How do I ground myself
In a few days i will need to open an xbox one controller to modify a few things, but i dont know how to ground myself. Can someone give me some advice please.
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Reach over and touch the center screw of a wall electrical outlet, if the house is wired with a ground. Touching a radiator or gas pipe will also work. But do this every time you sit down as walking around on most carpets will generate a charge.
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Keep in mind that Grounding and Bonding are different. Grounding is normally refereed to as touching the ground or being connected to the ground by some means of metal conductivity such as the ground wire in house wiring or metal/copper house plumbing that goes into the ground.
Most of us use bonding. Our bodies have current in them as well as the device that we are working on, a spark occurs when there is a difference in current between ourselves and the device (sparks cause damage) by bonding or attaching ourselves to the device we equalize the current, when the current is equal there is no spark. Bonding is done on by wearing a strap when working on electrical components such as Computers, Cellphones, Gaming Controllers and Consoles. A grounding/bonding strap has a clip on one end that would be attached to the device or anti static work mat, the other end would strap to your wrist or ankle with the metal side touching your skin.
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Never work on any electronic equipment while plugged in. While the ground plug in your wall may be grounded it may not have the same potential as your electronics.
What you want is the same electrical potential. Place your board on a anti-stat surface ( a motherboard bag works well) if you have a wrist strap ground clip it to the bag, if not keep skin in contact with a metal surface or the bad while working on your device, static builds constantly. If the system is in a case rest an elbow on the metal power supply.
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A motherboard bag is a terrible surface to use to place components on.
"The bags are lined with a conducive material that is meshed together to form what is known as a Faraday Cage. This cage subsequently stops all electric fields from penetrating, thus keeping devices in a SEALED bag safe from electrostatic damage. This works because fields incident upon the cage will cause a realignment of charge in the material, causing a negation of the electric field and thus stopping it from penetrating to the inside. So charge is collected on the OUTSIDE of the bag (or cage), making it a poor place to rest your susceptible devices."
Antistatic bags move the charge to the outside and are only anti static inside. Cut it open and lay it on the inner side of the bag. I think that's what 'Rich Dahm' meant
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You can buy a wrist band with metal stud and a length lead on it has a crocodile clip on one end cut the crocodile clip off strip the insulation off of the lead attach the lead to the EARTH PIN off a 3 pin plug then plug it into the socket AND MAKE SURE SOCKET IS SWITCHED OFF then you will be grounded, most important make sure you attach the lead to the EARTH PIN on the plug and not the live pin or neutral if the wire on the wrist band is not long enough to reach to your socket join another piece to it then attach that to the EARTH PIN OF THE PLUG make sure socket is switched OFF.
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I would just connect to a partially unscrewed wall outlet screw. That's also grounded. I wouldn't even want to come close to hooking myself up to a wall outlet.
Please DO NOT wire yourself to a plug socket
DO NOT DO THIS.
This recommendation poses a huge risk of bodily harm to anyone that has to ask this question because that means that don't have the experience to know what they're doing. That's not an insult, that's just fact.
I'm a professional in the IT industry and I've worked with hundreds, if not thousands of computers and handled millions of dollar's worth of components. I don't use ground straps or anything like that, and chances are, you don't need to either.
All that's necessary in more than 99% of cases is the case. (Bah dum, tss) Just touch your hand to the computer case of the system you're working with if you're not already making contact with it. I, personally, prefer working inside a computer case while standing up, and I inadvertently end up resting my arms on the case while working inside it and that all by itself removes the issue of static buildup.
@Alfonso Arriaga Hi, how Can i apply your method with a laptop with plastic case ?
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There's some good advice here but I'd like to add my two cents. In a pinch, you can make your own grounding / bonding wrist strap by stripping off a length of wire. Remove several inches of the stranded wire. From there, fold up some aluminum foil, attach the wire to the foil and wrap the foil around your wrist. Attach one side of the wire to a metal piece of the chassis of the affected device you are working on.
Remember, we are looking for your electrical potential to be at the same as the device you are working on, hence, NO POTENTIAL. or no voltage difference from one to the other. This is where the grounding pad would come in keeping all voltages the same or no potential difference.
Using your "earth" ground point with components you can actually create a "floating ground" which means a voltage potential. that is what we are trying to avoid. Knowing procedures , you can quickly overcome this "electrically potential" problem.
If you need earth ground, you could plug in that device and touch the metal portion of that device, that should also ground you. There again so long as the grounding of the device are intact and you have less than 5 ohms from the grounding pin to the metal chassis. (the device does NOT need to be powered up, just plugged into a grounded receptacle.)
Grounding straps and mats are not that expensive and well worth their money if you are working on very low current components.
Just remember, current going from arm to arm or arm to leg passes through your heart. Your heart is sent a "message" via sodium/potassium gate generating between 10 and 100 millivolts. (not much) If you go beyond 100 to 200 ma your gaming days are done. Remember as someone mentioned above, it's all about potential from point A to point B. Always remember the Left hand rule, that is make SURE plug for the device you are troubleshooting is in your left hand. If it's in your left hand, it can't be plugged in. LOL. Also, if there is a chance that you could get shocked, make sure the shock does not go through your heart, ie hand to hand, hand to feet or any combination of.
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erex 01 where did you get that "our heart is sent a "message" of between 100 and 200 mA current" from?
Your are correct, I mistakenly meant to say 10 and 100 millivolts and the threshold capacity of the heart is between 100 and 200 mA, my bad...
During each heartbeat, a healthy heart has an orderly progression of depolarization that starts with pacemaker cells in the sinoatrial node, spreads out through the atrium, passes through the atrioventricular node down into the bundle of His and into the Purkinje fibers, spreading down and to the left throughout the ventricles.
Any deviation from the normal electrical activity is potentially pathological and therefore of clinical significance.
Additionally, the heart is particularly sensitive to the AC frequencies typically used for mains power (50 or 60 Hz).
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WikiHow has a fairly comprehensive and detailed set of steps that can be taken to help ensure that you are grounded and that there is not a harmful discharge of static electricity while working on electronics. You can view this information at https://m.wikihow.com/Ground-Yourself
You’ll notice that there are two methods discussed however “method one” most directly applies to the question originally posted by mayer. I have included the 13 steps (in total) that make up both methods. If You view the link provided you will also notice that there is more detailed information available about each of these steps with illustrations provided as well! Here are the headings/titles for the steps described (taken directly from WikiHow):
“Method One of Two:
Working With Computers and Electronics
- Set up your workspace in an area without rugs or carpet.
- Keep pets away from your workspace.
- Work in an environment with humidity levels between 35 and 50 percent.
- Remove trash and other unnecessary items from your workspace.
- Touch a grounded object before starting work on your computer or electronic device.
- Wear an anti-static strap or wristband.
- Stand on an anti-static mat when working on your device.
- Verify your computer is unplugged or turned off before working on its components.
- Handle all components by their edges when installing and removing them from your machine.
Method Two of Two:
Grounding Yourself Using General Techniques
- Increase humidity levels in your environment.
- Avoid wearing clothing made from wool and synthetic fabrics.
- Keep your skin and hands moisturized.
- Touch a metal object using another metal object to release static discharge.”
Another tip is included about preventing damage to electronics and computer parts by storing them inside anti-static bags to mitigate any damage from encounters with static charges during handling, transportation or storage etc.
So far everyone has been pretty spot on and I’ve probably ever seen professionals utilize the anti-static grounding straps/ wristbands. (Never heard of it before but this site https://m-us.gearbest.com/tool-kit/pp_16... sells a common wrist strap for $1.70 + “free shipping, (and) no tax”
They make disposable versions and they make real fancy versions too!
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Hi Dan, thanks for the great info. The link you posted to gearbest.com appears dead and I'm not able to track down anything for grounding straps / wristbands on the site outside of a smart watch holder. Let us know if you have a link!
@Zach Erbe
ifixit has all the tools required to prevent ESD damage to electronic equipment when doing a repair.
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You can also use one of the blue clamps from the Ifixit toolkits. These will clamp to any narrow wire and ground you.
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I have parquet flooring all over my house. I work from home? Does grounding work on these floors?
by Terrance Jones