QTV #13 - Does an Anti-Static Mat Work!?
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- Опубліковано 4 чер 2024
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With low humidity levels in our home the sparks have been flying!
I wanted to see if my anti-static mat did actually work and "grounded" the high voltages away from my body.
Anti-static mats from my Amazon Store: astore.amazon.com/m0711-20?_en...
The Shocking Truth Behind Static Electricity:
www.livescience.com/4077-shock...
Some interesting debate on grounding an ESD mat....
How do I ground my ESD mat to avoid shocking computers?
www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/1...
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LOL... couldn't help but laugh every time you went to get zapped! Too funny!
Thanks for the "hands-on" testing. It's nice to have some visual verification that the mats really do make a difference. It's sometimes hard to convince even tech savvy folks that something they can't see can cause damage. Over many years working in IT in Southern California, before I moved to Georgia, I developed a habit of touching doorframes, chairs, water fountains, etc. as I walked from room to room for this very reason. I still do it to this day - and folks around here (where average humidity never goes much below 40) think it's my OCD, when it's really all about ESD!
Very interesting and also useful as I will be doing some work with static sensitive devices soon, so it's good to see a demonstration that the esd kit makes a difference, thanks!
Excellent video. Great demonstration of how the anti static mat works.
The fun dance of zapping. But fyi the most entertaining video in a long time.
+Jaan-Martin Kuusmann Thanks Jaan-Martin...entertaining folks is not my strong point ;-). Glad this one did a little of that.
+Jaan-Martin Kuusmann
Let''s do the ESD shuffle!
The ground pin on the male plug is just fine. You can also connect a clamp to a cold water pipe. I never had any use for an antistatic mat in the tropics, too much humidity, but I will need one in the future.
An old video,but still an excellent practical demonstration of good,basic,Anti-static precautions.
Years ago I worked in a carpet tiled elec workshop, we used to use an anti static spray on the floor and it worked wonders. My skin is quite dry and so before we started using it I was always quite susceptable to getting 'zapped'.......and funny how it ALWAYS catches you unawares!
Good demo...
What if don't ground mat but connect wrist strap & laptop to mat
You can put that grounding ring onto the center screw that holds your electrical outlet cover plate on. Those are almost always tied to earth ground since they screw directly into the outlet's metal housing, and it also leaves both outlets open so you can use them for other things.
Also, those whole house humidifiers are a godsend. I installed one last year and it's been great. Replacing a water panel once a year beats the heck out of refilling single room humidifiers daily. Just be sure not to turn the whole house humidifiers up too high else you'll get condensation and you can end up with wood rot. There are tables online that show you ideal humidity depending on the outside temperature. (assuming the unit you have doesn't automatically calculate that)
Cheers!
+TechnologyCatalyst I was also going to suggest grounding to the screw because it's probably a lot safer than grounding to the ground pin. If the wire inside the plug comes loose it could contact the hot pin and then you'd have a bad day.
+TechnologyCatalyst In my area, the common in our circuit breaker box is connected to the ground line, does this mean i could get some sort of shock? or am i just too weak compared to the earth?
Also the screw and the ground prong are connected, go test with a continuity
They actually connect ground to neutral to prevent a shock. You'd only get a shock if you touched hot and ground. (or neutral) But in most places around the world, GFCI breakers are required that detect even the smallest amounts of current leaking back to the panel through ground instead of through neutral, and will pop the breaker before harm is done. If you don't have a GFCI breaker or outlet, I'd recommend getting a GFCI power strip. They're fairly inexpensive and can save your life.
Hilarious Martin
I love it, and of course very informative. I have the same A.S. mats in my lab but a wood floor topped with rubber mats from the local hardware store. My humidity is also dropping due to the sub zero temps here but so far, not static shocks
The Mats are definatly worth it (When there pluged in :) )
I dont think there is an issue with the way you used the power plug for you connection. If anone is not so confident, you can always also remove the Live pin altogether
Peter
Thumbs up, very nice video, well explained as usual.
Many thanks !
Greetings from Paris.
Thanks for your video.
I have a question.
I use one of those clear plastic mats under my office chair. The mat sits on carpet and has those little 'spikes' which keep it from sliding around.
Static is a major issue here in Colorado and I spend a lot of time in front of the PC, so I wear compression socks to avoid things like DVT.
Socks are an issue of course as they build up crazy amounts of static.
I've tried using a solution of fabric softener and water which I spray on my socks and the mat, and this does help somewhat, but is just a temporary issue.
What I did was buy one of those plug heads like your video and using a piece of insulated copper wire, I connected one end to the ground pin on the plug and the other I connected to a metal clip (the crocodile style clips) that I then clipped to the plastic mat.
I thought this would work, but it doesn't - my guess is that the static charge in my socks/my body isn't able to travel through the mat material to the ground 'clip'.
So perhaps this mat is a very good insulator? My electrical knowledge is rusty!
Any ideas (other than not wearing socks) to resolve this static issue?
I have seen anti-static mats (link attached) that are crazy expensive and I'm not entirely sold on the science (they apparently use some proprietary chemicals to make the mat - I'm sure this is the same stuff most use).
thematstore.com/cgi-bin/matstore/agora.cgi?cart_id=2564084.11759*IS4DJ2&xm=on&p_id=1531006&ppinc=crown2
I need to find a much more cost effective option, without not taking my socks off!
Thanks!
Thanks for your informative video! Greetings from the Netherlands!
Funny! Besides the good laughing this video came in good time, I was just looking for a anti-static mat to replace my plain rubber one. Thanks, great video.
+Bruno Villas Good to hear it provided a little entertainment and value at the same time! Cheers, Martin.
Excellent. Thanks for the video.
Hey guys, im grounding my mat via ground plug, but was wondering what the best way to connect wrist strap is? Ive seen debates on connecting alligator clip to mat, connect alligator clip to part (pc), or connect wrist strap to ground outlet?
hi nice video I've had problems when working with lay in ceiling grids so I use a earth wrist strap with a crock clip on the end of an coily cable and that works a treat. to earth a bench mat hear in the u.k I have a 3 pin yellow earth plug that has just a brass earth pin the others are plastic on the top is a presstud and a 4mm banner socket as this is a manufactured part it is much safer
i love this video so much, ty
lol...simple way to test my own system. Thanks for the idea!
This reminds me of when I was about 10 years old around 1962, there was a tube tester at the local drug store and it was enormously entertaining to connect yourself to the probes and testing yourself as if you were a tube. Hours of fun.
Another way to do this would be to hold a key and touch it to the ground, much less painful.
i think its also related to which clothing materials we wear for example cotton never felt like building static...
Hi Martin, there is a little more to static precautions than ensuring that you have a grounded mat. Every object has a potential (electric charge) and if two objects at different potentials come into contact the charges will equalise.
When you rub your clothing you are increasing the charge level on your body compared to other objects. In normal high humidity environments the charge can easily equalise, dissipating through the air, so all objects end up at the same potential. In dry environments the air acts as an insulator causing the charge to levels to remain different. The reason for the shock is the sudden change in potential as charge is transferred from one body to another when they touch.
The key is to make sure everything is at the same potential. The easiest way to do this is tie everything to earth as it is such a big body. That way your floor, walls, equipment and you are all at the same potential.
This is 100% correct. And your testing is a good demonstration, but your device your were touching was also grounded and so big potential difference.
but consider a device not grounded (floating), this too can still have a potential difference.
Good Catch Tandy!
Hi: Nice demo. Another way of highlighting the static discharge is by holding one lead of an old-school neon lamp and touching the other lead to ground, you get a nice neon flash. Also, try this: take the neon lamp and solder to one lead a sewing needle, then holding it out in front of you by the other lead and start scuffing around in your socks and the lamp will flash as the static discharges through the point.
Cheers,
Mark
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One answer I cannot find is if an ESD mat should be connected directly to ground or have a 1meg ohm resistor in between? I have seen documents that show both. The connection cord that you use tends to have the 1 meg resistor to the stud, for the mat, and is directly connected to earth for the wrist strap entry points, as wrist straps have the 1 meg resistor already built in. My question on the mat still stands however? Direct to earth or like you probably have, or 1 meg ohm in between?
idk your type of home heating unit or where the central humidifier is located, but keep an eye on it so it doesnt drip on the main heat exchanger. This happened to my gas forced air heater and had to be replaced. Basically totalled the whole system.
Fun and informative video! thanks!
+Koffi Banan My pleasure!
hey a..i know it's kinda late..but can I ask you something? If I'm wearing rubber gloves, does that work perfectly like anti-static wrist strap?? because this is the first time I'm built my own computer. don't wanna fries my comp. components tho'..thanks
Good display of the problem Martin. Have the same winter time issue here in Virginia and have the anti-static mat at the workbench. But over at the radio desk I took a small piece of PCB and soldered a 1M or 10M ohm resistor (can't recall which it was), heat shrunk over the resistor which is soldered to a piece of wire that then connects to the station ground copper bar along the back of the radio desk. Gives me another convenient "de-sparking" point before zapping something on the desk. 73 - Dino KL0S
+Dino Papas A brilliant little solution Dino, thanks for sending me the picture.
Your bench might not be grounded. It's a conductor and a huge reservoir of charge. You can get a spark from an ungrounded conductor as long as there is a difference in potential. That's why you can get zapped by a metal doorknob set in a wooden door.
My anti-static mat comes with a 3 pin plug to connect the mat to the mains earth.
*However* within the 3-pin plug there is a 1M-Ohm resistor, basically for the same reason as that wrist strap contains one. For a bench mat I prefer having that resistor in line.
if I'm using rubber slipper, should I still using static wrist wrap?
Hi, great video. I'm commenting to ask permission if I can use part of this footage on a UA-cam video that I want to make for video game repair and the merits of using a mat and wrist strap. Thanks.
Informative information as usual. But I must confess to childishly laughing every time Martin said "Ouch".
Will I will be de-charge if I don't ware any footwear and directly standing on tiles ground?
Subject well covered.
Thaks so Much Martin !
please tell me , if i dont have a multimetre like you or a electrical earth where i can plug the anti-static mat ?
+Nassim Cortocus most people just put the grounding lug under the screw on an outlet wall plate since they are grounded to the outlet. It is still a good idea to check that the terminal is grounded after it is connected with a multi-meter..
Words of wisdom : DON'T USE anti static wrist wraps that are WIRELESS!!!! Dave from EEV did a nice video on it. Thanks for sharing.
Hi mj, A tip when you want sparks without the "pain", hold a key in your hand and touch ground with the key.. Not sure why. Maybe because current concentration on the finger is spread out over a surface. Same static discharge happens at my place (in Norway) when temp creeps below -5C or so I think.. Every time I put on two layers of wool to go winter-cycling and it is cold enough, I get zapped by my bike when i touch it the first time, but when I come back home I don't get shocked. I think its because my clothes are damp when I get home. Right now it is -13C outside.
+bwack Thanks for the tip...this video would have been far less fun to make had I not gone through the pain.
As far as your bike...perhaps you need to upgrade to carbon? ;-)
+mjlorton Hey thanks, that's a great way to convince the wife I Really do need to upgrade to carbon! (and if she doesn't allow you to spend all that money to "save my body from possibly life-threatening shocks" she's just after your money or something...)
Is true that you can conect the anti Static mat in a multimeter? Does it works?
Hahahaha, that's the funniest thing I've seen you do Martin!
Thanks, Martin. I took the ground pin out of a junk plug, soldered the end of a good wire to it, and soldered the other end to an alligator clip that clips to the snap of my anti-static mat. I plug the ground pin into the ground of one of the sockets on my surge protector strip, and I can still use the plug for devices that don't use the ground.Also, while walking around the house or around town, I wear my Shaxon anti-static wristband, without the tether of course, and it keeps me from getting shocked in the house, touching metal in my car, and also when touching shopping carts or anything else.
+Robert Calk Jr. Aaah...thanks for the post Robert...yes, getting in and out of the car can be a bloody pain too! The RH outside has not been that low yet that my car has been an issue yet...but I have vivid memories from last winter of being zapped all the time!
+Robert Calk Jr., can you explain the physics that allow an untethered wrist band to dissipate static charge? Dave Jones did a video on wireless anti-static wrist bands and found, unsurprisingly, that they do absolutely nothing.
+FlyingShotsman
That's what I hear from everyone also. I doubt that it would be effective to save a sensitive electronic component, but it does keep me from getting shocked wherever I go.
I really don't care what that jerk Dave thinks, this is the third winter that I've used it. When I take it off I get shocked, when I'm wearing it I don't, it's as simple as that. What matters to me is that it works for me - my experience means more to me that what some person 6000 miles away says.
Mine is a Shaxon. I can't comment on wrist bands that are made by anyone else.
I'm not an expert on Physics.
Strange, but fair enough -- can't argue with empirical data!
Nice video
I thought in January one is supposed to get summer in South Africa :-\
But thanks for this simple, but brilliant contribution.
+Anton Lymanets Yes it is summer in SA but when he says 'here in Ohio in the winter..' we figure he's in Ohio which is a state in the USA. That being in the northern hemisphere it's likely Winter.
Isn't the earth ground potentially a current carrying wire as neutral and earth are combined in the main panel? Grounding yourself to green wire or earth ground just makes your body a better antenna does it not?
Great I call that 50 shades of grey for nerds :D
One of my coworkers always zapp everyone, but he have ESD mat, why then it happens?
I guess getting rid of the carpet in that area is out of the question? That is the main problem. There are also anti-static sprays you can apply to carpet. They are slightly hygroscopic, which means the water vapor they attract from the environment make the carpet a poor anti-static mat. Other than that stick with cotton clothes. Helps with getting shocks at all, because you can't put anti-static mats everywhere to touch first ;)
+superdau When I had my lab in the basement I had the bench on raised tile flooring for exactly this reason. I could not easily do that when I moved to the room I'm in now. Treating the carpets is not really solving the core issue of low RH. Low RH is horrid! Dry cracking skin, higher risk of getting ill, waking up with a dry mouth...no thanks! So getting the central humidifier working again is a win on all those issues.
Thanks for the post!
Nice moonwalk Martin.
I connected my mat to ground with a plug as you did so I am interested to hear if anyone posts a comment pointing out any drawbacks. I use an isolation transformer when repairing but I wonder if grounding the mat would make not using an iso transformer even more dangerous as you would likely be in contact with ground full time?
Thanks for another great video Martin. By the way we are laughing with you not at you for your self sacrifice.
Martin, I don't think getting a shock by touching your bench necessarily means that the bench is earthed. Rather, it just means the bench is at a different potential than your body. It's the same as being shocked by touching your car, which is obviously insulated from earth by its tires.
+FlyingShotsman Good point, thanks for posting.
I'm not so sure about "obviously". In my youth I had a job at a place that ground down old graphite electrodes from the steelworks, into a powder, this was sent to a tyre manufacturer where they added it to the rubber so it would conduct. This was done to prevent static build up. I was told this was standard?? Maybe this accounts for variable results with static and cars?
Shocking!
I would of connected to the earth via a couple of nf high voltage caps this kind you find in switch mode supplies bridging the isolation input to output normally little blue one's. Or at least a couple of high voltage 470k resistors in series. If your bench is metal and earthed why the need to earth the mat, should be earthed ? Also consider working on live equipment and needing to take some volt reading and your elbow or some other part of your body and your probe or fingers slip immediate shock through the chest. Hence the caps or resistors.
+Peter Jones The mat has a 10M ohm built in series resistor. That way when it bleeds off the excess charge it does so in a safe manner and also prevents you from being shocked if you happen to be touching the mat and come into contact with a live connection with your other hand.
10-100Megaohm is that a property of the mat, or a physical resistor in line to ground ?
+John Knutsson The mats are usually fairly low resistance but they have an inline resistor of 10M ohm or so.
Should I get a case of Sta soft ( whatever fragrance you like) and send it to you, if you don't have something liquid locally.........
+SeanBZA I remember you mentioning this before Sean...great idea...but I need a higher RH for reasons noted in another comment and being above 40% seems to resolve the issue for the most part in my lab.
I use an earth bonding plug which also has a 1MΩ series resistor:
uk.farnell.com/multicomp/070-0012/earth-bonding-plug-uk-1x10mm-studs/dp/1687874?ost=1687874&selectedCategoryId=&categoryName=All+Categories&categoryNameResp=All+Categories
The mat I use has 4 studs in the 4 corners. I use the one on the near side left to plug the wrist strap to, and the one at the back going to the bonding plug.
The mat has like 10kΩ between the studs (from what I remember) due to the conductive backing layer.
Hi MartinOn my bench I have metal reciprocal box's and I ground to that.Lou
A big lab you have mounted
Martin, you are as daft as a bucket, What sacrifices you make for us.
+Paul Rautenbach LOL...I'm a slow learner!
I entirely agree with Jaan-Martin and Steve Rodgers. Absolutely brilliant video both in tekky info and entertainment. LOL 'Ouch!' Hey Martin, I hope this doesn't turn into a type of 'electronic fetish' for you. For me, your productions have to be some of the finest on youtube. Please keep going, I'm learning so much from you as, I guess, are all that watch. All the best for the New Year to you and yours.
+Robert Lewis Thanks very much for the post Robert. I hope 2016 treats you well good man.
Cheers, Martin.
Thank you for the informative video! As a word of caution please keep an eye on your indoor humidity level, if you see condensation on your windows, the humidity is too high and will cause mold growth and wood rot. Don't ask me how I know this...
Ha Ha I think you just reinvented electric buggy :-)
Electric boogie perhaps? 😂
I sit with 5-15% RH in my house each winter and I hate it. What weather station is the one you own?
+legalizeshemp420 Ouch...that is low! It's the Ambient Weather WS-1001-WIF, I can highly recommend it.
mjlorton
How low will the RH readings go? I find most stop at 20% which isn't low enough for here.
+legalizeshemp420
Get a Shaxon anti-static wrist strap and wear it untethered when you leave your workbench. It works for me.
Robert Calk Jr.
Yep, I just bought one as my almost 20 year old one finally broke.
Referring to your test of whether or not your bench is earthed: I don't think the fact of a spark jumping to it from your finger shows that it is actually connected to earth - it just shows that it has a different (probably lower) state of charge from your body.
It's like the difference between shorting out a charged cap, which obviously gives a current spike as it discharges, versus connecting a charged cap to an empty cap - where there is still a current spike, albeit a smaller one as the charge gets shared between the two capacitors.
The capacitance of your body measured to gnd is probably comparable to that of the bench, whereas small isolated objects have little capacitance and don't give a noticeable spark.
+Richard Ball Good point Richard, thanks for posting.
Ouch
Definitely not enough people use anti-static mats or wrist straps. Even moving your arms around to grab something is enough to build up enough static to damage semiconductors so continuous protection should always be used.
+SDG Electronics Agree totally.
*Ppl do not connect yourself or your mat directly to true earth unless your wrist strap or mat has a in line resistor built in it, check it with a multimeter first, the resistors are there for a reason & if you dont know why I suggest you look it up & educate yourselves*
I know that poor electricians used to connect earth pin to 0 in in-house AC mains sockets when they had only 2 wires in wall. Use your imagination - what happens if something changes in nearby transformer station :-(
+Piotr Szarański So the USA doesn't use Main Earth Neutral???
what it do?
everytime i heard the static shock i felt it in my finger tips
Don't like using the wrist straps. They seem to be on my line of work. I use them around my ankles instead. Just make sure you don't trip with them when you get up to move around.
.. why not earth the carpet?
sold my socks
that static thingy reminds me of Peter Griffin, electricman..
static is not great but also humidity is also not good.
1st
you do not need to be earth ground. all you have to be is at the same level as the computer or other devices that all you need.