| Always perform
PC preventive maintenance activities
with a lot of care. Otherwise,
it can cause harm to you as well as the
PC. Always be very careful
with Electro-Static Discharge
(ESD).
ESD is most prevalent in dry,
low humidity environments. It
occurs when two objects of dissimilar
charge come in contact with
each other such as your body
and a computer component. To
equalize the electrostatic charge,
the two objects exchange electrons.
The object with the higher charge,
your body, passes voltage to
the object of lower charge,
the electronic component. Though,
a static charge less than 3000
volts does not harm your body
but it can damage the component.
However, ESD of 10 volts can
damage computer components such
as Complimentary Metallic Oxide
Semiconductor (CMOS) chips because
these chips contain a thin metal
oxide layer that is hypersensitive
to ESD.
Dirt and dryness contribute
to ESD. Dirt holds the charge,
and dryness in the atmosphere
increases the ability of dirt
to hold this charge.
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