Is it really that vital to get a "Quality" antistatic mat, and antistatic wrist band etc. or is it all hype

As I am going to convert my Vaio to SSD, and will later be adding an Intel 750 SSD to the new workstation / PC, and if budgets dont initially permit the factory upgrade to 32 GB Ram, I may be adding 16 GB to that later

So as it looks like I'lll be doing some horrible PC work,
Q1. how important is the quality of an antistatic Mat and wristband? Are they all the same ?

Q2. Previously, As I had some excess, really high-quality oxygen-free copper, silver plated heavy-duty speaker wire (4 mm) I just wrapped this around my wrist and trapped it with electrical tape - and then connected the other end to the earth pin of an AC Plug to ground myself (took out the positive and negative pins)
I did manage to upgrade the old laptops memory from 2 to 4 GB, and change a broken 120MB std. HDD sucessfully - but I was not really bothered if it blew up.

Q3 Obviously I cant afford to mess up the new kit, but is it worth spending £39 on this antistatic matt, with a wire to a wrist strap, and another to the mains ground? Or is their no advantage over my makeshift gounding kit!
Is this any good ? Or overkill ?
http://www.amazon.co.u​k …7&sr=1-2&keywords=NOSHOCK

I ask, as they all seem to have a 1 meg-ohm resistor (and the HP Z640 manual recommends this resistor ), but is this to protect the user from getting a big shock, or is it, as one article said "to slowly dissapaite any ESD"?
I suppose my concern is does this resistor protect the kit from a fast short out, that damages the kit, or is it purely to protect the user?

I am also interested why the matt has 2 connectors, namely one for a cable going to the earth, and another one going to the wristband ( I get that bit ) but why does it not have a 3rd connector with a wire and say a crocodile clip to attach onto the chassis, so everything is grounded?

Really dont want to spend any money on this, as it has no long term benefit (I've no interest in computers ) but I will happily invest if say its vital to protect the Vaio, and especially the new Workstation and new ssds and memory.
Any advice or good buys in the UK, would be most welcome.

I could use my old wrist strap and even put a crockodile clip ontomthe other wire to attach to an unpainted part of the chassis - so both I and the PC are constantly grounded. Would that be just as good? As these fancy kits, or is the resistor vital to make the ESD discharge slowly - apologies if this is mikey mouse stuff but for me its rocket science.

I've built and upgraded my own PCs as well as for other people for 20+ years and have never used an anti static mat or wrist band once with no ill effect.

xpfloyd wrote in post #17612575
I've built and upgraded my own PCs as well as for other people for 20+ years and have never used an anti static mat or wrist band once with no ill effect.

Seriously didn't even know they existed...

Just touch something metal to ground yourself and get to work... you're way overthinking this.

The 1MOhm resistor is in there to keep YOU safe. In the event of a problem that resistor will limit any current flowing through the earthing strap milliamps at most. Very handy if for any reason you end up with mains biting you. Your home made strap would leave you with very severe burns, if it didn't kill you outright. The resistance in the strap will basically give you the same protection as standing on insulated rubber matting and all the other saftey kit you would find in an electronics workshop.

Personally I just usually leave the power plugged in and turned off, then just ensure that I have grounded myself before handling the items. I wouldn't be worried about your Solid State Drive, if you only handle the memory modules by the edges of the pcb, again you should be fine. I normally only worry about Static Sensitive Devices when actually handling individual components, for example when building circuits myself.

Most of the time I was working in electronics, I was servicing Air Defence radars for the RAF, most of the systems I worked with daily used combinations of voltage and current that makes 240 V AC mains seem like kids stuff. The biggest was a 120000V @ 120A although it was only a 10us pulse. It was driven by a 10000V 5A DC power source. It worked just like the iginition system on a car.

Alan

Thanks for the info.
Think I will just stick with my cheapo cable, to be on the safe side.
But interesting to know the fancy mats and wrist straps are not worth buying .

BigAl007 wrote in post #17612609
Personally I just usually leave the power plugged in and turned off, then just ensure that I have grounded myself before handling the items.

You have to be careful doing that as modern PCs are still powered when connected to power but turned "off", unless they have a rocker switch on the power supply. I have a short cord that goes between the power between the power supply and the PC's power cord. It connects the ground wire, but not the hot wire. So the case remains grounded, giving me a handy place to ground myself, but ensures that the computer is truly off, so long as the capacitors have been allowed to drain.

mike_d wrote in post #17612785
You have to be careful doing that as modern PCs are still powered when connected to power but turned "off", unless they have a rocker switch on the power supply. I have a short cord that goes between the power between the power supply and the PC's power cord. It connects the ground wire, but not the hot wire. So the case remains grounded, giving me a handy place to ground myself, but ensures that the computer is truly off, so long as the capacitors have been allowed to drain.

Here in the UK, where the OP is also from, our standard 13 Amp square three pin plug/socket system normally comes with an on/off switch on each wall outlet socket. Admittedly you do see unswitched sockets occasionally, my mothers house being a case in point, but its pretty uncommon. So here in the UK, unless there is a fault, and you have an old wiring system without an RCD fitted, if the switch is off you only have the ground connected, there will be nothing on the live pins. So you should be quite safe with the power lead plugged in and the power off.

This is especially true with a computer system, where all the high voltage parts are contained within an enclosed PSU subsystem. You would really have to try very hard to get a belt from a computer system that did not have a serious fault on it. Even if the power was turned on. After all we are talking about adding devices to a working system, not fault finding a broken one.

One final thing I will say, I am not really impressed with any mains power system that always requires you to plug/unplug devices while still potentially under load. I really don't like seeing sparks being pulled from sockets like that, it's wrong IMO on so many levels, although somewhat off topic from the OP.

I will though reiterate, DO NOT use an earthing strap without a least a 1MOhm resistor in it. If there is a problem it will be VERY bad for your health. If you are using the earth pin of a power socket for your ground point, and for some reason it becomes live, the resistor will limit the current in that direction too. Without the resistor if it doesn't kill you, the burns will be very severe and painful. I wouldn't even wear a ring when working with exposed voltages. The health and safety films were enough to stop you doing that. When I worked on the radars I always kept my wedding ring on a bit of string around my neck.

Alan

Just make sure the PC is plugged in, and that you touch the metal frame with both hands before you touch RAM. Hard drives / SSDs don't worry at all, juggle them while walking across carpet if you like.

BigAl007 wrote in post #17612874
Here in the UK, where the OP is also from, our standard 13 Amp square three pin plug/socket system normally comes with an on/off switch on each wall outlet socket. Admittedly you do see unswitched sockets occasionally, my mothers house being a case in point, but its pretty uncommon. So here in the UK, unless there is a fault, and you have an old wiring system without an RCD fitted, if the switch is off you only have the ground connected, there will be nothing on the live pins. So you should be quite safe with the power lead plugged in and the power off.

We don't have that in the US. With the exception of one outlet per room connected to a switch by the door (intended to have a lamp plugged in) I'd have to run outside to the breaker panel to kill power to an outlet. Having switches on the outlets is a good idea though. Maybe it has something to do with your voltage being higher.

BigAl007 wrote in post #17612874
This is especially true with a computer system, where all the high voltage parts are contained within an enclosed PSU subsystem. You would really have to try very hard to get a belt from a computer system that did not have a serious fault on it. Even if the power was turned on. After all we are talking about adding devices to a working system, not fault finding a broken one.

I was thinking more of installing/uninstallin​g something like RAM or a video card on a system that's plugged in but turned off. That's a good way to kill some parts. SATA is designed to be hot-plugged so its not such an issue there.

1. Avoid working on humid days or in areas that are prone to generate static (such as on carpeting)
   
2. Wear clothing that doesn't generate static electricity, such as cotton, not wool or synthetics
   
3. Disconnect AC mains power and work in your stocking feet on bare floor.
   
4. Touch the computer chassis and the ESD bag of each item to equalize any static build-up
   
5. Minimize handling of components and especially never touch the contact pins, plugs or gold fingers
   
6. Consider disposable ESD straps that can be found under $5 each. The ones Cisco includes with their boards are pretty nice and often available as surplus on eBay and Amazon.
   

One more to add to bumpintheroad's list:
7. Take your shoes off. Sounds silly, but the greatest source of static is shoe soles rubbing on carpet, so you prevent this. Also you eliminate the insulator between your feet and the ground so you are more likely to stay discharged.

bumpintheroad wrote in post #17612952

1. Avoid working on humid days or in areas that are prone to generate static (such as on carpeting)
   

Huh? Dry air is far more friendly to static electricity than humid air.

mike_d wrote in post #17618810
Huh? Dry air is far more friendly to static electricity than humid air.

Indeed. I don't work on my machine unless the humidity is at least 40% or greater.

Years of building computers and tinkering with other electronics and never used any anti static measures and never had an issue. It's fairly easy to build/modify computers without touching any sensitive bits. That being said, where I work is in the process of becoming an authorized repairer for a particular brand, and anti static strap and matts are an requirement.

RileyNZL wrote in post #17622287
Years of building computers and tinkering with other electronics and never used any anti static measures and never had an issue. It's fairly easy to build/modify computers without touching any sensitive bits. That being said, where I work is in the process of becoming an authorized repairer for a particular brand, and anti static strap and matts are an requirement.

Thanks
Might as well for a few £ss