[Elecraft] ESD precautions and wiring safety?

[Don Wilhelm]

Yes Tom,

There SHOULD be a continuous safety ground wire from your 'scope power plug
to that ground point.  BUT it is always a good idea to check it.  Remove the
plug from the wall socket and check the resistance from the plug's ground
pin to the scope's ground point.

While we are at this subject, I urge you to check any 3-wire extension cords
(and those multi-outlet 'surge-protectors' are extension cords too)
periodically to be certain the ground connection is continuous and
functioning.  These can be tested by plugging the tester device into the
extension outlet (with the extension cord plugged in) or with the cord
unplugged, by doing a simple resistance check from one end of the cord to
the other.  It is quite common for the ground connection to fail with no
indication of a problem until something is plugged in and has a ground
fault - then if you are lucky, you detect a 'tickle', if not so lucky, you
can get 'zapped' badly.  Don't take chances, check it out.

If there is a GFCI device in the line, it should trip with a few mils of
leakage, but not all circuits are GFCI protected, and the GFCI devices
should be tested periodically too - they do fail (and I have known some
foolish folks who defeat them by removing the ground connection so their
power tools will work without tripping the breaker!!!).

73,
Don W3FPR

----- Original Message ----- 

> I have one of those little testers that tells if the AC outlet is wired
> correctly.  If I am getting a positive reading on this and my (for
example)
> scope is plugged into that outlet, am I fairly safe in saying that my
ground
> connection on the scope is a good spot to place the alligator clip from my
> wrist band?
>