Opening your personal computer to clean up hardware or check some of the components can be dangerous to its health. Motherboards and components such as memory, video cards, sound cards, and hard drives all contain small Integrated Circuits which are very susceptible to Static Electricity. Static Electricity is the spark you see when you touch a doorknob after walking across the floor. The problem with static electricity is if you touch a component in your computer when your body is charged up then there is what is known as an Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) across the components. ESD causes pitting of the surfaces of the components which may not cause an immediate failure but can lead to failure in the long term and cost a lot of money in replacement costs. Below are some precautions to follow as well as tips to remember when working on your computer.
1. After turning off the computer, unplug the power cord to make sure there is no power to the motherboard.
2. Capacitors can still store electric charges for a short time from the when you turned off the power switch, so it is wise to make to wait a few minutes after pulling the plug before working on your PC.
3. A properly grounded wrist strap may be gotten from an electronics store to prevent ESD. Use one of these before touching any components inside such as hard drive, video card, memory stick, etc. If a grounded wrist strap is not available then make sure you touch a grounded object such as a metal pipe to discharge any built up static so you don't "Shock" your components.
4. To avoid damage due to static electric discharge, hold circuit boards by the edges and avoid touching the individual components, wires, chips, or capacitors.
5. Place components on a grounded anti-static pad or on the bag that came with the components whenever the components are separated from the system to prevent static discharge. Remember, avoid dropping your hard disk because cylinder of the hard disk is very sensitive and it may never work again if dropped.
6. Dont ever touch the non-serviceable. When you come across labels that say "No serviceable components inside" don't take it as a challenge because its a serious statement. Remember some parts of a computer are just not meant to repaired and this label is usually seen on the power supply which isn't a good idea to try to repair. Replacement is best.
Keep in mind that failure to protect yourself can cause injuries and it can also damage your computer and the most common accident is erasing stored data (due to hard drive crash). These are simple things to remember to protect yourself, software, hardware, and most important to protect our precious stored data on our computer.
1. After turning off the computer, unplug the power cord to make sure there is no power to the motherboard.
2. Capacitors can still store electric charges for a short time from the when you turned off the power switch, so it is wise to make to wait a few minutes after pulling the plug before working on your PC.
3. A properly grounded wrist strap may be gotten from an electronics store to prevent ESD. Use one of these before touching any components inside such as hard drive, video card, memory stick, etc. If a grounded wrist strap is not available then make sure you touch a grounded object such as a metal pipe to discharge any built up static so you don't "Shock" your components.
4. To avoid damage due to static electric discharge, hold circuit boards by the edges and avoid touching the individual components, wires, chips, or capacitors.
5. Place components on a grounded anti-static pad or on the bag that came with the components whenever the components are separated from the system to prevent static discharge. Remember, avoid dropping your hard disk because cylinder of the hard disk is very sensitive and it may never work again if dropped.
6. Dont ever touch the non-serviceable. When you come across labels that say "No serviceable components inside" don't take it as a challenge because its a serious statement. Remember some parts of a computer are just not meant to repaired and this label is usually seen on the power supply which isn't a good idea to try to repair. Replacement is best.
Keep in mind that failure to protect yourself can cause injuries and it can also damage your computer and the most common accident is erasing stored data (due to hard drive crash). These are simple things to remember to protect yourself, software, hardware, and most important to protect our precious stored data on our computer.
About the Author:
Kermil J. Fogarth has excellent free reports on Tips For Buying a New Computer, or Back Up Now or Cry Later
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