Fried a motherboard with a forgotten wrist strap

Was working on a Dell Optiplex at my kitchen table last Tuesday. Had it all apart, then realized my anti-static mat was still in the truck. Figured I'd be fine. Got up to grab a tool, came back, touched the board and saw a spark near the RAM slot. Machine won't post now. Anyone else killed a board by skipping the basics like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

laura_wilson16d ago

Jessica I feel your pain so much right now. That spark near the RAM slot is every tech's nightmare and seeing smoke or a flash just kills you inside. I've been lucky too on the days I forgot my strap but one bad touch is all it takes to fry a board and yours is proof of that. Honestly that lesson sticks with you hard after you watch a working machine turn into a paperweight in one second flat. You were smart to have the strap in the first place just bad timing that you left it behind. Hope you can find a replacement board for cheap and get back to it soon man.

the_hayden15d ago

Wait is it really that serious though? I mean yeah a spark near the RAM slot sounds scary but most of the time those little pops are just static discharge that doesn't actually kill anything. I've seen people touch all kinds of stuff by accident and their boards keep working fine for years. The smoke and flash could be something minor like a capacitor blowing instead of the whole board being toast. Stuff like that can sometimes be a cheap fix if you know what you're looking at. Not saying it's safe to skip the strap but this whole "one touch and it's dead" thing gets blown out of proportion a lot. Maybe take a closer look before you write that board off completely.

jessica33116d ago

Oh man, a full spark near the RAM slot? That's brutal, I literally cringed reading that lol. I always forget my strap too but never got hit that hard, guess I've been lucky so far. Replacing a whole board over one forgotten step is a tough way to learn that lesson though.