Rosewill Grounding Alligator RTK 002 Detachable

My Old Fellow d said ESD straps are NOT supposed to show continuity on a multimeter!.

Every single listing for an ESD wrist strap on Amazon is filled with angry reviews about how the strap is defective because it doesn't show continuity when tested with a multimeter. IT IS NOT SUPPOSED TO SHOW CONTINUITY. THIS IS NOT A DEFECT.

ESD straps are not meant to provide a direct path to earth through your body, and to do so would be unsafe. Therefore, they are all designed with a high resistance (about 1 MΩ) between the wrist strap and the plug/clip on the other end. Most (all?) multimeters only show continuity across a conductor if it has relatively low resistance; for example, the cheap one i have shows continuity below 120 Ω. Obviously a properly designed strap will therefore fail a continuity test.

If you want to confirm that the strap is designed properly, set your multimeter to measure resistance (if it can go high enough) instead. I have done this with the Rosewill strap and confirmed that the lead does in fact have about 1 MΩ of resistance, and the wrist strap itself adds a few thousand more — just like it says in the description and on the box.

Disclaimer: I am not an electronics genius; anyone reading this who is, feel free to clarify.

My Buddy David said Watt out a doubt, ESD DAMAGE HAPPENS OVERTIME degrades components but rarely in one complete zap.

There are two types of damage that ESD can cause, immediate and latent, with latent being the most common type of damage we see today.

A nice, good jolt of static electricity can really damage your PC components. As many Youtube videos prove that you would need a powerful jolt of static electricity to completely fry a computer component outright, other DIY videos on Youtube show that ‘real world’ testing by rubbing your feet on carpet and touching certain components like hard drives, ram, motherboards, etc. would not necessarily fry your component (they will still work), but what people do not realize is that these weaker jolts of static electricity still damage the components! You can search Youtube for the videos under, “Can Static Electricity Damage Computer Parts? Do You Really Need an Anti-Static Wrist Band?” for this demonstration.

When an ESD event occurs, the charge surges into the semiconductor IC (integrated circuit), while the total energy transferred is small and the energy discharged is less than a micro second, the voltage is high, commonly up to 10 kV, but up to 25 kV can be reached (max potential achieved on human body). Low relative humidity may also increase the charge buildup. We may not be able to feel it, but to ICs, it is practically like a lightning striking.

Note that static discharge below 3000 volts (3 kV) is not typically detectable by humans.

Latent damage may not have completely destroyed the circuit and while the circuit may still complete (like the picture shown), the performance will be degraded. There will be higher resistance due to less conductive material along it’s path which can affect timing and signals, which can be critical for high speed communication, especially with todays smaller circuits. The damaged component will continue to operate at a degraded and possibly unstable level until failures start to occur.

If you take an ESD course, you will be shown what static electricity does to components under 15,000x magnification. It is small, but the component layer gets punctured by the tiniest of zaps! IC pathways get annihilated! Over time, this damage will cause your component to cease operating. Just because you touch your computer component with static electricity and it still works, does not mean it has not been damaged. The damage is there!

Everyone that says, “ESD is not true”, “I’ve built hundreds of computers and never used a strap and everything was always ok”, “I never use a strap because I’m careful and it has always worked” are all full of it. Avoid these people as these people never took the time to do their due diligence. ESD damage is a proven fact and ESD prevention are cost efficient and that is why every single respectable company dealing with components use some type of ESD control measure. From anti static bags to flooring to mats, wrist straps, chairs, ion generators, etc.

People that do not use straps don’t kill components outright, but if the component did experience a ESD event, you can be certain that you have damaged it, degraded it and it will fail much sooner than it should. Latent ESD damage is not immediately noticeable because it is very subtle and microscopic, but the damage is there.

So you may ask; what makes a good setup for a hobbyist or a home user?
Get a proper anti-static wristband and an anti-static mat large enough for your computer equipment, tools and feet/chair. Avoid plastic / synthetic type clothing, make sure you are properly grounded through the wrist strap and make sure your computer and part you are going to install is on the anti-static mat. Another thing to remember is that you don’t need to necessarily touch the component to cause a ESD event, just being close to the component can cause damage.

So yes, protect yourselves when handing delicate components! Even if you do not purchase this one, get one! Always properly attach the the chassis of the case (not paint) and make sure it is properly grounded (plug the computer that your wrist strap is attached to into the power outlet). I liked Rosewill’s ESD Anti-static wrist wrap mainly due to it’s price. The velcro was not intrusive and ok, though an elastic band may have been better but this was still comfortable after an hour of use. The metal snap allowed me to disengage and use the restroom.

Google, "ESD ElectroStatic Discharge Tutorial", for complete information on ESD. Educate yourselves!

To be clear, I attached a picture of microscopic damage from ESD. Hardly noticeable to the naked eye, but damage like this could weaken a circuit path, or outright do irreversible damage, eventually causing it to fail as the cumulative effects of thermal enlargement and contraction. A strong enough ESD event can also cause your hardware to cease functioning immediately which would indicate an "immediate" type ESD event, but most likely it will be "latent" type event.

My Old Neighbor Lamont Talk No continuity.

Apparently I'm one of the unlucky ones that received a defective instance of this product. There was no continuity from the alligator clip on one end of the provided cable and the snap connector on the other. Cutting the cable and testing it in two sections revealed no continuity from the wire to the snap connector. It's not worth the trouble to return this product, as I can always clip an alligator clip to the connector on the strap itself, but thought others should be forewarned, as apparently I'm not alone here. I certainly wouldn't recommend this product to anyone.

My friend OffOnOne say USE A CONTINUITY TESTER BEFORE USE.

I bought two. It's a good thing that I tested them with a continuity tester before use: BOTH FAILED. For a simple device that is supposed to save you from ruining (very!) expensive equipment, it's extraordinary just how poor a quality control this brand of devices exhibits.

My Old Chap Michael E. Ornoff said Doesn't work!!.

Do not start building that new computer with this anti-static wrist strap unless you test the strap first. Something told me to check the conductivity between the clip and the wrist strap, so I connected it to my multi-meter conductivity setting and found no connection! Requested a return and exchange. Received the second one yesterday. Tested it and same problem. Wrist strap itself is fine, but the connection between the alligator clip and the snap on the end of the wire is non-existent.

My Fellow John Little Talk 6-foot length is misleading.

I'm sure it's a well-made product, as everybody else has said, but I want to point out something about the length of it to those who may be shopping.

The length of the cord may have been 6 feet before it was coiled, but it IS coiled, and it's effective length is only about 4 feet. In order to get it out to 6 feet, you'd have to stretch it so hard you wouldn't be able to work with it like that. If you need one of these that will let you work 6 feet from your ground connection, you need something else.

My friend twitch.tv/mayhemreignstv said Cheap, does the job with 1 important concern..

The product is very good, overall, and an important thing to have when working with computers, should you overlook keeping your body grounded unintentionally. But watch out for that alligator clip! It comes off very easily and could leave you vulnerable. As a result, I still tried to be conscientious about at least touching the frame when handling sensitive components. Used this as a failsafe.

My Old Neighbor Jason M. said Defective - non conductive.

I saw some reviews where these arrived with zero continuity, so I thought it wise to check it before I used it. This arrived broke with no continuity from the wrist strap to the clip.

My Buddy Amazon Customer said works well.

Long cord wound down to a manageable size. I've used it about a dozen times and stays well out of the way. For anyone who is new to building, the way i have found (not the only way) to do it is to plus in the PSU to the wall and leave it turned off via the switch on the back. Then affix the clip to the grill of the PSU and you are grounded to your building's ground. Works the same if the PSU is mounted in the case and you find a good spot to attach the clip to the pc case.

My Old Man E. A. Jacques say Comfortable and Easy to Use.

I purchased this to use while building two gaming PCs from scratch. In the winter my house can get pretty dry and static shocks are not uncommon and even the smallest static discharge can destroy a motherboard, CPU, memory or many other components needed to build a computer from scratch. Yes there are other ways you can protect against static discharges, but with around $2000 per computer on the line, I wanted the best option available and IMO using a strap is the best option.

I was an IT manager for over 20+ years and managed the team that deployed PCs in my company. Back in the day we did a lot of upgrades adding memory and graphics cards, etc., and I made it mandatory that everyone used a static strap. We rarely had a problem when following that protocol.

That said, this one is very well made. The older models we used did not have the snap so you could not easily disconnect to walk away and then reconnect when working again. That is a nice feature. The cord is plenty long and easy enough to keep out of the way while working. You can remove the clip and use the plug to ground yourself to a surge suppressor or wall outlet. However, the easiest method and the one I normally use is to plug in the PC power supply to a grounded outlet and clip to the fan grill. Either way will work.

Good quality for the money and a must have when working on sensitive electronic equipment.