Grounding before building

[Hassan170]

FYI i'm new to all of this so go easy on me

 

So i've watched quite a lot of pc building videos and the one thing i notice is that the builders always warn of static electricity. but how do i properly ground myself (in simple terms)?

[ARikozuM]

Yes. Please go stand in the corner. 

 

You can just touch a bare piece of metal to discharge static. Repeat every once in a while and you'll be golden. 

[Hassan170]

16 hours ago, ARikozuM said:

Yes. Please go stand in the corner. 

 

You can just touch a bare piece of metal to discharge static. Repeat every once in a while and you'll be golden. 

so any piece of metal? like a doorknob. a coin? and what about using the psu?

[ARikozuM]

4 minutes ago, Hassan170 said:

so any piece of metal? like a doorknob. a coin? and what about using the psu?

Most people tend to touch their case or PSU. You can plug the PSU into the wall for extra security; make sure the switch is set to OFF or O.

[Hassan170]

16 hours ago, ARikozuM said:

Most people tend to touch their case or PSU. You can plug the PSU into the wall for extra security; make sure the switch is set to OFF or O.

thanks

[mariushm]

Connect the power supply to a mains outlet with its power cable, even if it's not installed in the case. Just plug it and put it on the  desk. You don't even have to flip the on/off switch on the psu, as soon as you connect the power cable and plug it into a mains socket, the psu becomes grounded through the power cable.

 

edit: You don't have to "make sure the switch is on off position" like the guy above me wrote - it really doesn't matter in which position it is, it can be on or off, it will be safe to touch it. Everything on the outside of the power supply is grounded so you can touch any exposed metal part of the power supply to discharge yourself of static electricity

 

Touch the metal case of the power supply (something without paint) and you'll discharge yourself to ground through its power cable.

 

Repeat before you're about to handle circuit boards or when you feel you charged up with static electricity (for example if you walked around the room with wool socks on your feet or if you get charged with static electricity from your chair)

Usually if you stand up while building the pc and don't move around much, you only need to discharge yourself at the beginning.

Also, grab the components by edges or by plastic bits (slots for example) or by grounded bits (ex the connectors on the io shield) .. don't grab parts in such a way that your fingers would make contact with the circuit board bottoms and that should reduce the risk of zapping components by a huge amount.

 

 

[Hassan170]

16 hours ago, mariushm said:

Connect the power supply to a mains outlet with its power cable, even if it's not installed in the case. Just plug it and put it on the  desk. You don't even have to flip the on/off switch on the psu, as soon as you connect the power cable and plug it into a mains socket, the psu becomes grounded through the power cable.

 

edit: You don't have to "make sure the switch is on off position" like the guy above me wrote - it really doesn't matter in which position it is, it can be on or off, it will be safe to touch it. Everything on the outside of the power supply is grounded so you can touch any exposed metal part of the power supply to discharge yourself of static electricity

 

Touch the metal case of the power supply (something without paint) and you'll discharge yourself to ground through its power cable.

 

Repeat before you're about to handle circuit boards or when you feel you charged up with static electricity (for example if you walked around the room with wool socks on your feet or if you get charged with static electricity from your chair)

Usually if you stand up while building the pc and don't move around much, you only need to discharge yourself at the beginning.

Also, grab the components by edges or by plastic bits (slots for example) or by grounded bits (ex the connectors on the io shield) .. don't grab parts in such a way that your fingers would make contact with the circuit board bottoms and that should reduce the risk of zapping components by a huge amount.

 

 

ok thanks

[Saccaed]

Do make sure the power supply is off. True, if you have a power supply by itself it can be on or off. If the PSU is installed in anything or about to be installed, you want to avoid having a live power supply when dealing with components in a system.

[Hassan170]

16 hours ago, Saccaed said:

Do make sure the power supply is off. True, if you have a power supply by itself it can be on or off. If the PSU is installed in anything or about to be installed, you want to avoid having a live power supply when dealing with components in a system.

thank you