Shocking!

Lucutus

Hello all,

Decided to post here after reading some other threads as I reckon a lot of the regulars are highly knowledgeable and I might get some decent advice.

I keep getting shocked at work! About 5 or 6 times a day, I get a shock when touching a door handle or a metal part of a chair/desk, I get a jolt, sometimes strong enough that you can hear it. At first I thought it was just me, (long hair + synthetic fabric clothes = static shock fun), but recently a couple of other people nearby have mentioned they've had similar shocks.

I'm starting to suspect that something around here isn't earthed properly.

I work in a small open plan office, computer support tech. department; we have about 14 PC's at 6 desks, a few switches and KVM's etc. underneath.

Management are unlikely to get in an electrician unless we can show a problem. I have a multimeter at home, (with no idea how to use it!), would it be a good idea to bring it in and touch the probe to some random things to check? What should I check in and around the area and how would I interpret the results?

Starting to get tired of conducting electricity, so any help or advice offered is appreciated and smart comments are always welcomed so long as they're funny and entertaining...

Steve

It's static.

I'll bet you have synthetic / polyester based carpet in the office.

I'm not sure what you can do about it though - try not to shuffle when you walk, that's what causes it to build up. Maybe try leather soled shoes?

Solair

It's your shoes and whatever flooring is in the office creating static.
Try wearing different shoes and see what happens.

The fact that you're getting shocked shows that the place IS well earthed - your actually discharging electricity TO the metal objects, not the other way around.

Stoner

yeah there is nothing much you can do, I remember back in the days when we worked on Extra vision shops , this was an issue (particularly around the coke and ice cream machines) you can get static mats, but it usually a shoe and carpet combo, your moverment builds up the static, so its you that is becoming charged and you are earthing yourself on equipment that is most likely properly earthed and doing its job.

davelerave

you could try looking at your footwear and your seating if you're getting up off a chair.i looked at this before for myself when i worked in computing for a while in usa (terrible nuisance).you can spray the office seat with fabric conditioner/water mix to prevent static build up while seated as far as the shoes go look for a static dissipative type

spideog7

In a lot of engineering workplaces static can be very destructive when dealing with circuit boards and some chips. You can get heel straps that go around your shoe and keep you earthed, or alternatively you can get a wrist strap to put on your wrist while you're at your desk, the other end can be connected to anything that is earthed such as a radiator or even your cubicle frame.

davelerave

spideog7 wrote: »

In a lot of engineering workplaces static can be very destructive when dealing with circuit boards and some chips. You can get heel straps that go around your shoe and keep you earthed, or alternatively you can get a wrist strap to put on your wrist while you're at your desk, the other end can be connected to anything that is earthed such as a radiator or even your cubicle frame.

just remember to disconnect the earth strap before you shake hands

Steve

^^^
Reminds me of my previous office, we had great craic sparking people. A good 30 second shuffle would build up enough charge so that you could go up to a guy sitting at his desk and get at least a 10mm arc between your finger and his ear.
Jaysus they jumped...

:D:D

ThOnda

There is nothing you could do about it. Just one hint - it is less painful the bigger is the area used to transfer the charge. So if you go for the door handle with your palm, it will be less painful than touching it with fingertips.

Davy

Static-Release Wrist Strap €1.40 delivered

10-10-20

I used to get this quite a bit when the weather was warmer (we used to get summers here, you know) and my workaround was to touch the metal object with a key beforehand. This will discharge the static buildup without giving you a shock.

Try it!