Can the USB port's metal enclosure be grounded?

Question

As shown in the image below, the USB port's metal enclosure is touching the copper clad of the PCB (which is a ground plane).

Can Bad Things Happen™ if the port's enclosure is grounded?

I beep-tested the 4 pins with the enclosure, and none of them are connected to it. However, could some shorts be made when plugging something into the port?

It *should* be grounded. However, which ground it should be connected to (chassis/safety/signal/power) could be a different matter. — SomeoneSomewhereSupportsMonica, Nov 30 '18 at 04:54
@SomeoneSomewhere -- Thanks for the comment! We only have one ground in our design (both our signals and power share the ground plane). Would it have to be a different ground? — Fine Man, Nov 30 '18 at 05:08
@SomeoneSomewhere -- I presume we'd need a chassis ground. Since its the only thing in our project that could be considered a "chassis", would we still need one? — Fine Man, Nov 30 '18 at 05:13
Regarding shielding/grounding, see here: https://electronics.stackexchange.com/a/408044/117785 — Ale..chenski, Nov 30 '18 at 05:37

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 06 '18 at 22:36

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Assuming that there are not more than one GND then yes it is recommended to Ground the USB port enclosure.

For more information please look at this thread. USB Shield. To ground or not to ground?

answered Dec 06 '18 at 22:36

m-walker95

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Can the USB port's metal enclosure be grounded?

1 Answers1