"Should". There are a couple of Topping products (L30 for example) that are known to have internal parts explode due to ESD strikes from regular use.
But you're right. The designer of the equipment should take reasonable precautions to ensure that the equipment can handle regular use even in dry climates. There are also ESD standards that need to be met in some cases.
If your equipment is grounded to the mains protective earth, there is no harm to the equipment if you touch the chassis to ground yourself. The only exception would be if the ESD strike ends up going to an internal part (for example via a connector or control) rather than to the chassis, but that should be accounted for by the designer of the equipment. "Should"... I certainly prefer to ground myself by controlled means rather than just touching the chassis.
Tom
If it explodes, it could also be latch-up triggered by an ESD event (which also shouldn't happen, of course).
The only time I have seen ESD damage it was on equipment with the covers off.
I felt the shock and heard the little tick from the spark.
It was a tube tube camera with the rest of it being a mix of chips and discrete transistors. It took out all five transistors in the vertical scan output stage. The pulse generator was on the same board and was one of those white packaged chips with a golden square in the middle. The chip was all right.
I felt the shock and heard the little tick from the spark.
It was a tube tube camera with the rest of it being a mix of chips and discrete transistors. It took out all five transistors in the vertical scan output stage. The pulse generator was on the same board and was one of those white packaged chips with a golden square in the middle. The chip was all right.
Wool carpets are conducive enough to prevent static. And warm enough that you don't need slippers! Higher relative humidity will greatly reduce static too. Move to a damp country or use AC that controls humidity?
Cold winters mean the outside air has low absolute humidity, so when it is warmed up by heating it becomes very low relative humidity as moisture is much more soluable in warm air.
Another observation - your slipper soles and the vinyl floor are both good insulators but different materials. Rubbing similar materials generates less static (keyphrase "triboelectric series") - so find some spare vinyl floor to glue to your slipper soles!!
Cold winters mean the outside air has low absolute humidity, so when it is warmed up by heating it becomes very low relative humidity as moisture is much more soluable in warm air.
Another observation - your slipper soles and the vinyl floor are both good insulators but different materials. Rubbing similar materials generates less static (keyphrase "triboelectric series") - so find some spare vinyl floor to glue to your slipper soles!!
LOL! Ten minutes before I saw this thread, I was complaining to my wife about static shock when wearng my slippers.
I had an SMSL dongle DAC that died due to a static discharge. I touch the steel frame holding my stereo before touching any gear. I still get a shock though.
I find that touching a grounded surface with a conductive object like a key in your hand can lessen the pain of the shock.
I had an SMSL dongle DAC that died due to a static discharge. I touch the steel frame holding my stereo before touching any gear. I still get a shock though.
I find that touching a grounded surface with a conductive object like a key in your hand can lessen the pain of the shock.
I suspect this is because the intense electric field at the point of the key ionises the surrounding air molecules.
If we assume the person and key to be positively charged, +ve ions will be repelled away from the point, while -ve ions will be attracted toward the point - thus tending to neutralise the +ve charge on both key and person.
Linoleum has natural bacteria-killing properties so is "healthier" than vinyl - and more environmentally friendly!
The Forbo Nairn factory in Kirkaldy, Scotland employs over 200 people and is the only UK manufacturer of linoleum.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-44128557