Can you short a connection using a staple?

April 6, 2008 9:07 PM

Can you short connections on a PCB using a staple?

Without getting into too many details, I'm trying to temporarily short a connection on a very small PCB, and I don't have any wires. Can I use a staple?

posted by secret.osha to computers & internet (6 comments total)

yes.
posted by bigmusic at 9:15 PM on April 6

A paper clip would probably be easier, but a staple will do
posted by 0xFCAF at 9:20 PM on April 6

Some staples are varnished together but as long as you clean it good it should be fine. Staples usually aren't copper of course so you might find the staple is acting more like an inductor or resistor than a piece of wire and you might have trouble soldering it depending on it's composition. I've used a piece of solder for this purpose in the past where current wasn't a problem.
posted by Mitheral at 9:20 PM on April 6

If you're intending to puncture the PCB with the staple to hold it in place, that's a very bad idea. First, you probably won't be able to do it. Second, if you do you might cause the layers of the PCB to start to separate.

Using a staple as a special case of "wire" is probably OK, as per above.
posted by Class Goat at 11:06 PM on April 6

Just curious - wouldn't it have been faster to just... try?

Possible outcomes: It works. Question answered. ... or, it doesn't work. Question answered.
posted by dmd at 5:51 AM on April 7

dmd, there's a third possibility: it seems to work, but doesn't change the bizarre behavior that led to jury-rigged testing in the first place, leading the asker to wonder whether staples are continuously conductive or not, argh why does it always go like this, I'll ask the internet while I hunt for my tools.
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 11:54 PM on April 7