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When we walk in one of our office rooms, our body gets static electricity. When we touch a metal object such as a window or the body of a laptop, the tips of our fingers spark due to the discharge of electric charge. This event is sometimes very annoying.

The floor of our room is wooden parquet and recently I have noticed this is because of the floor covering. This does not happen in another room which has a ceramic tile floor.

How can we solve this without changing the floor covering?

The most issue is touching my MacBook Pro. I've attached a wire to the earth line, and brought on the desk, behind the laptop. Before touching the laptop, I touch the wire using a metal bar. The spark happens between the bar and the wire. I want to know if is there any solution to prevent the spark between my hand and the wire, so I don't need to hold a metal bar to touch the earth wire. I was thinking using a semiconductor, does it work?

Ahmad Behzadi
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  • Touch something else first? Preferably something grounded through a large resistor (like an antistatic wristband) so you don't get a shock. – Hearth Dec 10 '22 at 20:35
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    Have you tried wearing different shoes? – Lars Hankeln Dec 10 '22 at 21:34
  • raise the humidity of the room to reduce static build-up. you can add a chairmat or rug to your desk chair and place aluminum foil under that, which you ground, which drains your charge slowly instead of sparking. – dandavis Dec 10 '22 at 23:59
  • @LarsHankeln different shoes reduce the effect but not 100%. – Ahmad Behzadi Dec 12 '22 at 03:32
  • @dandavis Humidity helps a lot. Rainy days are the better days :) but its not easy to simulate it, you know ? :) also attaching a wire to the chair is not easy, as the chair moves, however I feel your suggestion should work – Ahmad Behzadi Dec 12 '22 at 03:36
  • Wear an ESD wrist strap. Plug it in or touch it to the bar before you touch your mac book. The clothes you wear may also play a role in all this. I think cotton is less staticy then synthetic fibers, for example. – user57037 Dec 12 '22 at 04:45
  • i never said to wire the chair (though that would work); i said to wire the floor under the chair (and under a chairmat or rug). – dandavis Dec 12 '22 at 21:35

3 Answers3

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You don't need a "semiconductor."

  1. Wear leather soled shoes.
  2. Wear clothing (shirt, pants, socks) of cotton or linen.
  3. Do not wear clothing made of wool, silk, or synthetic materials.

Instead of a metal bar, you can simply hold a key in your hand and touch it to anything in the room to discharge yourself.

JRE
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  • Yes, your suggestions helps to reduce the effect, but it's not possible in reality. We are 7 people having the same issue. Can't force every body to wear these, espessialy that it's winter :) – Ahmad Behzadi Dec 12 '22 at 03:13
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Get a 10Meg ohm resistor and put it in series with ground then touch the non-grounded end, might take longer to discharge your ESD but it should work. If that doesn't work you might need a few 1 mega ohm resistors in series because the spark is jumping the Gap inside the resistor.

Voltage Spike
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  • Thanks, will try. I was thinking to stick an aluminum foil on the edge of the desk and ground it using the semiconductor. so before sitting behind the desk, simply can touch the desk edge for few seconds. – Ahmad Behzadi Dec 12 '22 at 03:26
  • Use a 1 (or 10) megohm resistor, not a semiconductor to ground the foil. Otherwise the aluminum foil idea is fine. – user57037 Dec 12 '22 at 04:47
  • The 10 MegaOhm resistor was a good solution. Every time we arrive at the desk, by touching the foil first, we discharge ourselves without any spark and continue the work. Thanks. – Ahmad Behzadi Jan 04 '23 at 17:57
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Easy tip. Works every time.

Touch your laptop fast.

That will make the current flow through a large patch of skin, without pain. It's the same as why you don't feel the current while you hold on to the bar.

Longer version here.

tobalt
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  • Slapping the laptop each time you sit down behind your desk in a quiet room? :)) Nope, not a good solution. – Ahmad Behzadi Dec 12 '22 at 03:50
  • @AhmadBehzadi Not slap.. It's sufficient to tap on it deliberately with 1 finger as if you were typing. Just do it fast, without any hesitation, and it will be fine. – tobalt Dec 12 '22 at 06:13