PCBUILD Archives

Personal Computer Hardware discussion List

PCBUILD@LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG

Options: Use Forum View

Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Condense Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Sender:
Personal Computer Hardware discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 2 Dec 2008 15:01:15 -0600
Reply-To:
Personal Computer Hardware discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Content-Transfer-Encoding:
7bit
Subject:
From:
Dean Kukral <[log in to unmask]>
X-cc:
In-Reply-To:
Content-Type:
text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
MIME-Version:
1.0
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (56 lines)
I would skip the wool blanket!  (Does wool conduct static electricity or create it?)

The wrist strap clipped onto the metal case should work fine, as long as you are careful.  Of course, a static discharge bench would 
be nice, but it is the static on you that is the main concern.  Try not to touch any components on a conducting edge or wire, if 
there is one. - With your experience, I am sure that you will do fine.  The static electricity on your body should discharge through 
the sharp points on the case, like a lightning rod.  But, you should still exercise care with the components.

I would never connect a clip to the grounding lug on an outlet.  That is not a safe practice*.  It would be better to connect a clip 
to a grounded metal water pipe.

Dean Kukral

*Why is this not a safe practice.  Well, it is fairly safe IF the house is properly wired and grounded according to code and in 
like-new working condition.  You house is likely not.  In my workshop, for example, when I had the house built, I had the 
professional electrician put in an extra breaker box and wire it to some extra outlets on the walls so that I could plug in my power 
tools, and, also, turn them off at the breaker.  What he did - a licensed pro (and the house passed inspection) - was run the hot 
and "neutral" (white) wires to all the outlets in the shop, and connect the green ground wires to the "neutral" wire.  So, in 
essence, my "grounding wires" were connected to a current-carrying wire!!!!!!!!   (Ground wires by national code are **supposed** to 
be connected at various places in the house to independent grounds.)   Now, suppose for a moment that the "neutral" wire is 
corroded.  For example, the underground wire from the house to the meter is going bad.  This happens frequently in our neighborhood, 
because the houses were built with aluminum wire which rapidly corrodes if it becomes exposed to the moist soil.  The "neutral" 
wire is connected to ground at the pole, fifty feet from the house.  However, if the wire is corroded, then the current could just 
as easily go through the green ground  wire through me to any available ground with a lower resistance than the corroded outside 
wire!!!

Now your house may not have been built by crooks like mine was, but there still could be a problem.  The electrical engineers on 
this list might might tell you that it is okay to connect to the outlet ground, but the licensed electricians would not, I'll bet!

Admittedly the chances of injury or death are very small, but you only get one life!

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tom Waddell" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, November 29, 2008 8:06 PM
Subject: [PCBUILD] Building a PC


This will be my first build from the ground up. Have been upgrading PC's for 10 years, even changing out MBs. Moved a working MB 
once into a new case and it never worked after that. Maine question now is controling static charge. Worked as an electronics tech 
for 12 years before I retired. We worked on static discharge bench and floor mats. How can I create something similar at home?

Natural fibers produce less static charge than synthetic fibers. Thinking of laying a wool blanket on my bench top and one on the 
floor, connected together with aligator clips. Floor blanket will be connected with a clip and wire to the ground lug on an outlet. 
Have a wrist strap connected to the case frame with a clip. Overkill? Any thoughts?

Order of build. Put MB into case, add memory, CPU, PS, HD, DVD drive and monitor. Power up and load OS, then add (one at a time) 
video card, (MB has built in one), card reader, TV card, nick card and printer/scanner. Installing each one at a time allows me to 
know which component caused my system to crash. Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Tom

                         PCBUILD's List Owners:
                      Bob Wright<[log in to unmask]>
                        Mark Rode<[log in to unmask]>

ATOM RSS1 RSS2