Carpet and Computers the final word

**Elfdude** · October 02, 2011, 03:14 PM

This might go in either the science forum or the computer forum, I think the science forum will get better responses however.

So, I've been arguing with a few friends of mine about carpet and static discharge. Now I'm under the impression ambiently the carpet is no threat to the computer. This seems to me to be because 1. the charge should not propagate into the computer itself 2. the psu grounds the computer 3. if a large enough charge were present the case itself should act like a faraday cage.

Now I'm not particularly attached to my argument however finding verification of any argument is near impossible. Can anyone provide evidence either way that ambient carpet static can be a danger to your computer? Or explain why it wouldn't be?

**Ancient Aliens** · October 02, 2011, 05:43 PM

If it's housed, it's grounded. The only thing one needs to worry about with carpets is dust and overheating.

**Magicman2051** · October 02, 2011, 05:54 PM

As AA said, the greater concern is actually dust particles.

**Denny Crane!** · October 03, 2011, 12:57 PM

Yeah the overheating of a dust covered motherboard is crazy and it clogs the fan up on your chip quite easily, but make sure you aren't statically charged when going inside your tower, that is a danger and happens around carpets!

**Ancient Aliens** · October 03, 2011, 01:05 PM

Originally Posted by Denny Crane!

Yeah the overheating of a dust covered motherboard is crazy and it clogs the fan up on your chip quite easily, but make sure you aren't statically charged when going inside your tower, that is a danger and happens around carpets!

Yeah, that happened to me the first time I tried to clean the heat sink on my laptop about 10 years ago.

**Elfdude** · October 06, 2011, 02:14 PM

Yeah I always touch the inner metal case to equalize my charge. Never had a static discharge. However I know this stuff proving it is the difficulty.

**Stario** · October 06, 2011, 11:46 PM

If you touch the metal case (prior to touching any internal parts), static shouldn't be a problem. If you're also touching the parts by the edges then you should be OK. With that said, when I need to install parts, or to clean the pc, I always do it on a workbench I got set up on my balcony which has concrete tiles. Carpets can release static so why risk it. You can go as far as getting anti-static gear (but most PC builders will tell you this isn't necessary if you're careful). I've personally never used such gear and never ever had a problem with static electricity. Now if you mean a closed PC then "NO" -a closed pc is basically a "hoffman box".