[Music]
I'm sure I'm not the only one who's ever
touched a doorknob and been on the
receiving end of a painful zap or pulled
my clothes out of the dryer only to find
my socks clinging to my sweaters well
it's no big secret that static
electricity is the culprit but what many
of us don't know is how that nuisance is
likely to affect even our simplest DIY
repairs hi I'm MJ with iFixit and today
i'm going to give you a brief lesson on
ESD no it's not a venereal disease it
stands for electrostatic discharge if
you're new to electronics repair you
might not be aware of proper ESD safety
procedures or why discharging static
electricity is necessary to the safety
of your device basically the smaller the
components in your device are the more
sensitive they are to static electricity
and even though you might not feel as
apt the way you move and you touch a
doorknob it doesn't mean that static
isn't being transferred from your body
to your device so let's start with the
basics before you begin any electronics
repair unplug your device the next thing
you're gonna want to do is remove any
rings bracelets or watches from your
fingers and wrists though your
calculator watch might look super cool
it has no place next to your naked
electronics now for the not so obvious
stuff you're going to start by grounding
your workstation by laying down an
anti-static mat and connecting its wire
lead to the nearest metal component of
the table that you're working on the mat
is designed to reduce static build-up
while you're doing your repair and it
makes a nice clean even surface to work
on next you're going to ground yourself
using an anti-static wrist strap if
you've got your mat laid out already all
you've got to do is connect the wire
lead to the mat and even if you don't
feel staticky just scooting your butt
around in your chair can generate enough
Zak to cook your gizmo so by grounding
yourself with the anti-static wrist
strap you're preventing your own zap
from transferring to your gadget it's
easy and it's geek chic finally when
performing your
keep your parts in the pink or silver
bags that they came in until you're
ready to use them also I'd recommend
using esd-safe
tools these tools don't discharge
electricity the way the mat and the
strap will but they don't build up a
charge of their own while you're using
them non esd-safe tools naturally build
up a charge and then easily transfer
that zap to fragile gizmos keep your
parts and your tools on the anti-static
mat while you're working and you're good
to go of course you can find all of the
tools that I mentioned and many many
more at I fix it calm and if you want to
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