0

I am going to be doing a complete disassemble of a laptop to move it into a new casing and I was worried about static electricity damaging any of the components.

I’ve read about grounding yourself and I will have an anti-static wrist strap and mat. However, I was confused on where to exactly connect them to when working on a laptop. For desktops, I read about connecting the straps to the casing of the desktop while it’s plugged in with the power off. I also read about some people advising to hook up to something like a radiator or water pipe or to touch them first, or to the screw in a three prong power outlet. However, I don’t have a radiator or water pipes nearby and the screw for my power outlets are painted.

  1. Where would I connect my straps to when working on a laptop to ensure that I’m grounded?

  2. Does both me and the laptop have to be grounded when working on it? I thought I read something about how both you and the device have to be grounded, but I may have been mistaken or misunderstood.

  3. Is there something I can just plug into the wall (like a lamp with a three prong connection) and connect the strap to a metal part of it?

random
  • 15,201
TheRenegade89
  • 11

2 Answers2

3

I would say as long as you have a good clean area, you are not usually full of static electricity and you touch something metal before starting you should be fine without a strap. Idealy you should have one but I have been working on laptops and desktops for 5-6 years now and NEVER used one. I have only damaged one computer from static electricity (or so I assume that's why it died). But I was trying to upgrade the RAM in it while on the /carpet/ floor(bad idea, fibers create static the easiest). Some tips for you: have good lighting, assorted tools near by, make sure the battery and AC adapter are disconnected and hold the power button for 10 seconds before doing anything. (This drains all the power from the circuits and from what I have seen has damaged more computers than static). Also are you sure that you can take it from one case to the other? Most laptops can't have a "brain" transplant unless you are going between the exact model. Hope this helps.

Mutteringtechie
  • 31
0

Static grounding mats are normally grounded to the third (ground) round part of the plug (versus the blade parts). If you have another good earth ground you can clip to that. Sometimes the screw on the socket plate is grounded - not always.

Normally your wrist strap then attaches to the grounding point of the mat where the wire comes from it, there should be a jack. When you put the computer and parts on the mat, it is grounded and through the wrist strap, you are grounded.

If you ground the computer case by attaching it to a ground and then attach your wrist strap to the case, then theoretically you are at the same potential to the case, and parts you pickup will drain through you and come to the same potential. This is sloppy, but sadly is common practice. The problem is that generally this doesn't provide the resistance you want to prevent a high speed discharge. Using the mat, the static dissipates at a slower controlled rate. Just using a wire or touching a ground dissipates the charge in an instant snap crackle pop way which can damage things.

If you can, always use the mat and wrist strap.

Blackbeagle
  • 6,702