[Elecraft] Anti-Static Grounding - how?

[Rich Lentz]

That 1 meg resistor not only causes a slow discharge of any static =
buildup
on you it also protects you. You could easily get a good zap by =
connecting
yourself with a solid wire to what you think is "ground."  Don=92t think =
that
you can save money by hooking up a test lead to your wrist watch band =
and
ground. I got a good jolt when I was a kid (many years ago) from a
"grounded" drill that was plugged into a "grounded" outlet in my barn.  =
The
power line had the Hot, Neutral and Ground BUT there was no local ground =
rod
in the barn. At first we thought that the Hot wire had shorted to the =
case.
As luck would have it the fuse panel ground had gotten mowed off below =
the
meter, the only ground for the house and barn, and the utility crew =
forget
to ground the transformer after an accident some months earlier. There =
was
enough voltage to light a bulb, over 90 volts, between the "ground" wire =
and
earth.

Rich,
KE0X

-----------
Indeed, some house grounds have induced voltages in having long runs =
back to
any ground point; and might not be the safest thing to tie your static =
mat
to as a "ground" point.  "Ground" in AC systems may have imbalance phase
currents and be much different from a zero voltage point.  It shouldn't
ideally, but the real world resistances of wiring carrying heavy current =
my
make it so.

-Stuart
K5KVH=20




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