Is ground wire really necessary (Dell at101w)

[Yavion]

I've disassembled my Dell at101w and I have seen there is a ground wire (earthing) that goes from the ps/2 port wire and it is connected to the bottom of the plate.

What happens if I don't connect this back when I reassemble it? Is there a danger of electric shock? Will the keyboard work properly?

What happens if I modify the keyboard to use USB (something like this:

Spoiler:

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=7468&start=)

?
USB doesn't have earthing right?

[Myoth]

The ground is never necessary(though there are some boards where you need it Model F for exemple), but it's usually a precaution, there is a GND pin on the pro micro, you could wire it to the one already existing if you're really scared about it


(I think)

[matt3o]

The ground is never necessary(though there are some boards where you need it Model F for exemple), but it's usually a precaution, there is a GND pin on the pro micro, you could wire it to the one already existing if you're really scared about it

I wouldn't do that. There's chassis aground and there's signal ground. If it goes to the bottom plate that is probably chassis ground. So it should go from the USB/PS2 chassis (if even connected) to the bottom plate. Signal ground is probably already connected.

If you have a custom controller installed I would simply leave it as is unless you experience "noise" while touching the metal parts of the keyboard... which I really doubt but it happened in the past when we did full steel cases.

[Yavion]

If you have a custom controller installed I would simply leave it as is

The wire goes from the ps/2 cable, If I install custom controller the cable also changes so there is no ground wire to connect

[Yavion]

This is what it looks like:

[matt3o]

the black big wire goes very likely from the external chassis of the PS2 (the "ring") to the plate. It's mostly for interference.

[Yavion]

the black big wire goes very likely from the external chassis of the PS2 (the "ring") to the plate. It's mostly for interference.

Oh. Ok. Thanks.

[andrewjoy]

Mostly for EMI that ground , on a normal switched board like that it will be fine. I never put the back shield back in on boards like that.

Where you DO need a good ground is on capacitive boards like the model F , you can have all sorts of crazy fun if you dont ground a model F properly

[Yavion]

you can have all sorts of crazy fun if you dont ground a model F properly

For example?

[andrewjoy]

you can have all sorts of crazy fun if you dont ground a model F properly

For example?

Many 100s if not 1000s of keystrokes getting sent every second

[Yavion]

you can have all sorts of crazy fun if you dont ground a model F properly

For example?

Many 100s if not 1000s of keystrokes getting sent every second

[abrahamstechnology]

What I always do for my AT101W USB mods is solder the ground wire from the plate to the USB port's shielding.
By the way, can you do a post on your AT101W? It's looking pretty interesting!

[abrahamstechnology]

you can have all sorts of crazy fun if you dont ground a model F properly

For example?

Many 100s if not 1000s of keystrokes getting sent every second

I have a generic laptop charger that isn't grounded properly (2-wire) and it makes my Alps64 go crazy when it's plugged in.
Also it gives a small shock when you touch a port. I ought to get a proper 3-wire charger eventually.

[andrewjoy]

For example?

Many 100s if not 1000s of keystrokes getting sent every second

I have a generic laptop charger that isn't grounded properly (2-wire) and it makes my Alps64 go crazy when it's plugged in.
Also it gives a small shock when you touch a port. I ought to get a proper 3-wire charger eventually.

Even if you did , you cannot guarantee that the outlet will be grounded, not with the 1800s electrical system you use over in the colonies

I am happy to live in a country that has a good grasp of the concept of earthed mains outlets.

[Yavion]

What I always do for my AT101W USB mods is solder the ground wire from the plate to the USB port's shielding.
By the way, can you do a post on your AT101W? It's looking pretty interesting!

I was going to but the end result didn't go as expected since I've cut a new case for it manually and it has many flaws as I used just simple tools to do it.

I need a laser cutter.