Grounding Yourself

[CobalTicz]

I have an anti static wrist strap im just curious as to how they are supposed to be used I have read two ways one being attach to bare metal on case or plugged in and turned off psu and the other being put it straight into the wall.          My concern is both the case and psu i have are not bare metal most of it is painted so how would i go about using the outlet 

[Will Barnard]

You can attach it to the bare metal part of a radiator (as in a radiator in your house, not a CPU radiator ). Or, depending on what country you're in put a screwdriver in a plug socket and attach it to that.

[W-L]

I have an anti static wrist strap im just curious as to how they are supposed to be used I have read two ways one being attach to bare metal on case or plugged in and turned off psu and the other being put it straight into the wall.          My concern is both the case and psu i have are not bare metal most of it is painted so how would i go about using the outlet 

 

You can build PC's without it and do the touch off to a grounded source everytime you get up to move or every few mins, but as for grounding as long as it is connected to a grounded PSU case it will be suffice in most situations. If you want to ground yourself via the wall you can connect the lead to the ground prong of an outlet but it's a good idea to put a resistor in place in before the wall which some bracelets have built in just incase of any power that may go through that ground.

[CobalTicz]

You can build PC's without it and do the touch off to a grounded source everytime you get up to move or every few mins, but as for grounding as long as it is connected to a grounded PSU case it will be suffice in most situations. If you want to ground yourself via the wall you can connect the lead to the ground prong of an outlet but it's a good idea to put a resistor in place in before the wall which some bracelets have built in just incase of any power that may go through that ground.

im unsure if it has a resistor so how could i do that myself could i use like a surge protector and a stupid question the ground is the bottom one right im in U.S.

[soup]

You could connect to a screw that is partially screwed in (holes/screws are generally unpainted) .

If going the plugged into the wall route you could 'modify' a plug top to only have an earth pin and connect to that (requires a grounded outlet) or you could buy an anti-static specific plug top.

 

UK specific but I am sure there will be similar wherever you are.

You could also use a radiator or other large metal object (quite possibly the water pipe for said radiator as it is [usually] unpainted)

[CobalTicz]

You could connect to a screw that is partially screwed bin (holes/screws are generally unpainted .

If going the plugged into the wall route you could modify" a plug to only have an earth pin and connect to that (requires a grounded outlet) or you could buy a anti-static specific plug .

 

UK specific but I am sure there will be similar wherever you are.

what do you mean modify for earth pin why cant i just plug straight into the wall with the wrist strap

[ItsFTP]

what do you mean modify for earth pin why cant i just plug straight into the wall with the wrist strap

In the UK we have a 3rd pin for earth/ground. If you don't have that pin, you could touch a conductive pipe because thats grounded too. 

Plugging yourself into 240/120v sounds like fun! Where can I join the 50v+ can kill you club??

Sorry about that..

[soup]

im unsure if it has a resistor

 

The ones that were used (occasionally) at the college I attended had a resistor already in them and as such under the colleges own rules were counted as being electronics and had to be PAT tested.  Bit like ATM machine or PIN number that but that was the phrase used .

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_appliance_testing

[soup]

what do you mean modify for earth pin why cant i just plug straight into the wall with the wrist strap

 Because then the wires from the plug top/outlet would be live .  What you would want is ONLY the earth pin so there was no chance of a shock.

 

Maybe a bad idea to flaff about with American sockets (outlets) would be pretty much a non-event with a UK plug top.

[W-L]

im unsure if it has a resistor so how could i do that myself could i use like a surge protector and a stupid question the ground is the bottom one right im in U.S.

 

Yeah it's the bottom round one so the mouth of the face, as for resistor it's just to protect you just incase the ground becomes live for some reason, it will blow the resistor first.

[soup]

 as for resistor it's just to protect you just incase the ground becomes live for some reason, it will blow the resistor first.

 

Yeah it will blow .  Just after it has poured 240V (well 110 for our leftpondian cousins) through you, along your arm down your body and out your leg(and left a very hot, possibly on fire, 'object' strapped to your wrist that you cannot EASILY get off) .

The more I think about it, anyone would be much safer just attaching to an unpainted part of a large metal object[1]

 

[1] Water pipes, taps(faucets), radiator pipe work, computer case(see above note about screws generally being unpainted) etc.