On Topic: Carpets producing static and old HPs

From: Athanasios Kotsenos <a.kotsenos_at_rca.ac.uk>
Date: Fri Dec 4 13:50:24 1998

>There are a few things you can do to minimize static. First you can either buy
>an anti-stat spray or get a bottle of Downy and dilute it as recommended, then
>spray a mist over the carpet and let it dry.

Is Downy a detergent for sensitive clothes (the name is familiar)? Or is it
specifically for this purpose?


>You can also run bare wire under
>the carpet (if possible) and then terminate it to a cold water pipe or other
>building ground. It tends to neutralize the potentials and will at least
>minimze
>the chance of buildup.

Well, this room has a raised floor under which power and network cables
run. The floor is wooden with the thin carpet on top. At various points you
have these metal 'holes' where the sockets/plugs are located. In fact the
covers are metallic and have carpet on them too and it was intereting when
I noticed that they have a little grounding wire connecting them to the
rest of the metallic frame. That's obviously for keeping static off that
bit, but it doesn't seem to be doing any good for the rest of the carpet.

I'm sorta used to it - you should see the shocks some of the people get
when I go to help them. :)=


>Humidification greatly reduces the chances for static as well, even if
>it's just
>a unit on t he floor of the room you work in. keeps dust buildup to a
>minimum as
>well.

That's another problem we have. We are facing Kengsington Gore (a big
street in London (just on the south side of Kensington Gardens and Hyde
Park)), so we get tons of pollution coming in. It's a nightmare getting
that out of a computer I've opened for repairs (I had never seen anything
like it before when I opened the 'ancient' Macs that were probably being
opened for the first time).

Same dust problem goes for the large amount of (mostly HP) hardware left in
the far end of the room. Oh, get a load of this - all this hardware was
under an electronics workbench (this room is great). I tested some of the
old screens and was happy to find that some of them work. The HP stuff is
what is left from the network they had here before they got all the Macs
and the college-wide network. We're talking about a system that was given
to them (sponsorship?) back in 1988 or something. I don't know how
gloriously (or not) it went down, but nobody seems to care about it, it's
been sitting here for years and they've been trying to chuck it out for
years. I'd hate to see it go in the skip like that and I've stated my
concern. And now that I'm the only one in charge of the computer room and I
do have to get this stuff out of here eventually, I'd like them to have a
nice home. This is the main reason I joined this list.
I'm sorry I'm too lazy to type in a list right now of what we have. Besides
being tired on a Friday evening, I'd give you the list after I decide what
I want to/can keep. And there may be some interested people in this college.
What is left will go to this list, I guess. It's obviously an advantage if
you are in the London area or the UK, but whoever is interested and
willing...


>Russ

Thanks for your info Russ.

Bye all,
Nasos
Received on Fri Dec 04 1998 - 13:50:24 GMT