Do you need an anti-static bracelet when doing CPU/GPU repaste?

Simple question, simple answer (I hope)

 

I've never needed one of those for anything, in over 8 years of building systems. As long as you ground yourself to dissipate any static charge, you're fine.

Those bracelets are pretty much just a gimmick, there is absolutely no need for them.

 

the inevitable followup question - how do I ground myself

 

Touch any grounded or large piece of metal before touching any electrical component. I actually use the outer metal of my AC adapter plug (the part that goes into the computer) while it's plugged into the wall.

 

Its much more important to hold down the power button, remember to remove the battery of course, and don't drop screws on the motherboard. All of these things like at least 12x more important.

 

@audiophil: For repasting you won't need ESD protection. You only lift the heatsink and never have to touch any sensitive parts

But niffcreature has a valid point there... always do a power drain before working inside a system.

You're lucky the manufacturers try to make their CPUs and GPUs as ESD-safe as possible and add additional circuits to them to prevent damage...
As soon as you work with more sensitive or less sophisticated designed parts you are very likely to kill them when using your method.
Scratching your head can produce enough static electricity to kill an opamp or similar parts (provided you aren't bald).

Also ESD won't necessarily kill the components, it can also only damage some parts and thus shorten the life of the component drastically.

 

Excuse me?

By maintaining contact with the chassis of the PC, you are grounding yourself. You are doing the exact same thing as what those gimmicky bracelets do.

Don't tell me that I'm "lucky" that something hasn't gone wrong. No, i just know what I'm doing.

 

No matter how many times you got away without an anti-static strap, you need only a single attack of ESD to spoil it for you.

 

Nonsense, most cases aren't even conductive since they're painted, and just touching a conductive surface before you start working won't safe you from ESD.

+1

 

Short answer in "NO". I have installed lots of CPU's and repasted the gpu with no problems,,I just installed an upgrade CPU and pasted the cpu and gpu with Arctic Silver 5,,here is the instructions to the job,now your an expert.lol

Arctic Silver, Inc. - Intel® Application Methods

+1

You're All Welcome

Cheers
3Fees

 

It's only the instructions for application method for Arctic Silver and not for changing CPU, they don't care whether you brick your motherboard or not, it's up to you.

 

If you constantly hold the chasis then it's exactly the same as having an anti static strap. You can't assume that any piece of metal on a laptop is grounded, but the internal chasis will always be grounded since the motherboard is screwed onto it with grounded screw holes.

I used to use an anti static strap but then just got fed up with it since touching the chasis is easier and also because I never touch the traces or contacts on electronics. If someone even knows a "friend of a friend" who's managed to brick a computer through ESD then I'd be impressed.

 

Did i say case? No, i absolutely did NOT say case, i said CHASSIS. The chassis of a case is the bare-metal foundation.

I also didn't say "touch", did i? No, i very specifically said MAINTAINING CONTACT.

Please, don't try and tell what i do or do not do, not unless you're looking over my shoulder watching me, and not when I do this professionally.

Thank you, that's EXACTLY what i said.

 

My 2 cents: work barefoot. Boom, grounded.
<ESD-free for 15 years and running>

 

30 years of PC builds and repairs tells me no. As others have said, ground yourself first, and don't scuff your feet on the carpet.

And even though the shell of a case may be painted, static electricity can easily jump through that unless it's a rubberized paint.

 

Most cases are plastic and on laptops with an outer metal casing, I would seriously doubt that it is connected to the motherboard's ground since it really can't be grounded when unplugged.

 

Well ground yourself on something OTHER than the laptop, unless it's a desktop, even then, I just ground my self on a metal pole in my basement near my workshop.

 

Nope, you're still doing it wrong

Spoiler

First of all, don't take everything as a challenge to your skill or whatever. Yes, you know what you're doing, I'm sure - you're working on laptops. Laptops which are not particularly sensitive to ESD.

However, you say, "the chassis of a case is the bare metal foundation". This says to me in fact that you are either very inexperienced, or exclusively work on certain laptops. VERY few laptops have a metal chassis. The chassis is NOT the 'foundation' its the entire case.

Many laptops have NO significant metal in the case whatsoever, not even shielding or support for the palmrest!

So I ask (rhetorically) what laptops do you work on professionally? How much exactly does it take to convince you something is metal or plastic?

Now, all this disregarding the fact that again laptops are not particularly static sensitive these days... Not to mention, no one has told you what to do, and if they did, isn't that a large part of your profession? Disregarding how other people tell you to run your business?

In conclusion, stop listening to us enthusiasts, computer science majors, OCD technicians or whatever we are and go continue repairing the laptops of the masses as you think best, few of us have the willpower or resolve to do such things, and your services are much needed and appreciated.

Next time you find yourself failing to hand solder an OP amp you know where to find us.

 

I'm sorry, but exactly WHERE did i say i work on laptops? Please, show me WHERE because i'd love to know. It must be there somewhere, right? Otherwise you wouldn't have written such a well thought-out post in response?

Let me quote myself - "... in over 8 years of building systems...". I build, repair & maintain PC's.

Why are all of the "experts" on this forum lacking the fundamental ability to read and comprehend simple English? Absolutely nowhere in this entire thread have i mentioned anything about laptops.

If you "enthusiasts, computer science majors, OCD technicians" have even the SLIGHTEST idea of how electricity works, then you know exactly why an anti-static strap is a worthless gimmick, and how the EXACT same result can be achieved just by keeping yourself grounded.

 

Why are you getting so mad? Why is it so absurd that someone would think that you're talking about laptops on a laptop forum?

 

Geeze everybody, how tight do you want to be?

Reality of this question:
"Should I buy a $5 piece of equipment that will remove the risk of damaging my $1000 piece of equipment, or be a tight-*** and place parts of my body on anything metal that I can reach".

BUY THE ANTI-STATIC STRAP AND USE IT.

I use mine even if I'm just swapping a hard drive over or something. Why? It's a good habit to get into, and then if I need to do any work on the computer, I'm already wearing it. It takes all of 10 seconds to put it on.

 

This ^^

And all the anecdotal evidence to the contrary does not make doing otherwise a safe practices.

If you survived an accident (or several) without wearing your safety belt would you conclude that seat belts aren't necessary? I would hope not.

 

If I survived hundreds, heck thousands (like times I've touched a PC) of times, then yes I would believe so.

But do what you feel necessary, and continue on. Worse case scenario with a computer is you fry something and have to replace it. Worse case with a seat belt is you die.

 

I have definitely killed plenty of computer parts in my day with ESD (among other ways), but I still don't care enough to buy a strap and in most cases I don't believe a strap would have helped.

 

Oh yea, i'm going to use 1 hand to just GRIP hold of that table leg with dear life, aren't I?

I understand that you guys are trying to prove just how much you know, but come on... Use some common sense. Am i going to dedicate 1 hand to ground myself, or am i just going to make sure that i maintain a constant connection to the ground?

Send a Dell/HP/Asus technician to your house, and not 1 of them will use an anti-static strap. Not one. Yet they will still be perfectly comfortable with holding your RAM by the copper fins without any fear or causing ESD damage.

Because they have taken every other FREE precaution to ground themselves, that a strap simply isn't necessary.

You kids (yes, kids) have to realize that exact method of grounding that a strap uses, can be re-crated for absolutely no cost if you know what you're doing.

 

Great example of customer support. oh wait...

I've caused ESD damage to some of my components. we think it only happens to others until it happens with ourselves.

 

That's simply NOT TRUE! Every single Dell technician I had over at my place brought his own ESD mat and wristband... that's a fact.
Anything else wouldn't be acceptable.

 

Yup, all Dell technicians I have seen (and I've seen quite a few) have, and use, an anti-static strap whenever they work inside the computer. In fact one even gave me a spare once, as mine was only short and didn't reach where we were working.

 

Honestly, for the price of the wrist strap, i'd say get it and use it. Better be safe than sorry, can you forgo the strap, probably, but there is always that case in a thousand or more where you fry something due to lack of it. Dell techs and other techs have to wear them, not only for safety, but also for legal purposes, i'd think. What would happen if the tech were to damage something due to not wearing an ESD strap. Personally, i don't wear the stap to say switch RAM DIMMs or SODIMMs. You can be sure i use my mat and wear the strap when i do something more critical like taking out a motherboard and working on it.

 

Alienware on-site support techs do not wear a wrist strap. No repair places I've seen have worn wrist straps. The thing is, Dell and HP and Acer, etc replace components due to failures a lot more likely than something getting damaged due to ESD. Do you really believe Dell is concerned about a 1 in 1000 chance of damaging something? I don't think so.

Like I said, in my 30 years of building and repairing computers (as a hobby and for friends/family, etc) never had any issues due to ESD. I'm more concerned about dropping a hard drive, or a loose screw, jumper, or bent pin or cap in a machine that shorts out the system, or even a tiny drop of thermal paste not where it should be (not such an issue these days since they're mostly electrically non-conductive).

Wear and ESD strap if you'd like, but there's still no guarantee it will work, and it's the least of my worries considering the billions of other things that are more likely to happen to cause a computer problem.

 

There is no need for any sort of bracelet.
Seriously, I was with laptops for just over 5 years and never encountered problems in all that time while replacing hardware, cleaning up, repasting, etc.

When doing some kind of work on the laptop internally, it's recommended to do the following:
Turn it off, unplug the main power-brick, remove the battery and press, then hold the Power button to empty any potential electricity from the system.

Next proceed with opening up the laptop and do your work on it.
Simple, effective, and safe.

There is such a thing with being 'too careful' - which again doesn't guarantee that things will proceed without a problem cropping up.

 

If you want to put your own computer at risk then that's your own business.

Not using one on a client's computer is unforgivable. You walk out the door and you may well have reduced the lifespan of the components due to ESD, that THEY paid good money for. The biggest issue with ESD is that is that it rarely breaks something outright, it degrades it, so it's rare you make the connection. Why do you think all these components come in anti-static bags with warnings on them - to look pretty? That kind of packaging is far more expensive than regular packaging, and if it wasn't required, I assure you the manufacturers would be only too pleased to eliminate that expense.

There is no doubt that RAM in particular, which is a common failure in self-build or upgraded systems, fails sooner due to bad handling from people who think it doesn't matter.

If you're not responsible enough to wear an anti-static strip when handling components, then you should not be handling any clients systems. Period.

The only reasons for not using an anti-static strap is pure laziness, arrogance, and just not being bothered. If you care about a customers system you use the proper tools when servicing it.

Now I'm sorry if you find that offensive, but that's just too bad. It's poor quality repairs done by people with the "can't be bothered, it never happens" attitude in general that, quite frankly, I'm fed up with having to clear up after. If you can't be bothered to use the right equipment when servicing clients computer, do the world a favour, and change your line of work.

Yes I'm raging. GRRRRR!!!!

 

^ This. +1.

Most of you guys are simply lucky that a lot of the sensitive components have some extra circuits which help to prevent ESD damage. And even this won't guarantee you that you don't damage anything... and there are tons of components on the board which aren't protected at all.

 

Do you need to? No.

Recommended? Yes.