Conference noted::ibmpc-95

You induced a static charge in the headphones, which are likely NOT grounded
in any way (nor would I expect them to be.)  Your PC is fine.

				Steve

    re .0:
    
    �But what's wrong here?  Does this tell me that something's not properly
    �grounded?
    
    No, in the contrary, I'd say it tells you your PC _is_ grounded, and
    you had static discharging to ground (via the earphones).
    

    Ooops... notes collision again.
    
    If the PC is grounded (I hope it is, I'n not all that familiar with US
    electric installations), the headphones are grounded too.
    

    Patent it.  You've discovered how to zap ear wax.
    

    .3 has it right. PC is grounded, & the static discharge found 
    a path to a lower voltage potential via your skin and your ears 
    to the headphones.
    
    Bob

    ...and if you want to keep your PC running properly, you'll stop
    zapping it via static discharge!  You are zapping it, and not vice
    versa.  Discharge yourself before touching the PC.
    
    /Bill

    I don't think I've ever started a bona fide rat-hole myself, but
    there's always a first time:
    
    re .6
    
    While people are well-advised to follow your caution, any product that
    is buttoned up in its normal configuration and is intended for people
    contact, should be considered ill-designed if it can not withstand
    normal static discharges and continue operating -- or at least not be
    damaged.
    
    When I worked at DTS (remember the cash register company started by an
    ex-Decie?), we tested our products with HV discharge generators,
    covering every accessible piece of the unit -- in my case a modular
    unit connected by cables -- keyboard, cpu, display, receipt printer --
    and expected it to work while we drew half inch arcs from the probe.
    
    Tony

    Tony, your point is a good and valid one. However ew all have
    to keep in mind the price of a typical pc that is made up of
    components manufactured by many different sources. There are
    a few pc manufacturers that I recall a few years ago still
    used to put a new pc design/configuration through a series of
    torture tests (including ESD), to see how the new model would
    stand up. Other than major players like Compaq, IBM, Digital,
    and maybe others like (but I'm not absolutely sure), Gateway, Dell,
    I doubt if much is done in the way of certifying a config with
    a specific brand of multimedia, hard disk, <you name the other
    options>, etc. to the extent it used to be done. it's just too
    costly, and can't be justified in today's small margins. Instead,
    they probably depend on the individual manufacturers to back up
    their product to certain standards of functionality when subjected
    to thermal, mechanical vibration, ESD, RF emissions etc.
    I think Bill was simply providing caution, based on the presumption
    that a consumer shouldn't put a huge amout of stock in what the
    manufacturer of a PC may or may not say about the reliability of
    their product to stand up to such things as ESD. IE: Opt on the
    side of caution.
    
    Bob

When I zap my Starion 942 at home, I usually have to reboot within the
hour.The system looks like it's going to continue running, but then some
wierd symptom shows up or the system completely freezes. I haven't had
to actually repair anything because of static electricity (yet).

Dave

    Thanks all for the words of encouragement...
    
    Later yesterday, while thinking about the situation, I pretty much came
    to the same conclusion:  That the thing IS properly grounded.  And the
    solution possibly is:  To remove that ground!!!  Which I guess I won't
    do.
    
    Suffice it to say, that I'll be more careful with polyester from now
    on.  :-)
    
    -	stp
    p.s.  Today, I'm wearing COTTON!

    re: .10 by STAR::PITCHER
    
    Glad to see you're taking this in the right spirit!  ;-)
    
    >> p.s.  Today, I'm wearing COTTON!
    
    Better... but still not immune.  Increasing room relative humidity
    helps a bit.
    
    Good luck and cheers,
    
    /Bill

Don't remove the ground, unless you REALLY want to risk damage, as well as
increase RF radiation.

				Steve

	I think Steve (Pitcher, not Lionel) would need one hell of a 
humidifier to raise the humidity here on ZK3-4.  As far as I can tell, it's
the damn office chairs along with any cloth that serve as a van de Graf
generator.

					--Doug

    >   I think Steve (Pitcher, not Lionel) would need one hell of a
    >humidifier to raise the humidity here on ZK3-4. As far as I can tell, it's
    >the damn office chairs along with any cloth that serve as a van de Graf
    >generator.
    
    It could be those Reeboks, Nikes (or whatever brand one wears), with 
    the rubber soles which prevent the static buildup from bleeding off 
    as you shuffle up the hallway to your office & sit down in your chair 
    with the rubber wheels and roll between your Exchange PC & your
    workstation of choice <choose one - Unix box or Open VMS box>. :-)
    When entering my office after walking up the hallway, I usually 
    have to quickly and firmly touch either one of my 4-drawers, or my 
    bookcase to dissipate the ~5kv-12kv static charge. Otherwise, I'm 
    liable to generate as much as a 1/2" spark when I belly up to 
    a keyboard. :-)
    
    Bob
    
    Bob

    > p.s.  Today, I'm wearing COTTON!
    
    Better would be nothing at all!
    
    Seriously though, I go barefoot at home and never generate static. At
    work it's a different matter.
    
    Cheers,
    Brian

My home computer station has a grounded floor pad tied to the printer,
computer, monitor, UPS and phone protection.  And I have a grounded discharge
handle to grab when I first sit down.  I learned the hard way in 1985 on a 
borrowed PDP-11 and soon invested in antistatic overkill.

At LKG I've used those grounding wrist straps on occasion.

I've never considered trying "grounding headphones" though.  ;-)

Chuck

    I have run into this type of problem when working with customers. This
    happens on any type of system. In our case it was a 3MIN system at City
    Bank in N.Y.
    
    We ended up finding that it was static induced. (the mouse would go non
    functional) This was all eliminated by putting a antistatic mat in the
    area of your chair, near the system. They would slide from one table to
    another with the chair, befor installing the mat, and dissable the
    system just by touching the keyboard, mouse, or monitor. All fed back
    to ground. No permanant damage to the system..
    
    John