I have seen many threads that go something like this: "I was having problem X on my laptop. I took it apart and did Y and Z and now it won't boot up.....". If you are not aware of the hazards of ESD damage, you need to educate yourself. Without proper precautions, you risk damage to the internal components. I worked many years designing complex military gear and we were always hammered on to be ESD aware. All the labs and production areas had grounded work stations, conductive floors!, grounded soldering irons, etc. Special drinking containers were mandated. This was expensive to implement. The commercial side of my company did the same, so it was not just some dumb "Mil Standard". My home workbench is grounded and I wear a wrist strap when working. The problem is not so much that a component will blow right away (that is immediately obvious and fixable) but there is an issues of latent defects induced by ESD that show up later. ESD internal device protection has improved over the years, but is still a concern. There are many articles on the internet discussing the issue.
I have seen techs is repair shops totally ignoring ESD protection and many many "how-to's" on youtube doing the same. Precautions are pretty simple. I admit that sometime I cheat and use the kitchen table if my workbench is cluttered, but here's what I do:
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I have seen techs is repair shops totally ignoring ESD protection and many many "how-to's" on youtube doing the same. Precautions are pretty simple. I admit that sometime I cheat and use the kitchen table if my workbench is cluttered, but here's what I do:
- I roll out a piece of aluminum foil large enough for the equipment plus some room to lay down parts.
- I sit still and don't wiggle around in the chair (so I don't build up as much charge).
- As soon as the equipment is open, I touch a ground point inside. How you find that is beyond the scope of this, but a likely ground is any large areas of printed circuit or metal shields. At the same time, I touch the foil with my other hand. I do this again whenever I move around. Note--this is not really "grounding" anything but it gets you and the equipment at the same potential (voltage).
- Anything I take out gets laid down on the foil.
- If I'm working with RAM, I never touch anything but the edges of the card. Same for any other boards or components.
- Using a vacuum to remove dust is a really bad idea. Most brushes are superb static generators. Use a compressed air can and blow the dust into the vacuum held near by. You can get away with the vacuum on things like blank cover, detached coolers/fans but nothing with electronic components (fans should be OK). Just make sure you touch the ground point and the thing you just vacuumed when you finish.
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