Anti-static floor mats? Cheap or alternative?

The office I work in is a static nightmare. Everything you touch: ZAP!
I'm pretty certain it's responsible for one PC's mobo going out.

But anti-static floor/chair mats are so expensive!
Is there an alternative to floor mats? Like, a carpet spray or
humidifyer or something?

If anti-static mats are the best way to go, any suggestions on
how/where to get them cheap?

Thanks!
Liam

LRW wrote:


If anti-static mats are the best way to go, any suggestions on
how/where to get them cheap?

How are you killing mobos with room static electricity? Are the
computers running without cases and you're routinely touching the inside
components?

"LRW" wrote in message
om...
The office I work in is a static nightmare. Everything you touch: ZAP!
I'm pretty certain it's responsible for one PC's mobo going out.

But anti-static floor/chair mats are so expensive!
Is there an alternative to floor mats? Like, a carpet spray or
humidifyer or something?

If anti-static mats are the best way to go, any suggestions on
how/where to get them cheap?

Get some fabric softner and put it in a spray bottle and give the carpet and
things a spray. Youmay need to dilute it with some water for a good spray.
Also try rubbing the chairs with one of the softner sheets you put in your
dryer.

If the cases are properly grounded static shouldn't be "much" of a problem.
However dryer sheets do help with static, also having a higher humidity can
"sometimes" help the static levels in a room.

-Chris

"LRW" said in om:
The office I work in is a static nightmare. Everything you touch: ZAP!
I'm pretty certain it's responsible for one PC's mobo going out.

But anti-static floor/chair mats are so expensive!
Is there an alternative to floor mats? Like, a carpet spray or
humidifyer or something?

If anti-static mats are the best way to go, any suggestions on
how/where to get them cheap?

Thanks!
Liam

Make sure you are connecting the computers to grounded outlets. Touching
the case with static should route the charge to ground but only if you have
a ground connection. However, zapping the keyboard can result in the charge
first going inside the case to then find a ground. I haven't seen it happen
with mice but then I've been using cordless mice for long time. A $20
outlet tester from Radio Shack will let you know if your 3-prong outlets are
actually grounded. Obviously if you are using 2-pronged outlets then your
equipment is not ground (and using the 2-prong to 3-prong adapter with
ground wire is NOT ever recommended). You might even want to install
ground-fault circuit interrupter outlets for your computer equipment. Most
folks think of them only for protecting against lethal shocks in the
bathroom, but they'll also cut power if the ground isn't working to your
computer.

Get a humidifier to keep the humidity at 40% to 50%. Measure the humidity
at the far end of the room away from the humidifier. It does no good to
humidify one side of a large room and not the other. Static won't bleed off
fast enough when walking across a room and entering a small humidified
"zone" around just the computer. Static can be a problem even in summer if
the air conditioning doesn't include an evaporator to add humidity. Whether
cold or warm, dry air promotes static and slows it from leaking off (corona
effect).

Rather than using anti-static mats, you can get anti-static touchpads. The
user touches the anti-static pad before touching the computer, keyboard,
monitor, etc. In fact, if you are sure the computer case is grounded,
touching it first to discharge you before you touch the wired keyboard or
wired mouse will work, too. The problem with using an anti-static pad or
case that is directly wired to ground is that users will eventually stop
using them because they don't like to get repeatedly shocked. Getting
shocked is negative reinforcement so users will stop touching the static
drain point. So don't simply get an anti-static pad that merely consists of
a copper wire running to the ground screw of a grounded outlet. Like an
anti-static wrist band, the anti-static pad should have some resistance (1
megaohm) so the charge gets dissipated quickly but not instantly. They can
touch the anti-static pad without fear of getting shocked. A $20 anti-static
touchpad is a lot cheaper than a $200 anti-static floor mat (with a
grounding cord) -- but ONLY if the user uses it!

You can spray the carpet around the computer with a diluted solution of
fabric softener. I don't remember the ratio of water to liquid fabric
softener. But also be aware that doing so will make the carpet soil faster.
You could also spray treat the carpet with anti-static spray (you can buy
StaticGuard in the grocery store) but be sure to leave the can of anti-spray
around the computer because it always wears off (and it stinks and can
trigger someone with asthma). However, note that these solutions (of using
sprays and unconnected floor mats) simply help prevent the buildup of static
only in that area. They don't leak it off to ground when a charged person
then walks atop the treated area. These solutions help prevent the buildup
of static charge, not to get rid of it quickly enough if you're already
charged.

Too many times a floor mat that says it is anti-static usually only means
that it won't build up static but NOT that it will drain static. You
walking across the floor while building up static and standing on an
ungrounded anti-static mat won't dissipate your static charge. It doesn't
have anywhere to go (except to eventually leak off). Unless the anti-static
mat had a grounding cord, someone walking over across the untreated carpet
will still zap your computer. A big contributor to static in the workplace
are chair rollers. If you don't get the ground-corded, anti-static floor
mat then see if getting anti-static chair rollers will help.

You might also inform your boss that it's not just the 10,000 to 20,000
static zaps that can kill their company's computers but voltages down to 400
volts that you don't even notice can zap your equipment.

Put out a memo to get employees to stop wearing rubber soled shoes. Might
be great for traction in the snowy winter but the insolation will let you
build up static faster.

Yes, getting anti-static floor mats (with a grounding cord) or touchpads can
seem like an unproductive expense. So does car insurance until you need it.
What was the cost of losing the motherboard in the PC that got zapped,
including the cost for the value lost for the old motheboard, the cost for a
new motherboard and to install it, and the time lost while the computer was
unavailable? If you want to convince your manager of the expense for
anti-static solutions, always wear a wool sweater (synthetic blend) and
rubber soled shoes, rub your sweater a lot (best if done in private so you
don't get weird looks from your coworkers), and scuffle along the carpet to
shake your manager's hand several times a day. To keep you from also
getting shocked, reach out with a key in your hand so the charge jumps off
it to your boss. When he's tired of looking like Don King and dodging you
in the hallways then maybe he'll authorize some anti-static solutions.

--
__________________________________________________ __________
*** Post replies to newsgroup. E-mail is not accepted. ***
__________________________________________________ __________

Grounding - even to electrical outlets - does not solve
static electric problems. For example, everything was
properly grounded. Static still existed. When a digital
camera was plugged into a USB port - zap. Camera worked but
its USB port was damaged - fortunately under warranty.
Company still refuses to install a humidifier - viewing this
as an unnecessary luxury (along with heat in the warehouse).

Static electricity must be solved at its source. Spray
bottles with detergent don't work because spray requires a
human action - the most unreliable action in building.
Humidity is always the essential first solution. 50%
considered too high (may create other human health issues); 20
to 40% typical. 30 or 40% considered a better solution.

Second eliminate things that create static. For example,
some floor waxes create static electricity. Even placing a
conductive mesh underneath the carpet may reduce static. We
always wore lab coats that had microscope wires embedded in
the material - again to protect high rel electronics from
static even though we had all those other protectors.

Static electric is a charge typically across shoe soles.
Spark occurs only when a complete electric circuit is
created. Up leg, through arm, into computer, down table leg,
through nylon rug, and back to shoe. If conductive (high
resistance) wrist strap is connected to table, then shoes are
constantly discharged. Static circuit does not include
computer - no damage. Appreciate this circuit since wall
receptacle safety ground does not discharge static in this
circuit - and may even become part of the destructive
discharge circuit.

Anti static floor mats make it difficult for shoes to first
create static. If static is not being generated, then
existing static may bleed off. Anti-static table mats
discharge top of shoes through elbows before fingers can make
a destructive discharge occur elsewhere. Anti-static table
top mats connect to safety ground, table leg, or floor mat to
complete a circuit from arm to bottom of shoes.

But nothing is equivalent to that humidifier. Some also
install ion generators specially designed to fill air with
charges that help discharge static. Anything sprayed by a
human if futility - spraying done only after static has
returned and done damage.

Static voltage discharges are 18 Kv max for males and 20 Kv
max for females. These discharges can result in electronic
failures days, weeks, or months later. Its called
overstress. Failure created today appears much later - often
when failure could not be at a worse time.

Computers should be assembled so that static cannot damage
them. For example, that is why motherboard ground plane only
connects to chassis ground plane at one point. That is why
keyboard has two separate grounds - one for electronics and
other is conductive plastic case.

In fact a test of properly built computer requires a glass
table top. Place computer on this glass top, use leather
slippers, and discharge to every corner of computer. These
painful zaps will never damage nor interrupt a properly
constructed computer. But again, other materials such as wood
are too conductive. Tabletop must be glass to make this test
effective.

LRW wrote:
The office I work in is a static nightmare. Everything you touch: ZAP!
I'm pretty certain it's responsible for one PC's mobo going out.

But anti-static floor/chair mats are so expensive!
Is there an alternative to floor mats? Like, a carpet spray or
humidifyer or something?

If anti-static mats are the best way to go, any suggestions on
how/where to get them cheap?

The best way to reduce static electricity problems is to move to south Florida. Barring that you can increase humidity to between 50% and 60%. This will be almost impossible to do in most rooms because the building air handler will draw the moisture out faster than you can add it. You will have to isolate the room from the main air handler to keep the humidity at 50%. Good antistatic carpet (the kind with metallic threads) work well until the metallic threads begin to break. Some carpet sprays work well if you use them every day. I don't remember which ones work best. Anti static chairs are a waste of money.

LRW wrote:

The office I work in is a static nightmare. Everything you touch: ZAP!
I'm pretty certain it's responsible for one PC's mobo going out.

But anti-static floor/chair mats are so expensive!
Is there an alternative to floor mats? Like, a carpet spray or
humidifyer or something?

If anti-static mats are the best way to go, any suggestions on
how/where to get them cheap?

Thanks!
Liam

--
Mike Walsh
West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.A.

"w_tom" said in :
Grounding - even to electrical outlets - does not solve
static electric problems. For example, everything was
properly grounded. Static still existed.

Then everything was NOT grounded (or, more accurately, not everything was at
the same potential) and discharged to equal potentials before connected. A
discharge occurs only when there is a difference in potential. Me at 20,000
volts touching you also at 20,000 volts won't produce a spark. While the
equipment may be grounded, you approaching that grounded equipment with a
charge can still zap it until you have contacted the grounding device to
drain your potential *difference* (the equipment also has to be grounded; it
cannot float while you are grounded). You could short yourself and "enjoy"
the spark, or you discharge yourself more slowly (a second or two) by
touching an grounded anti-static device that drains through a 1 megohm
resistor so you don't get shocked. You want to get to the same potential
BEFORE touching the other object. You equalizing the charges by sparking to
it is what causes damage.

Note that I say YOU have been discharged because I was talking about YOU
touching the equipment. Static is a surface charge. You could be wearing a
synthetic shirt that insulates your wool sweater from your skin. Your wool
sweater has a static charge. You discharged your body but neglected to also
discharge your clothing that was insulated from you. That's why your lab
coats with conductive filaments will help because it contacts your clothes
along with contacting your wrist or hand and your neck, plus the filaments
enhance the corona effect to more quickly leak off the static charge.
Anti-static smocks do not bleed as fast as, say, a wrist strap so they
mostly provide a barrier to static that builds up on your clothes while
trying to bleed it off albeit slowly when you aren't so active. The smock
provides a barrier to prevent sudden ESD from your clothes while providing a
[slow] bleed off of the static.

Static electric is a charge typically across shoe soles.

Rubber is an insulator. That prevents the static from leaking off your body
and clothes onto the anti-static mat or treated carpet. A charged person
walking over and standing upon an anti-static floormat with rubber shoes
won't drain off the charge because they are insulated from the floormat.
That's why techs wear wrist or ankle straps.

Spark occurs only when a complete electric circuit is
created.

No, the spark is the result of the electron flow from the potential
difference due to an imbalance of charge. There is no "complete electric
circuit". The charge doesn't run from the topside of your shoe, through
you, and back to the bottom side of your shoe. You have so many coulombs of
charge which differs from the number of coulombs of charge of another
object. You touch the object. The difference in the charges then equalize
between you and the object. That's the extent of the electron flow. There
is no return path (to the bottom of your shoes). You're floating in space
and negatively charged to 30,000 volts in reference to another floating
body, say, your spacecraft will get you zapped when you provide a conductive
path between the two. If both were at 30,000 volts relative to Earth (or
zero volts relative to each other), no zap. Missiles and satellites have
been been damaged or destroyed because components weren't adequately
connected to prevent static buildup as they sped through the air or Van
Allen belt. So where was that complete electric circuit? The charges
equalize via electron flow between the two differently charged bodies. Or,
to look at it another way, the "complete electrical circuit" is just the two
imbalanced charged objects and the electron flow between them.

The point is that you want to be at the same potential as what you are
working on. Since the computer is grounded (or should be) then that's the
potential you want, too. If the computer were floating at a charge of
10,000 volts then you don't want to be touching it while you are grounded.
Your body as a tiny capacitor topside of your rubber shoes connecting to the
huge earth capacitor is where all the electron flow occurs, and there will
be neglible or no electron flow from the huge earth capacitor to the tiny
carpet capacitor at the underside of your rubber shoes.

You're using earth ground to suck up the static charge. You're not trying
to complete an electric circuit back to the bottom of your shoes. Your
rubber shoes render the anti-static mat ineffective. That's why you wear a
wrist strap (with 1 megohm resistor for safety). The carpet itself is an
insulator, too. You're not trying to discharge your body's charge to the
carpet under your feet. You're discharging it to a huge mass that can
receive your surplus electrons. The anti-static floormat is to drain any
charge *away* from you, just like the wrist strap drains the charge *away*
from you.

Some also
install ion generators specially designed to fill air with
charges that help discharge static.

Static is a buildup of electrons (i.e., negatively charged). Ions can be
negatively or positively charged atoms. Flooding the air with negatively
charged ions will not help to bleed off a negatively charged body because
that reduces the corona effect of letting the negative charge bleed off to a
differently charged environment. Make sure your ionizer produces positively
charged ions. Some ionizers only produce negatively charged ions. Some
produce both positive and negative ions, and some of those even have an ion
polarity balance adjustment.

Computers should be assembled so that static cannot damage
them. For example, that is why motherboard ground plane only
connects to chassis ground plane at one point.

At only one point? That's not what I read online, like at
http://www.dbicorporation.com/esd-art1.htm. I would think you would want
multiple discharge points to minimize the length for the discharge path and
thus its impedance so that any charge felt by components in the vicinity
would be under 20 to 30 volts. Why would you want to force an ESD to travel
an average of halfway across the motherboard? Why wouldn't you short it at
its point of entry, like every port (keyboard, mouse, parallel, serial, USB,
etc.) to thwart it getting further inside and at the ICs?

While reading through Google matches regarding mounting holes and grounding,
the arguments are because the folks don't look. Some argue that only
plastic standoffs are needed by citing the mobo will work while lying atop a
piece of cardboard (which has nothing to do with ESD and EMI prevention and
only utilitizes the ground path through the power supply). Some argue a
fiber washer is needed under a metal screw head for a metal standoff. They
don't bother to look to see that signal foils are too close to the mounting
hole but the screw head cannot be reduced in size to properly hold the mobo.
If the mounting hole has a metal pad and you can use a metal screw head that
doesn't exceed the size of the metal pad, then use a metal standoff. Some
mobos have a combo of all of these mounts: plastic (because there's no metal
pad), fiber washer because the metal head would short to nearby foils, and
metal standoffs. Logically the grounding via metal standoffs is a backup
ground path, but for ESD and EMI they are required. "Basically the
motherboard needs to be grounded to the chassis. Ground as many mounting
holes as possible, but be cautious. Some holes do not have a metal pad and
you will need to isolate the mounting hole. Make sure there is metal stand
to match each mounting hole on the motherboard. If the metal pad on the
board is smaller than the screw head, you may need to use an insulation pad
to avoid creating a short to any circuit near the metal pad."
(http://www.supermicro.com/TECHSUPPOR...is_FAQ.htm#Q14).

On 27 Feb 2004 11:18:15 -0800, (LRW) wrote:

The office I work in is a static nightmare. Everything you touch: ZAP!
I'm pretty certain it's responsible for one PC's mobo going out.

But anti-static floor/chair mats are so expensive!
Is there an alternative to floor mats? Like, a carpet spray or
humidifyer or something?

If anti-static mats are the best way to go, any suggestions on
how/where to get them cheap?

Thanks!
Liam


It would be cheaper to just chain everyone to the radiator.

"kony" wrote in message
...
On 27 Feb 2004 11:18:15 -0800, (LRW) wrote:
It would be cheaper to just chain everyone to the radiator.

Just make sure that ancient radiator isn't coated with 20 layers of
paint. Hmm, a new management strategy to keep workers from leaving
early. And under the guise of a preventative anti-static procedure.

Or you could turn the workplace into a nudist-only environment.