Grounding yourself the proper way, how?

[eeeddduuu9999]

(Making this as simple and fast as possible to understand to take less of your time)
Building a pc next week,internet can be confusing sometimes so im going to ask experts.
Just a nooby question:

How should i ground myself?

1-Switch off psu, plug wall;
2-Switch off psu, plug sps, switch off sps;
3-Your recomendation.

sps=Switchable power strip
(Without Anti-static wrist strap)

 

[Darkbreeze]

First of all, you should not use a power strip to plug in your PSU. Your power supply should always be either plugged directly into the wall socket or plugged into a UPS system if you are using one.

Power strips, even those that are supposedly decent, but are not, like the higher end Belkin and Monster power strips, are actually not very good at all. If you DO have to use a power strip, you should really not use one that that is not made by a high end manufacturer like Tripp-lite, Eaton or Leviton.

As far as "grounding" is concerned. People are overly concerned with this. Sure, static discharge can happen. Yes, it CAN damage a component theoretically, if one occurs. If you simply discharge yourself to the case occasionally, or anytime you walk away from the case and then back to it, you will be fine. I've not worn a ground strap or worried overmuch about static discharge on any build I've done in the last fifteen years and I've never, not once, ever had an issue that resulted from any static discharge damaging a component.

We're talking probably 200 or more builds over the last fifteen years. Likely far more than that. I generally build about 20 or more systems per year from scratch and perform upgrades on three times that many annually. No issues. Just touch the case every so often or every time you walk away and back to it, and don't do the build wearing just socks. If you are walking on carpet, discharge to something like the case, or the metal body of a plugged in lamp, a little more frequently.

That really is just a better safe than sorry approach, because in reality it practically is unlikely to be necessary anyhow. People who argue against this position are what we call just being overly, and unnecessarily, anal.

 

[Scottray]

darkbreeze: just curious - how did you come to your opinion regarding power strips?

 

[Darkbreeze]

Years of experience using PC systems and having to diagnose bushels full of issues that a high number of ended up being faults with the circuitry inside the power strips. Primarily, cheap box store models but also a good number of supposedly premium power strip "surge protectors" that don't actually protect you from anything other than your own fear of what might happen if you actually end up needing a surge protector. A false sense of security.

Most people buy and use power strips because they THINK that the fact it says surge protector means something. Usually, it doesn't. This is one of my favorite quotes on the subject from an electrical engineer and residential/commercial electrical journeyman I know.

Buy a good one, but understand expensive does not equal good.

"Monster" brand are the low end junk that are sold for a premium price. Look for what us professionals use. Tripp-lite is one of my go to absolute favorites as they have a price to quality mix that is exceptional. The Belkin brand is junk as far as I am concerned as they focus on how it looks and not how it works. APC is also another one that I will trust , but they mostly cater to data centers and Corporate.

Lastly, if you really care about your electronics, get a Whole house surge suppressor installed in your electrical panel. Only a few hundred bucks and it protects everything including the overpriced LED lightbulbs that is all the rage these days.

APC, Tripp-Lite, Eaton, Leviton, General Electric, Polyphaser, Ditek, Siemens, ABB, Square D, Intermatic, Cutler-Hammer (Eaton), and Syscom, these are the brands you can trust to have high quality internal electronics if you MUST use a power strip. Do not however use a power strip thinking that it offers significant protection, because even the best of them does not, not really. Whole house protection is the only real protection from surges.

Monster and Belkin, and a few others that are commonly used, almost unilaterally use the same protections in their 45 dollar surge protector strips as what you would find in an 8 dollar Amazon or Walmart branded model. And if you ever take one of these, or any cheap box store, dollar store (Even worse than these others usually BUT occasionally about the same) or Harbor Freight power strip apart you are likely to find frayed wires, poorly soldered connections with blobs of solder nearly touching crucial and potential short circuit points, super low quality MOVs, and a ton of other indicators that no real integrity was involved in the design or manufacturer of these units.

Another factor to keep in mind is that even with some of these high quality units, any protection that MIGHT be afforded, is usually the end of that product after one shot. This, directly from the Tripp-Lite manual for the #1 selling surge protection power strip in the world.

All models feature an internal protection that will disconnect the surge-protective component at the end of its useful life but will maintain power to the load now unprotected.

I believe many models from APC and a couple of the others I listed have now incorporated designs that permanently disengage any ability of the device to deliver power once a surge or short of significant enough caliber to incur the protection has occured. That basically means once there has been a surge or short, throw the device away. Even for high end models. Only whole house protection and properly earthed circuits offer any true protection from a serious surge or direct strike from lightning somewhere close enough to affect your segment of the grid.

And whatever you do, don't EVER buy any kind of extension cord, power strip or other electronic device with slip rings.

This Power Strip Is A Fire Starter

A few weeks ago I needed a power strip in my home office. The outlet in question is located behind a filing cabinet so it would need a low profile plug. I jumped on Amazon to buy a surge suppressor…

hackaday.com

Back to the grounding of yourself when building systems. There is a reason for the use of grounding straps and if you have one and have reason to believe that the environment you are working in affords a good chance of repeated static discharges, use it. Otherwise, use common sense and don't walk across the carpet in your socks and then grab your graphics card or motherboard with both hands without discharging yourself on something not likely to be damaged, first.