Static Electricity Is A Palm Killer!

[lelisa13p]

I've always felt that the purpose of this board was to advise and inform, so in that spirit I will pass this experience on:

In my corner of the world it is currently Winter, and cold weather means the heat is on, and the air is dry. The natural by-product of these two facts is STATIC ELECTRICITY. And that's where this becomes a cautionary tale.

Each morning, first thing, I always plug my Zire71 into its cable to hotsync/charge (it stays inside the Proporta hard case.) Then I pick it up a while later, on my way out. Saturday morning, when I reached for the Zire71 to detach the cable, I heard & felt a loud POP! and immediately had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach... Yikes! I hadn't even actually touched it! When I opened the case, there was my screen showing the Welcome Display, and asking if I was ready to set up my new device. My Palm had been wiped completely clean, as new as the day it came out of the box. (You don't want to know how that feels, trust me.)

Fortunately, and due to being a big believer in Murphy's Law, I schedule BackupMan to my SD card every day at 4:00 a.m., and, as I said earlier, hotsync first thing each day. Once the panic attack began to subside, I realized how lucky I really was. By using BackupMan to restore, and then hotsyncing a couple of times to tweak things, I was up and running again within minutes. Disaster could have potentially moved in with me for a really long Winter, if you get my meaning, but thanks to a great backup app & some good habits, I don't have an unwelcome houseguest.

I am now cultivating the habit of touching something metal, in my case the drawer pull, before trying to detach the Palm from the cable EVERY TIME. It makes sense that the same reason we use anti-static devices before taking apart the PC also applies, maybe even more, to a smaller, sensitive device, too. (Duh!)

I meant to just write a brief warning, but it doesn't seem to have worked out that way. Just be careful, because Stuff Happens, and it pays to have the upper hand when it does!

Regards,
The Zapper (former)

[RickI]

I didn't realize that the Zire71 was subject to the static problem like the M5xx.

[madkins007]

Any static charge big enough to make a 'pop' noise can damage sensitive electronics, from PDAs to cell phones.

MOST of the time, the charge will be safely contained by the casing, internal grounds and voltage regulating systems, etc., but there is ALWAYS that chance for the 'killer spark'.

Frequent discharging is a safe practice. Just get in the habit of tapping doorknobs, metal furniture, etc. as you walk around in places where static builds. Besides, lots of little shocks hurt less than the big ZAPS.

This is not a huge problem for most people- risk factor of about a 1.5 in the 5 point scale- but it is something to be aware of.

(FYI: you can make a cheap and effective anti-static spray for your home or office by diluting liquid fabric softener with water. Most people find that a ratio of 4 or 5 parts water to one part softener works OK, but others have reported that even 10-1 ratios work. Just use a good spray bottle that makes a nice, fine mist and lightly mist fleece, wool, poly, and other fabrics that build a charge. Of course, keeping your room's humidity levels right is better for you in the long run!)

[eugkim]

Just a related question.

I just bought an innopocket hard case for my palm zire 71 and with the concurrent cold weather up here in the east coast found that my palm has "hard resetted" for two consecutive mornings.

I was listening to the real one player on my commute and as I was leaving the subway, both times had the palm restart, as if I did a hard reset. ie no personal data, only factory settings.

One, is this related to static electricity and was the hard case a precipitating factor/conductor. Has this happened to anyone else?

I've never had problems before and today while using the original case, it did not reset.

Thanks for any help.

[gcp310]

FYI, the chrome plated plastic will conduct electricity.

my fathers imac in Bali has an earth problem and when i was over there using my travel charger, i got a nice boot whilst disconnecting the palm from the cable.

G

[lelisa13p]

In answer to your question, eugkim, I'm reasonably certain that my Proporta hard aluminum case had everything to do with the Zap! that I experienced, which was the reason I started this thread. I was also working at my PC and rolling my chair around on carpet (yes, I know... ) prior to standing up and reaching for my Palm. I was wearing what I thought were rubber-soled shoes; they turned out to be synthetic, hence the Zap!

I'm going to email Proporta today & ask if they have heard about this from others, and if they have any suggestions (gizmos?) that would help, other than just letting myself get zapped first, prior to picking up the Palm. I wonder about your experience on the subway, however. Were you exiting the train at the time? Perhaps the train built up static while traveling, and you grounded the charge when you stepped from the train onto the platform?

Let's face it; these hard resets are a big PITA, and we certainly can't enjoy the next few months if we're always worrying about when the next Big Data Dump is going to happen! What to do...???

[hiswacko]

well, if your looking for a "gizmo" to prevent static, you could always get a grounding strap. any good computer stor should have it for under 5 dollars. all you do is warap the littrle wrist thingy around your arm and clip the other end onto something conductive, such and your conputer case, and it will safely disipate the static.
These is extreme, and i dont recomend it as its annoying, but as far as an antistatic gizmo it is the standard with computer builders.

[madkins007]

Proporta case and static-

I would have thought that a Palm inside a metal box would have actually been a bit safer from static than a naked palm- I would have thought that the charge would 'flow' over the case while the actual Palm was protected by the Neoprene. I forgot about the connecting clips.

I now wonder if the metal shell might not be a nearly perfect conductor to transmit most of the shock directly to the inner metallic shell, and 'funnel' it into the guts of the PDA, while a touch to the outer shell of the PDA would not be directed to the insides so easily.

If you are also plugged in for a sync or charge, then you have a great pathway for the static to flow to the computer's ground- right through the PDA's circuits.

Remedies? Nothing I can think of that has not already been mentioned- touch something to discharge yourself, use an anti-static spray, humidify the house...

I suppose you could coat the Proporta case with something that would make it more shock resistant (Neoprene, paint-on rubberizing coating, thick layer of latex paint, etc.), but I am nt sure it would be an attractive long-term solution.

You could TRY putting a piece of a 'dryer sheet', or whatever you call those fabricy fabric softener sheets between the Palm and the case on back. The fabric soften acts as an anti-static film that might stop or minimize the shock, but I think that in order to work the clips would have to pierce it and there might not be enough clearance for that.

[lelisa13p]

Well, gosh, madkins; now I'm completely depressed! So it seems the outstanding feature that we've raved about for months - the hard aluminum case that protects the screen so well - is the very thing that might just fry the guts outta the Zire71?

Nooooooooooooo !!!!!!!!!!!!!

What effect, if any, do you think eGrips might have on this dismal situation? Rubbery material, etc. (I didn't order them.) Should I?

http://discussion.brighthand.com/pal...ghlight=egrips

And as far as grounding straps go, I've got a few of them, and aside from the fact that I'm allergic to the material they're made of (scratch, scratch, grrrrr! ) they are so attractive, certainly the perfect Holiday fashion accessory!

Oh, yeah; what if you slide across the car seat and upon touching the door handle, you get that familiar Zap!, and what if you just happen to have your Z71, in its METAL case, in your jeans pocket?

All this static talk sounds like a great reason to move somewhere warmer, but then heat & humidity have been known to cause some pretty nasty stuff, too. And where I live now, we have that problem for the other half of the year. Aaarrrggghhhh!!!!!

[christine.jones]

Many thanks for this information. I also live in a cold, dry climate and have never even thought about this before.

Chris