For years, electricity haven't got along. Static mostly. When I was a young kid, we'd play those stupid games where you rub your feet on the carpet and shock someone for fun. Well, everyone learned fast not to play that game around me, as I would produce a blue arc about 4" long and zap the HELL out of someone!
Fast forward to high-school science labs. We did a study of electricity and did a few demonstrations. One of them was where we would rub a balloon on someone's head to make their hair stand up and then watch the small arc from the person's finger to the balloon when touched. Of course, the lights were off so we could see the arc. Most people got a small arc when they touched, nothing big. When the balloon came near me (WITHOUT RUBBING MY HEAD FIRST), I had a bright blue arc about 6" long hit the balloon and popped it. I thought it was pretty cool, kinda hurt though. Freaked some people out.
These days, I work with computers. I usually don't have any problems when working on a system, maybe some small discharge on really dry days. But for about 6 months, it's gotten BAD man. I'm not wearing any clothing that promotes high static build-up or anything. I've come to the conclusion that my multi-monitor setup (5 CRT's arranged around me in a half circle, in which I monitor everything at once) is creating a field which is charging me like a damn capacitor! I can be just sitting at my desk for a while w/o moving, and I get up and I can just feel my hairs standing on end. I have touched metal and had a discharge so bad it blew my hand back! I dunno if this is just coincidence or what, but I've had the lights in my office replaced twice in the last 6 months due to failure.
So, I'm a freak... WTF is wrong with me? [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
It is a known fact that some individuals have a natural charge to them that is much larger then the average. When your at your workstation, so can always use an ESD strap to equalize yourself to ground. The CRT setup may be creating a magnetic field that is inducing a charge on you.
I do have a very high retentin of charge natrualy, but the monitors are providing a good source. I always do a gnd before I work on a server's internals, but it does suck to get zapped every 10 minutes when I leave my desk [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
There are special straps you can buy and put on your shoes and have one end inside your socks. It allows any electro-static buildup to be slowly and safely discharged through the ground (yes, even concrete allows to discharged through it allows energy to pass through nicely).
These discharge straps are very common in semiconductor assembly plants and manufacturing. They are very inexpensive and they discharge ESD in a way that is un-noticed by you.
Much better than using a strap to your wrist, which is almost exclusively intended for field service type of people who only have to worry about ESD during a short part of their day.
During some of my automotive training the instructors would warn us about grounding ourselves so as not to "fry" some electronics in the vehicle we are working on.
I have seen it cause problems from the static buildup.
I have gone to pick up my cell phone and had they keyboard and keys light up from the static.
I love to zap my gf's nipples when she is not expecting it. Makes for an interesting day. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
She also knows I don't put up with that shit. This is why I have never been married, I know better than to let a woman think she is my boss. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
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