Hardware-Case-Grounding

[SKR6588]

Greetings, all.

My question is kind of hard to really pinpoint the appropriate subforum to but here goes:

 

I'm currently in the finishing stages of a rather special PC case build, the particulars of which I may present in here once I'm actually done (there's some fluidity to the design still).

In a nutshell, I don't like to see my Computer.

So, to save space, I'm building a nice, big metal frame and laying out all the components inside as flat as possible.

(Before you ask, there's a lot of reasons why I need the rigidity offered by metal)

So far so good, it's not like that hasn't been done before.

However, instead of bolting the components to the metal frame directly, I've prepared some nice PE plates instead (also for various reasons that will become clear in another place and at another time)

 

Thus, what I'm going to be looking at is all the components strewn about on a huge piece of PE inside a metal frame.

 

Now that's all good and easy so far.

But one thing I've been wondering and, Googled for a bit not really been able to answer is this:

In a traditional case, you've got a metal housing connected to the components connected to each other connected to the power supply housing.

It sounds like there could be some intrinsic grounding in the standard config.

By taking the case away, mounting everything on a non-conductive surface AND using only adapter cables, will I have to start worrying about grounding?

 

 

HDDs are quite often mounted using plastic so I probably won't have to worry too much about those.

But how about other things?

And should I better ground each part to the power supply, then to the case or only to the case?

 

Thanks for your insights.

 

 

Sebastian

 

 

[mariushm]

The case of the power supply is connected to the earthing pin in your power connector. 

By screwing the power supply to the case, the metal of the case is automatically earthed / grounded. 

 

Extension cards (video cards, network , sound) are screwed to the case using metal brackets, so the bracket also comes into contact. BUT, not all card designs connect the bracket to the ground plane of the card through the screws that attach the bracket. 

 

The motherboard sits on metal standoffs which are screwed to the case, and typically metal screws are used to lock motherboard in place. Sometimes nylon screws are used. 

Often the screw holes have metal rings so you don't damage the pcb by screwing too tightly, but not all motherboards connect these rings to ground plane of the motherboard, so there's no guarantee the motherboard is "earthed" through the standoffs. 

 

Basically, the components are grounded through the negative (ground) wires of power connectors, ground pins in the pci-e slots and so on .... 

[SKR6588]

That's exactly my train of thought on the matter.

Now that I think about it, the country I used to live in doesn't even provide an earthing connection.

Albeit I got the occasional shock when touching the case itself, the overall surface area of the case appeared to be enough to ensure an even and safe discharge.

 

It doesn't really give an answer as per PC design standards but it's conclusive enough: 

I'll just draw a grounding wire to the case. Can't hurt - hopefully.