Electronics > Beginners
My purchase list for my new lab -- budget $1000+, thoughts?
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rstofer:

--- Quote from: AnyNameWillDo on August 06, 2018, 10:52:24 pm ---Might be a dumb question but if I am just sitting at my desk, hardwood floors, fiddling around with components on a table, how do I know if I am grounded or not? Do I need to wear a wrist-wrap connected to something else, e.g. the metal rack next to me? If the rack is just sitting on wood is it even considered grounded? Or do I have to touch something metal that's somehow connected to some other metal in the wall that eventually makes its way back to the grounding metal in the circuit breaker?

--- End quote ---

The chair is not grounded and certain fabrics (clothes and the chair) generate static electricity.  OTOH, if the humidity is high enough and the fabric doesn't generate static, the chair might be fine.  That's the way I have been doing electronics - forever.

I visited Minneapolis a couple times and it was possible to draw a large visible arc just approaching a file cabinet.  The humidity was probably 0 since it was below 0 deg F outside.  I would absolutely wear a wrist band if I worked there.

You can just touch the BNC connectors on your scope to drain off any charge on your body.  The thing is, it's hard to remember to do that.  Not really a workable solution.

The humidity around here stays fairly high so I can get along with pretty poor practices.
bitseeker:

--- Quote from: AnyNameWillDo on August 06, 2018, 10:52:24 pm ---Or do I have to touch something metal that's somehow connected to some other metal in the wall that eventually makes its way back to the grounding metal in the circuit breaker?

--- End quote ---

This.

A grounding wrist strap has a resistor (~1M) to prevent excessive current and is connected to earth ground via wire to the ground pin on the power outlet (or a grounded instrument's enclosure, ground jack, etc.). Of course, the outlet would have to be properly grounded as well.

If you have a static dissipative mat, it may have a snap or jack to connect a wrist strap to.

Otherwise, for working with stuff that isn't very static sensitive, touch the metal enclosure of a grounded instrument, computer, or similar to discharge any static before touching. When the air is particularly dry and static-prone, I do this "equalizing" before I touch anything electronic including my laptop to avoid zapping them.
rstofer:
That 1M resistor is in the wrist strap circuit to protect the user from being solidly grounded should they happen to put their fingers in the wrong place.  The mat and the wrist strap need to conduct but just barely.  A solid copper work surface would not be a good idea.
AnyNameWillDo:
Separate question, but power strips -- will anything pretty much suffice? e.g. https://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-Protector-INSURANCE-TLP602/dp/B00006B82A/
Old Printer:

--- Quote from: AnyNameWillDo on August 07, 2018, 04:43:39 pm ---Separate question, but power strips -- will anything pretty much suffice? e.g. https://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-Protector-INSURANCE-TLP602/dp/B00006B82A/

--- End quote ---

Has anyone ever heard of someone collecting on one of these "insurance policies"??  I think it's pure BS.
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