hey,
i am planing to build a new case completely out of wood. I don't want to simply build a wooden frame around a preexisting metal case, but rather a completly wooden one from scratch. my friend brought up the point of grounding the motherboard and stuff, but i didn't know if i needed to. I thought since most computers sit on rubber or plastic feet, even though their cases are made of metal, they are not acctually grounded to anything."
Is this a correct thought?
true, but the motherboard is connected to the power supply, which is connected to your home power system which is grounded. i don't know the specifics though. i once had a motherboard ( and the rest of the computer ) just sitting on my desk, not even in a case. it didn't do anything to it. that doesn't mean something can't go wrong though. my suggestion would be to make everything from wood, but mount the motherboard to metal that's attached to the wood. you could hide it behind the motherboard.
i really like what this one, http://www.bit-tech.net/article/115/, but also wanted to possible do some trditional inlay on the front of the case. Whenever i get this done, i will be sure to post a bunch of pictures for you guys!
Thats a pretty sweet looking case, wish I had the time and the woodworking skills for that. Looks like an expensive piece of stereo equipment, be good for a home theater.
ok, i just talked to my brother; he said that the electrical cord grounds it enough and then sent me this picture.
I thought that it was funny enough to post.
So that settles it in my mind, i trust my brother enough to go with his opinion, i am going to build it completely out of wood!!!
My other thought was instead of having a bunch of fans in it, i am going to set it up where i have a large fan, 8 or 10 inches, in the back in a seperate compartment pull all the air out of the case through my radiator like ICE heat pipes. And i am not going to go with water b/c i don't have that much money left to spend on it.
The grounded metal case provides 2 different things. One, it's for safety, the case being grounded will help protect against shocks. The other, more important although often overlooked thing is RFI absorbtion. The grounded metal surrounds all the components that produce RFI and prevent most of it from causing problems with radio and TV reception.
That veneered case with the nice woods would still provide safety and RFI protection while looking really nice.
Another thing to consider, wood is an INSULATOR, meaning the heat isn't going to come out through the case as it would with a metal case. You'll need MORE cooliing to achieve the same temps as a metal case because of the insulative value of the wood.
Originally posted by Xe' i am not understanding what you mean by "grounded metal case" i currently have a metal case, but it sits on four rubber feet so it is not grounded.
The power supply is fastened to the case, it's metal, and the power supply is grounded by the cable, hence the whole case is grounded by the power cable,
You can run a wire from the case of the power supply to all cds, hds etc. to ground them, but that will not reduce the RFI (radio frequency interferance). You need a conductive layer for that . I have seen good RFI results from a thick coat of radar negative paint but I believe the cost is rather high (if it is even availiable in the civilian sector). If you don't care about RFI just go with the wood.
Enjoy!
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