[ale] Linux technophile emergency tool kit

[Michael B. Trausch]

On 05/29/2013 11:41 AM, Ron Frazier (ALE) wrote:
> Regarding what you said in above, I've used anti static bands while I
> was in school at DeVry as well as some of the time when I was at
> Delta.  Sometimes we had an anti static mat.  At home, I usually use
> the technique you mentioned of just grounding myself before touching
> anything.  With the computer sitting beside me on a chair, as it is
> now, sometimes it's hard to know what is, in fact, grounded.  The pc
> is connected to the wall outlet through a three wire circuit so,
> presumably, the chassis is grounded, even if the pc is off, through
> the mounting screws for the power supply.  I've also been known to
> touch the screw that holds on the faceplate of a light switch before
> doing work on electronics.  I know touching such screws sometimes
> creates a static spark to my finger in the winter, so I assume it's
> grounded, else, why would it want to spark.  The junction box is
> plastic, but it has a ground wire inside.  I have to be especially
> careful in the winter (when it's dry as you said).  Another
> alternative is a metal water faucet.

Mostly correct.

The power supply should have the Earth ground attached to its case. 
That case of course comes in contact with the computer case, which we
hope is metal.  Then, by extension, the whole case is grounded after the
power supply is mounted.

That ground is the same ground that your water pipes are attached to
(that is, the Earth outside your home), at least if the wiring in your
home is correct.  (Important to check that when you buy a house!  We
bought ours and the inspector missed the fact that ground was, well, not
grounded.)  Never assume you have a good Earth ground in the electrical
wiring.  If in doubt, use metal water pipes as close to the water
utility as you can get (or better yet, verify your ground!).  While it
is true that water is a conductor, I wouldn't trust anything past PVC to
be properly grounded without a ground wire run between the metal
"islands".  Besides, metal provides a much easier path to ground than
water does.

If you ever need to create a ground, you have to buy a long metal stake
and put it in the ground and attach a thick enough wire to it.  No idea
how long the stake has to be, or how thick the wire has to be, though.

    --- Mike

-- 
Naunet Corporation Logo 	Michael B. Trausch

President, *Naunet Corporation*
? (678) 287-0693 x130 or (888) 494-5810 x130

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