How Exactly Do You <Properly> Ground The Case?

[Yodums]

Is grounding the case meaning you set pick up the case put it on the table then your bare-foot on the ground and then you touch the case and then work to be grounded?

Yodums

[Ridenow]

If you are asking about when you are working on it then all you need to worry about is that you and your screwdriver are the same voltage as your case. I recomend a >$10 wrist strap. The other thing you should do is every time you pick up the screw driver you should touch it to a metal part of the case to equalize the voltage.

The bare foot thing is not nessisary if you are carefull. If you are really worried you can buy a strap and a pad. Those setups have connectors that plug into the ground of an electrical wall socket. That way everything is zero and you will not static shock anything.

[Yodums]

Would it be possible just to use the strap stand alone and clipped to say the casing or do I need an anti-static matter no matter what.

[Ridenow]

Here is a wrist strap like what I have. It is $7.95 from Jameco. They have a "banana" plug that can go into the socket ground or into a "ground point". It also comes with an alligator clip for connecting to the case.
https://www.jameco.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prmenbr=91&prrfnbr=4541&cgrfnbr=501&ctgys=

[Yodums]

Thats exactly what I'm talking about! My brother is an engineer and when he lived with me we had alot of those in the house I can't seem to find them anymore.

Yodums

[Ridenow]

Most of the time I don't work with the strap. If I am building a whole computer in one sitting I will use everything, but for just one drive or card I am in the habit of touching the case before I pick up anything. If you have the habit down, you will not kill anything. The strap with the alligator clip is designed to be used as you just discribed, cliped to the case.

[Ridenow]

Originally posted by Yodums
Thats exactly what I'm talking about! My brother is an engineer and when he lived with me we had alot of those in the house I can't seem to find them anymore.

Yodums

Any *real* repair tech knows what they are and should have at least the strap.
Jameco.com has them, hosfelt.com has them, Radio Shack should have them and I know Greybar sells them. Most are in the $5-$8 range.

[Yodums]

Yes but I'm getting a motherboard chip and ram shipped to me where I need to put it in the case but in the fact if I can't get an anti-static wrist strap I will need to run to Radio Shack or ground it and touch the metal before touching anything in the case like touching the metal every 2 secs :D

Yodums

[Yodums]

PS:

Thanks RideNow for helping me through this I'm now farmiliar with wrist strap and I'll be using them when I make this computer in my sig when it comes.

*Smacks himself*
"Remember next time DO NOT WEAR STATIC CLOTHING" :D

Yodums

[Ridenow]

Originally posted by Yodums
Yes but I'm getting a motherboard chip and ram shipped to me where I need to put it in the case but in the fact if I can't get an anti-static wrist strap I will need to run to Radio Shack or ground it and touch the metal before touching anything in the case like touching the metal every 2 secs :D

Yodums

Exactly. Every time you touch something else, the part, a tool or anything else, you need to touch the metal on the case and touch the part or tool to the case. You don't have to worry too much, there is a reason the parts have ground connectors on them and they are the pins on the ends.