Grounding a vacuum cleaner

[Motopsychojdn]

I know theres a debate over vacuuming P.c.'s out, and although I've done it for ages myself, I know a lot of people are worried about static, so I thought I'd build a grounding clip for my hoover and show you how I did it in case you get bored of spending money on canned air

Tools required, erm a leatherman knife, or a screwdriver and wirestrippers

parts required.
a vacuum cleaner
an anti-static wristband with croc clip
Jubilee clip to fit hose
length of multi-core wire, old fan wire in my example

Get your bits lined up on a clean desk etc

strip an inch or so of sleeving off one end of the wire, and as much as you feel like on the other end, I did about two inches

cut your static wristband connector off, you want to throw that part away, you need the croc clip end and as much of the length as possible,
strip the end of the staticband wire and join it to the jubilee clip, I threaded mine through a couple of times and wrapped it over itself.
take your fan wire and join that to the jubilee clip, I put mine over the fan wire just to hold it on a little tighter

place the other end of your fan wire inside your hose, bend it to fit and spread out the loose wires to contact the sides of the hose

In use, treat as you would a normal static wristband (which I also wear) clip to case taking care to get a secure connection

I vacuum from a distance to try to avoid any problems but the dust leaves the pc fine,

So there you are, Moto's guide to grounding your vacuum cleaner, a lot of people argue to use blowers, or that the static from a hoover is so small an amount to worry about, I respect everyones right to an opinion, but for those who want to reassure themselves or customers, this is how you can do it.
Moto

 

[hellwig]

Cool, a rather innovative way to provide piece of mind. However, why the wires on the intake? Is that just to remove static build-up from inside the hose?

Basically, you're just worried about static build-up on the plastic that could discharge onto the components. I might suggest that tin-foil would also solve the problem. Wrap it around the outside, stuff some of it inside, not blocking off the intake but folding it over the sides so it "clings" to the inside walls. Then, you can use your antistatic wire and clip and just attach it to the tin foil.

Of course, regardless of what other protections you take, turn off the PC when vacuuming or blowing.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Thanks for the feedback Hellwig,

I wrote this and made the gizmo after reading lots of posts from people who are worried about static and how to minimize potential risk,
so its more for them

I figure any static that builds up will most likely be inside the hose so several points of contact increases the chance that any buildup will find the wire,
I had heard of the tinfoil wrapping method but as I'm starting a business cleaning P.c.'s out in clients shops, I wanted something more professional looking and sturdy,
Personally I'm not overly concerned about the static, I know the risks and precautions to take but its more to let them see I'm 'static aware' to coin a phrase, if I explain the purpose of it, it will show them that I care about their system as much as I do my own
Moto

 

[saaiello]

Yes static discharge can be potentially dangerous. I myself have been vacuuming out PC's for a long time now 15+ years and I never had a problem I just always make sure I have computer unplugged totally from everything and make sure that I am grounded and keep the vacuum grounded as long as you do that you will never have a problem.

 

[N.Broekhuijsen]

When I worked in a shop we always just used the tin-foil solution, never had a problem.

More recently though, we use a combination of a vacuum cleaner and a compressor. Works very, very well, cleans out a whole machine in about 2 minutes, looks like new!

Only advice with compressor is to unplug all the fans. Since you make them turn at high speed, they basically turn into little generators, and send a current back into the PC through the connection. On the mobo I've screwed up one rig's onboard fan controller like this (good thing that they didn't take the repair costs off my salary), when they are connected with molex the PSU can easily take the little current.

 

[blackhawk1928]

Yes static discharge can be potentially dangerous. I myself have been vacuuming out PC's for a long time now 15+ years and I never had a problem I just always make sure I have computer unplugged totally from everything and make sure that I am grounded and keep the vacuum grounded as long as you do that you will never have a problem.

Agreed 100%

Edit: I just noticed this is necro'd thread from last year...whoops !

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Confusing thread necro batman!
Not sure of your point here but thanks for looking in,
Moto

 

[brian929]

I just bought this vacuum cleaner today from people who came to my apartment and demonstrate to sell the product. The machine works fine but I just can't refuse some of their suspicious things. They didn't have business card and they showed me the box of product says "Only for home demonstration selling purpose, This box should not go into the store". The funny thing is, somehow, they took the box with them. Were they being nice to just clean the garbage for me? You know, if there is anything wrong with the product, the product cannot go into the store, right? I have three days to return this but I still find this product necessary for my family. I don't know what to do. I paid $1200 for this vaccum cleaner. They said its original price is $2100 and blah blah. One more thing, I have researched for this product online but i couldn't find it online. So does anyone have this, "Kirby Sentria" already? Please somebody answer my questions. Thank you so much.