Tech Show - Antistatic Mats and Straps 

If you are using a power bar or UPS you could always connect them to a ground on that device assuming that you have the power supply plugged into that power bar. Some power bars have external ground contacts, otherwise you can purchase AC plug break-out plugs that expose the ground as a wire that can be clipped onto. Or you could connect to any of the computer power supply screws (just unscrew one a couple of turns and clip to it), or the motherboard cage or a motherboard standoff.

Hi. I am an Electronics Engineer. The goal is to have your body at the same electrical potential as the ground on the device you are working with. So, for example, if you are handling a computer motherboard, the goal is to have your body at the same electrical potential as the ground planes in the motherboard. That way when you touch the board at any location, you won't cause any electrical voltage/current to go into the components, such as static electrical shocks into the motherboard circuitry. It is not required to connect the motherboard to a power supply, and then that power supply to the house electrical outlet. You can do that if you prefer, but all that you are doing is moving your electrical potential from just the motherboard ground, to the house electrical ground. You will still be at the same electrical potential as the ground planes in the motherboard in either case. So as long as you are wearing a grounding wrist strap that is connected to the ground potential of the device that you are working with you are fine. Or if you have a large anti-static mat, you can simply make sure that you are contacting the mat before touching the electronic device sitting on it.

@@demenzunmedia Does it mean that essentially an anti-static mat should be connected to a wrist band?

@@demenzunmedia I'm considering a scenario whence a motherboard is intalled into a new case. How should the wrist band and the mat be connected in this case? I assume, that both would need to be connected to the case in some fashion. This does present a bit of a challenge in case the case is either made of plastic, or is covered with a non-conductive layer.

@@shangtsung2450 - Every case that I have ever seen has a metal motherboard cage and power supply cage. Simply connect the mat clip to anything metal on the case including a power supply screw or the back of the motherboard cage or a motherboard standoff screw. In a worst case you could run a wire to one of the ground points on the motherboard such as the front panel connector ground terminal.

@@demenzunmedia Consider e.g. black cases by Enthoo. Those are metal covered by black layer. Similarly, some power supplies from Thermaltake are also completely black, covered by paint. A question arises, what is the way to deal with those cases? In these instances, I observe no clear metal conductive paths.

Good question. I doubt that an electronics anti-static mat would work for your purpose. They are 100s of meg-ohms in resistance, in order to not short out the electronics but still provide grounding for very high voltage at very low current static charges. The mat might remove the static but the bag would probably have to sit on the mat for hours to do so. Most mats are really inexpensive, so it wouldn't cost much to try. But I have my doubts on the use.

The piece of metal has to be grounded. The whole point is that you let the static electricity flow through a separate channel (therefore not affecting components) and since ground is low potential, electricity always flows to ground.

@@atharvapurohit3821 my esd wrist strap still hasn't arrived. I have a weird question but do you think that if i connected the wrist strap to the blade of a knife with a completely covered by plastic handle would it work? I know it sounds stupid but since my laptop has a mostly plastic casing and what is metal is probably not attachable. That was the only solution i could think off with what i have. Or should i get a mat too?

@@xornedge8204 better not, I think. The size of the knife is small and it is insulated by the handle, so it can build up charges quickly hence becoming ineffective as a grounding system. Can someone who knows better physics look through this?

@@adithyaanil2823 i got a mat but now I’m curious too. I forgot about this comment lol.

If your goal is suppress static electricity from your body, then all you need is the wrist strap.

Clip the mat and wristband clips to a ground on the laptop, such as one of the shield plates or one of the holes where a screw attaches. You can also use the shield of any connector such as video connector.

Hi. I have been using the Startech mat for years. I really like it, and it seems to work great. They have really good specifications on the mat as well for ESD control. ESD mats and bags usually won't measure any resistance to common multi-meters, since the meters don't go high enough in resistance measuring. Antistatic mats and containers are extremely high resistance. www.amazon.ca/Startech-Com-24X26-Inch-Desktop-Anti-Static-M3013/dp/B00009XT3H

ok, I get it but how do you know it will work if it can't be tested with the multimeter? did you use something more advanced? Thanks

@@ioanmarianpanaite5574 - Virtually no one will have the proper test equipment to test an anti-static mat or bag against ESD discharges. They cannot be tested even with expensive multi-meters, their resistance is too high. So you have to trust the manufacturer's specifications, which means buying from a brand that you can count on to be honest. If you have a few hundred thousand dollars to purchase the equipment to perform actual resistance tests on mats, then you could probably get a popular channel.

you are definitely right. thank you for the advice!

@@ioanmarianpanaite5574 - You're welcome. Antistatic mats are typically 10^8 or 100,000,000 ohms from the surface to the ground connector. So really special equipment is required to test for these really high resistance values. Human body resistance is only up to 10,000 ohms, so it is easy to measure our own resistance such as from hand to hand, but mats and bags are so much higher resistance so that they suppress ESD while not affecting such things as batteries or powered-on electronics sitting on them. The really high resistance is only to suppress ESD, so it is still possible to damage electronics while it is on a mat, it is just a safe guard.

It can be plugged in or not plugged in. If the mat is connected to a larger ground area such as the house electrical system ground then it will work better.

That is simply not true. PET bags have anti-static layers in the middle of them. They work like Faraday cages. The outside of the bag is just as antistatic as the inside. Only some brands of metal foil bags have a conductive inner layer, which these types of bags are not used for motherboards. And even still, most metal foil bags are conductive on both sides. electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/5990/do-antistatic-bags-have-conductive-interior-exterior-or-both

Not according to LTT (linus tech tips)

He mentioned they still conduct on the outside in a build video. Just use the box the motherboard came in.

@@Deadlighf - I will trust the information from electronics engineers before I trust LTT. So Linus said they conduct on the outside, while in your first comment you claimed that they do not conduct on the outside. Which is it? I suggest you read the link I posted. The vast majority of bags are antistatic on both sides. Antistatic bags typically read greater than 1000 gigohms on both sides and are conductive to static on both sides. Assembling a motherboard on its antistatic bag is perfectly fine and will work just fine if you don't have a proper mat. Depending on the antistatic bag and its external conductivity, you don't want to power up the motherboard on it, but that is only for a special type of foil bag that has ultra low resistance, which no regular motherboards are that type of bag. Perhaps you are confusing building the system versus powering on the system. It is perfectly acceptible to assemble a motherboard on its antistatic bag. A motherboard box is not antistatic and should not be used for assembly. The motherboard is then moved from the antistatic bag or mat to the case before powering it up.