[Elecraft] Being ESD Safe,

[Fred (FL)]

Ron, Don -

I learned a good deal more clarification today, about
ESD Safe - and one's potential house wiring situation.
 Thanks.

Looks like one has to verify, with available
testers, and electricians if need be, that their
facility and shack and home, are wired correctly
and that the SINGLE GROUND, provided at the 
mains entrance to the facility, is correct and
operational as it should be by NEC code.  And it
is the ONLY ground connection, relied on.

And secondly, which now makes much sense, that no
secondary ground rods are to be used! - for one's
electrical service in the home or facility.
Multiple grounds, can create shock hazards.
And as Don pointed out - a separate ground
rod, if used at all, may be useful for one's RF
antenna system, and that is all.  But for ESD - the
single home and facility ground connection - is the
ONLY one to rely on for ESD safety.

Whether that is established, and working is the
chore at hand.

The IEEE Hospitals multiple-grounds problem,
was a case of new and old hospital facilities,
where they found multiple ground levels existing
in different places in the overall hospital.  This
resulted in patients being exposed to differing
ground-levels, all impacting on the patient's
monitoring equipments.  IEEE reported patients
may have died from this situation - and indicated
possibly no one (MD's & staff) realized this had
happened.

In our home, I hired an electrical contractor
to verify the condition of my electrical
plugs, and breaker box setup.  He found several
problems - and fixed them and brought them back
into compliance with current NEC code.  They
even pulled the meter - and "lubricated" the
mains HD cabling connections coming into the
breaker box.  (pulling meter, requires an
electrician, and action by power company, as
meter safety tag has to be broken)

The work & certification by a licensed electrician, is
especially important when electrical work is done
in a facility - for both personal safety, and to
ensure continued insurance coverage on a home
or facility.  It isn't a common sense, or seat of
the pants do-it-yourself operation.  There is a
method in the strictness of the NEC.

Thanks,
Fred, N3CSY




       
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