• Lobby
  • grounding my machine

hello,
im thinking of grounding my pc but im not sure how to do it, does the ground have to go all the way to the street,soil? or can i just connect the ground to a nail in my stone wall?
For a second there i thought your machine went bad and you've decided to ground it! As in, no TV for a week!
"Computer, you're GROUNDED!!" hahahaha ...

On a more serious note, i'd like to know that too. wanna ground my system so i get rid of some hum when i'm recording. hardware people?
One question I've asked is this: If the motherboard is not touching the PC case, nor is any other part that conducts electricity, why does leakage happen? The only metallic components in contact that I can think of are the graphics card's grille where the connectors are, the motherboard ports on the rear, and the front USB ports. But these supposedly should not leak.
hahahahahaha, i think my pc will ground me from using it! hahaha
well i have my case and monitor connected to a ups, so i just need to ground the ups
me neither yasamoka, ti's weird
Any big piece of metal connected to the ground or touching the ground should be enough.

Think of the PS3. Its ground is the metal chassis inside it. PC's power supplies have fuses/circuit breakers which will blow/open when a huge amount of current flows.

So grounding the computer does not need to be from a huge amount of current.

Just connect it to something made from metal and which is not connected to electricity of course.

For anyone who tries it, please let me know if you spot a difference.
no i don't think thats enough for a pc, i mean the whole case itself is metal and you still get static shock sometimes, if im grounding something im going to do it the best way, so does a nail in the wall work?

edit: btw i think the ps3 power cable has a ground wire on it like pc, im not sure though
Shant, hooking the PC up to even a wooden table would work, and no, it doesn't take much. A simple nail would do. We tried it on a dual PSU 850W each. As to where the electricity comes from, it's sort of weird. Sometimes cases that aren't connected to anything, just lying around, give out charges. We're curious ourselves. It has to do with the ground and the surrounding I guess, but what exactly, we're not sure. Not even electricians seem to know!
Grounding systems in Lebanese buildings is nonexistent I think

Plus electricity dosint come from nowhere, Charged capacitors on the board (a non connected PC) and inside the PSU cause this as far as i know.
so a nail in the wall would do it right?
wood is conductive but im not sure about stone, can you confirm if it works on stone ?
Tigerheart.Hackers wroteShant, hooking the PC up to even a wooden table would work, and no, it doesn't take much. A simple nail would do. We tried it on a dual PSU 850W each. As to where the electricity comes from, it's sort of weird. Sometimes cases that aren't connected to anything, just lying around, give out charges. We're curious ourselves. It has to do with the ground and the surrounding I guess, but what exactly, we're not sure. Not even electricians seem to know!
Actually humidity is a factor in static built up (low humidity = more static built-up), especially in the winter when air is cold and dry outside then you move inside where air is warm and same case for AC cooling in the summer (difference in temperature of atmosphere around the PC case and inside is sort of analogous to that case). As for the source of the charges, they come from everywhere (all materials are made of atoms, so when two objects come in contact, sometimes redistribution of charges takes place leaving two charged objects waiting to either take electrons from a nearby target, especially electronic devices, or dispense their excess charge, especially metallic objects).

As for grounding, I prefer you don't use the metal casing as the static discharge source (you'll get small electric shocks and buzzing from the case, I've actually had the same problem with an OR table, the St. Francis OT-2000, where all the grounding occurs on the metallic casing of the motor and electronic PCBs). Try Nabil's suggestion of using a metallic nail or if you want a better solution, use the metal screws holding down the electronic boards for the grounding process (i.e. ground each board separately).
well i think if i ground my psu, the whole case should be grounded too wouldn't it ?
If you are doing this in your own house (one that you actually own), I would suggest getting a GOOD electrician to at least ground the line that you will be using the most. My brother had an issue with the power at his house--he and his wife would always get shocked when using their laptops on their LAPS. He got an electrician who was trained in the US to fix the wiring and ground the lines, and they have had no problems since. It does make a difference.

If it isn't your house, then get an electrician to set up the ground back to the "barad" line--it will send it back to EDL for their shocking pleasure. Doing it yourself could (will) be trouble IMNSHO.
im not going bother with that long process, my question was if a nail in the wall would act as ground, it does, so im going to do that, its not proper but still gets the job done i guess :)
shant wroteim not going bother with that long process, my question was if a nail in the wall would act as ground, it does, so im going to do that, its not proper but still gets the job done i guess :)
you would probably be better off attaching it to a faucet (assuming you have metal pipes) or some metal object in your house or just using a a UPS. Nail in the wall won't guarantee anything.
faucet seems the best option,though i don't have my pc in the bathroom haha :D
im using a ups,ill connect it to my window i guess,thanks all :)