and ground yourself to metal here and there you are not likely to see anything at all happen. That doesn’t mean it can’t or it wont though. Never lul yourself into that belief it cant happen to you, it can.
Gamers Nexus did a special on these for wireless wrist straps
They are a device that performs a function correctly that was once essential and is now mostly unneeded.
My uncle toasted a motherboard with the tip of a screwdriver once. He heard the arc and that was enough for him to never do it again. The cost in time and materials is way, way less than if you ever have an issue.
No, not a scam.
They are not but most people don’t need them. Just touch a radiator or a metal shelf before assembling your PC and you’ll be fine.
Scam? No. But chances are you dont need it whatsoever
Just build your pc barefoot and away from carpet
No, but if your working with modern hardware you dont actually need one
A true grounding strap is not scams. But for the most part, there is no need for them. If you do use one, you need to make sure you connect to the ground. Hooking to just the case does not do the trick. When I use it, I just plug a psu into the wall and make sure the switch is off
They are not a scam and are actually required PPE in a lot of egineering labs I work in, sometimes combined with anti-static coats. Even static discharge low enough that you don’t feel it could potentially damage sensitive equipment. If you live in an environment where you regularly feel static shocks touching things, then these can genuinely save your equipment and are well worth the money.
They aren’t a scam, but they need to be connected to something that’s grounded and conductive. Attaching them to something like a wooden desk would be useless. In the lab I used to work in, we had esd lab coats, esd foot covers, esd wrist bands like showed here, and special esd desks that we plugged the wrist strap into that were grounded. You don’t need one to build a pc though.
Yeah their bullshit
Scam? No
Needed? Also no
They’re not a scam. Newer technology is much more resistant to static electricity which may make it feel like a scam. Touching your chassis or some sort of metal to ground yourself first is also acceptable before building.
At least in England pretty much all radiators are grounded so just touch one
I touch the case first before grabbing a part. So far no whammies.
Touching the case before grabbing or installing components does the same thing.
The education says that even undetectable shocks damage circuitry
So, take that as you will.
It’s not a scam… the odds of you frying your shit is just so low that nobody cares to use them.
Scam? No.
Unnecessary unless you’re an idiot? Yes.