Conference hydra::amiga_v1

    I have had such a problem with static that I insist that my wife
    not even enter the computer room until I install another humidifier
    down there.
    
    If I shuffle around the house in my fluffy bathrobe, I can hang
    the Supra just by touching the light switch at the entrance to the
    Amiga room.
    
    I have to sneak up on the computer in the following way...
    (I live in a split-level townhouse; Amy is in the lower floor).
    
    * Discharge myself on the lightswitch leading to the lower level.
      
    * Discharge again to the hallway lightswitch.
    
    * Discharge again on the steel gooseneck lamp on the computer desk.
                                                 
    I should emphasize that the real sensitive item is my Supradrive,
    although I have guru'ed the Amiga just by touching the keyboard.
    Anyone know a good way to protect against this problem?
    
    

    For you folks with major static problems, have you considered putting
    a grounded static mat under the table and chair where you Amiga
    is located and a smaller one under the CPU box?  Of course,
    ``grounded'' and ``anti-static'' are the key words.  They ain't
    cheap, but a lot cheaper than fixing your machine.
    
    Of course whenever you open a box, connect connectors, handle chips,
    or do anything that could subject your system to ESD,
    
    			WEAR A STATIC STRAP!
    
    BobW

When the humidity is really low (I keep a meter next to the computer) I
clip my  (metal) wristwatch to the chassis of my LA36 with a test lead.

When the humidity is above 30%, I simply ground myself on the said-same
LA36 before touching the keyboard or mouse. 

No joke, Static kills.  Just ask the data I used to have on my hard
disk.  There is currently a hardware problem in my hard disk that first
occurred on one of these cold, dry, winter weekend mornings.  I now
backup almost daily, and often have to slap the controller on the side
to get the disk to behave. 

Things have gotten much better with a coat of "Static Guard" (Wear a
mask when applying) on the carpet and chair.  That was over a week ago. 
I'm not sure how long it lasts.  (This is normally used to keep your
skirt from sticking to your socks when rubbing your skirt against your
slip generates a static electric charge.  I think you get it in grocery
stores.)

In "Architectual Digest", I saw an ad from Exxon regarding anti-static
carpet mat and backing for industrial carpeting.  (We're talking
wall-to-wall here.) Someday the contractor-supplied junk in my house
will wear out, and I will explore the possibility of grounding the
floors in the entire house with something like this.  If you are
planning to recarpet soon, you might want to call your local Exxon
office and find out more about it.

(There's more to this than just the computer.  My spouse gets very upset
if she gets a shock when I touch her.  I'm also concerned about the four
or five little computers there are in my stereo components.)

> Things have gotten much better with a coat of "Static Guard" (Wear a
> mask when applying) on the carpet and chair.  That was over a week ago. 
> I'm not sure how long it lasts.  (This is normally used to keep your
> skirt from sticking to your socks when rubbing your skirt against your
> slip generates a static electric charge.  I think you get it in grocery
> stores.)

Thanks Jeff, I will keep this in mind the next time I have my skirt
and slip on :-) :-) :-)

On a more serious note, take a look in any of the office supply catalogs
that sell paper, ribbon, media, furniture and the like.  I have seen
grounded "pads" that your P.C. and keyboard sit on.  You simply
touch the "pad" prior to touching any of your equipment to discharge
any static buildup.

Of course there are always DECmats which are sold through DECdirect.

Art

> (There's more to this than just the computer.  My spouse gets very upset
> if she gets a shock when I touch her.  I'm also concerned about the four
> or five little computers there are in my stereo components.)

That's for sure!  My wife isn't too happy when she gets shocked either.
Besides that, if I press 'Play/Reject' on my turntable with enough static
built up, the tone arm drags the stylus across the record toward the
center.  It's happend a couple of times and is definitely NOT a very good
thing for the record or the stylus!! :-(


				...richard

    There's also an inexpensive product which is an adhesive-backed strip
    which attaches across the bottom of the keyboard, below the space bar.
    It has a ground wire which connects to a suitable place.  I think
    they call it 'FIRST TOUCH', hinting at what one is supposed to do.

    I think I may need a surge supressor or some such filter gadget
    to plug my hard drive into.  My discharge problem is such that I
    can hang the hard drive by touching the light switch as I enter
    the room.  The computer, monitor, drive etc. are all connected to
    a 6 plug strip with a built in breaker, but no surge supression.
    
    By discharging the large part of my charge before I enter the room,
    the drive will survive the smaller zap when I touch the keyboard.
    
    Fortunately, I haven't lost a bit if data yet.
    
    Ed.

    Recently I placed a JoyStick on top of the Monitor.  When I passed
    by hand past the screen (I'm using a CSVB tuner when the Amiga is
    off) I received a nasty shock from the joystck cord that ran in
    front of the screen.  My floor is hardwood and the table is a Digital
    Printer stand.  Is there another ground needed? 

    Just some advice:
    
    Be careful about grounding yourself.  In the event of an equipment
    failure, you may present a low impedance to ground, and get killed.
    If you must, put a large ( 1 Meg) resistor in series with your
    connection, or buy a commercial ground strap kit.	John

With the heating in the winter, my apt. gets real dry. With all this talk
about threats to Amy's health, I think I'll get a humidifier.

A few weeks back, I was about to go jogging (yes, SW engineers do that!).
Having only my jogging suit on, I decided to go put a sweater underneath (was
one of those 2 degree nights). I had my walkman in the pocket of the coat and
the headset (actually two micro-miniature ear "plugs" on wires) stuck in my
ears. As I walked across the carpet, I was pulling off the coat whilst enjoying
a good Pink Floyd tune on the radio.  Suddenly I felt a very strange sensation
in my ears which was rather uncomfortable (now I know Pink Floyd has been know
to cause Hallucinations and dilusions, but this was *not* the music!)

- The static I generated walking across the carpet, coupled with additional
static from taking off the coat, went strait up the wires into my ears!



John (who can't walk and listen to Pink Floyd at the same time)

    re: -2
    
    That static was generated by the screen of your monitor.  I don't
    know a way around that one...it is common with all color televisions.
    
    A word of warning about humidifiers.  I had one of those ultrasonic
    ones, with a special filter to get rid of minerals in the water.
    The filter did nothing.  Instead, the humidifier produced huge amounts
    of mineral dust that covered everything in the apartment.  The dust
    is attracted directly to the computer, television,vcr, and audio 
    components, because of the static created by the tv screens.  I
    tried grounding everything, but that did not help.  The dust is
    attracted INSIDE the components as well.  I never found a way around
    this.  
    
    I was also told by a friend that ultrasonic humidifiers can be bad
    for you health too.  Apparently, if there are any microbes or viruses
    in the water, like mold (which easily grows in these things), it
    is injected into the air where it is inhaled.
    
    I gave up on mine.  I am now thinking of getting the conventional
    type instead.  I always felt they did a better job anyways...
    
    Randy
    

    re: filters
    
    The filters on the ultrasonic humidifiers would take care of the
    minerals from the water itself as long as they are changed frequently.
    But don't forget that the air itself is full of microscopic dust
    particles that the mist just loves to cling to.  Once the two get
    together, the dirt then becomes heavier than air and falls wherever
    it happens to be.
    
    Mark

    re .11
    
    Consumer reports recently did a full report on humidifiers ( I don't
    recall the issue number but I will find out tommorow) and the main
    point of the artical was that the ultrasonic humidifiers would destroy
    almost all mold before it was injected into the air (mold forms
    inside all humidifiers) unlike ordinary humidifiers which mearly
    put the mold straight into the air.  This was important to me because
    I am allergic to mold.  I use an ultrasonic dehumidifier and do
    not have a mold or dust problem.  However I vacume often and live
    in a smoke free house.
    
        I will post the artical issue and number here tommorow
    
     Thank you for your support 
                      Harry
    

RE:< Note 1102.13 by CAMTWO::ARENDT >

However, there have been additional articles about all that destroyed mold
plating out on electronic parts and causing problems.  It may be destroyed but 
it has to go somewhere.  The users manual for my ultrasonic humidifier 
specifically states that it shouldn't be used close to electronics equipment 
and not for reasons of humidity.

Dick

    re -1
    
    I agree, the dust was actually more of a thick, sticky film that
    covered everything, not just horozontal surfaces.  I even found
    it building on the inside of the display window of my VCR and Tuner.
    
    The filter was one that you ran water thru before filling the tank.
    I also tried additives that were supposed to remove the minerals.
    Neither one made any difference.
    
    I wonder how much help my aquarium has been in keeping the humidity
    up?
    
    Randy
    

    
    I previously worked in the VLSI production industry - there are
    many myths surrounding static. But one of the best solutions is
    watch your clothing (No synthetics) and in crease the humidity.
    This has the disadvantage of turning the room into a sweat-shop,
    but you can't have it everyway. To set up a proper anti-static bench
    with ground strap is not as easy as it seems. Even with a ground
    strap it is possible to end up causing damage to the electronics.

Can I ask if those having problems have adequate wiring as far as their 
grounds?  I haven't been very sucessful with keeping the humidity up this
winter and I have this four legged static generator that likes to sleep in
the wires under my desk ( I've heard him discharge when he lies down ).
Never had a glitch. 

re 1102.15 
>    The filter was one that you ran water thru before filling the tank.
>    I also tried additives that were supposed to remove the minerals.
>    Neither one made any difference.
    
It seems that if you have "hard" water, there is not really a lot you
can do to purify it enough to prevent the crystalization of the minerals
in the air as the water droplets with dissolved mineral in them evaporate.
Each crystal represents the mineral content of a tiny droplet of water,
so they must be much smaller than regular organic and mineral "dust".
They probably remain in the air indefinately until captured by something
either wet or charged with static, CRT's being a prime candidate.

Mold spores can probably be filtered out, having a minimum size of a
fairly large DNA molecule, but actually being much larger. Being pounded
by the transducer may also disrupt them enough to prevent germination,
I'm not sure. Obviously, higher humidity means increased mold growth from
spores that are always around anyway.

Chemical water softening won't work if it is based on using ion transfer
to replace one mineral (which has objectionable characteristics, like
iron salts) with another. You just get a different type of dust. I'm not
at all familiar with water softening technology, but I suspect that 
water which tastes good (is not distilled, "flat", water) will contain
enough salt to create this "dust".

Evaporation solves all this. The low-tech pot of water on the wood stove
beats the ultrasonic humidifier.

John O.

I have heard that you can take a add a couple of spoons of liquid fabric
softener to a spray bottle of water and spray it on the carpet to eliminate
static.  I haven't tried it yet though.  Has anyone else done this??

					...richard

    re 1102.19
    
    The fabric softener trick works ok, but builds up a sticky residue.
Not a pretty sight on shag carpet.  There is a commercial product called
Statacide that we reccomend to our customers.  I have seen it on the
shelf in some electonic stores for about $10 a quart, which I beleive
you then dilute for use.  

    Staticide is also available at carpet stores. That's where I got
    mine.