Preparation

Find a dry, well-ventilated place to do your work. You should have plenty of light to see yourcomponents with, and if possible, you should choose an area without carpet on the floor, ascarpet tends to attract a lot of static, and most of this can be averted by choosing a conductivefloor surface. An unfinished basement is a perfect work location!To assemble your components, you will need a basic toolkit. For this kit, you will need aphillips-head (cross-shaped) screwdriver, and an anti-static wrist strap, for grounding yourselfwith (these can be purchased at your local electronic supply store) - this can often be a hugesaving over the amount of money that you waste by destroying your components with staticelectricity.


Do not be tempted to connect yourself directly to a tap or other grounded objectwith only a length of copper wire, if the machine is still plugged in and there is an electricalfault, the consequences could be fatal. Anti-static wrist straps have a high resistance, thuslimiting any potential current flowing through your body to safe levels.Unpack all the components, and put them on top of the anti-static bags they came in, as thiswill prevent stray static from reaching your components. Make sure you read the followingsection, as it contains some important safety information.