Where to clip an anti static wrist strap?

[speedyzeth555]

I know you put it on your wrist, but then...

Does the alligator clip have to clip onto part of the computer parts, like the case?

And if I was wearing it on my ankle, where would I connect it? Anywhere that's metal?

 

[Ironsounds]

Hello... you need to connect to EARTH Ground... any Grounded outlet prong, metal water pipe, or any grounded metal Appilance in your Room... buy a grounded Plug, and just connect a wire to the ground and then to your aligator clip.

 

[ingtar33]

clip it to the metal frame of the computer case. your pc case is a grounded object making use of the design principle of a faraday cage. if you didn't have an antistatic wristband just making sure you keep physical contact with the metal frame of the pc case would do just as well.

 

[speedyzeth555]

clip it to the metal frame of the computer case. your pc case is a grounded object making use of the design principle of a faraday cage. if you didn't have an antistatic wristband just making sure you keep physical contact with the metal frame of the pc case would do just as well.

so when I clip it to the metal frame of the case, does the case have to be on the ground, or can it be on a table? because my friend told me to put it on the ground

 

[tiny voices]

I would not even use it honestly. I have seen them do more harm than good in the hands of people who use them incorrectly. Just touch the case every few minutes. It is VERY hard to damage computer parts with static generated by your body/carpet/clothes. Near impossible actually. People blow static WAY out of proportion. Don't even worry about it. Just build the computer and touch the case every once in a while.

 

[ingtar33]

clip it to the metal frame of the computer case. your pc case is a grounded object making use of the design principle of a faraday cage. if you didn't have an antistatic wristband just making sure you keep physical contact with the metal frame of the pc case would do just as well.

so when I clip it to the metal frame of the case, does the case have to be on the ground, or can it be on a table? because my friend told me to put it on the ground

doesn't matter where it is. in theory your case could be sitting on a live wire and still be grounded.

I'll explain. A faraday cage is a shape enclosed by a conductive structure. at it's heart think of something like a cube or sphere made of wire or some sort of conductive metal. the very act of completing the shape and creating a congruence of sides (you can trace completely around the inside of the "enclosure" in 3 dimensions without taking your finger off a piece of metal) creates a grounded object.

the more directions you can trace around the middle of the space the more powerful the "faraday" cage functions. at it's pinnacle it can jam radio signals or insulate you from a lightning strike. A computer case is nowhere near that complete of a faraday cage, however, the frame of the cage most certainly is "grounded" it does not matter physically where that frame is at any one point in time.

now the grounded nature of the case is what matters... remember however a faraday cage only can function because it's made out of conductive material, which means your anti-static bag (which is also a faraday cage) can conduct electricity, so you shouldn't be resting electronic parts on it, nor should you cut an antistatic bag up and use it to rest your motherboard on for a homemade bitcoin mining rig (yes someone did that once here... i helped him identify why his system wouldn't work, by having him pull the antistatic bag out from under his motherboard)