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Gareth · 24-01-2006, 09:21

Rubbing a balloon against your head for a few minutes causes a massive amount of static, but you collect smaller amounts just doing normal everyday stuff, without rubbing your head against balloons all day.

Have you ever noticed how if you wear certain types of shoes or slippers, you walk around your house - especially rooms with carpets - and then you touch someone and you can both get a small shock? It's kinda the same thing except that you're passing that electricity to your PC components, and even the smallest of 'shocks' can permanently damage certain components such as memory chips, CPUs, etc...

Problem can be that you're not even aware that you've caused any damage, and there's no visible sign of anything being wrong. Also, any problems may not appear immediately, and they can be very difficult to diagnose.

It's all about minimising risk, and for the price of a wristband, it's not really worth the gamble, imho.

24-01-2006, 09:21	#49
Gareth cf.mega poster Join Date: Dec 2003 Age: 50 Posts: 7,101	Re: Help with PCmaking Rubbing a balloon against your head for a few minutes causes a massive amount of static, but you collect smaller amounts just doing normal everyday stuff, without rubbing your head against balloons all day. Have you ever noticed how if you wear certain types of shoes or slippers, you walk around your house - especially rooms with carpets - and then you touch someone and you can both get a small shock? It's kinda the same thing except that you're passing that electricity to your PC components, and even the smallest of 'shocks' can permanently damage certain components such as memory chips, CPUs, etc... Problem can be that you're not even aware that you've caused any damage, and there's no visible sign of anything being wrong. Also, any problems may not appear immediately, and they can be very difficult to diagnose. It's all about minimising risk, and for the price of a wristband, it's not really worth the gamble, imho.