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I've looked at other articles on EE stack exchange about ESD precautions.

I would like to use a wristband for precaution with microcontrollers. Where am I grounding my wristband to?

Do I ground myself to the table I am working on? Or do I ground myself to the ground of the circuit I am building?

I seen in To avoid ESD when you are working on computers, what should you attach your wristband to? the answer explains to ground to the table. Should the circuit, table and myself share the same potential?

Community
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Adam
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  • It is common to connect to the earth pin of a mains power socket through a safety resistor in some cases. I would agree that making a local common point that all the protection connects to is good and connect this to the building ground through the safety resistor so it will be in common with the other workbenches. Remember to test the grounds occasionally. Also check the mains socket ground connection and quality. – KalleMP Jul 07 '15 at 23:01

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You must be at near the same voltage as anything you're working with or else there is the potential (pun intended) for an electrostatic discharge.

One approach is to have your ESD plug into a jack* on the table which is connected to an ESD protection mat on your desk. Then anything you're working with which is ESD sensitive should be placed on the mat or in an ESD-safe container.

*Note: This is just a convenient local jack point, not your standard wall outlet with mains electricity! Sometimes this is also connected to mains earth through the third prong in the wall outlet.

helloworld922
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Typically, an ESD-safe workbench is grounded via the wall plug as it's the only decent ground available. It's the same connection used to power the lights, soldering iron etc. via the benches convenience outlets.

When I did this regularly, I found I often had to work in areas that didn't have a suitable grounded bench, so I took a standard ESD strap and mat and wired them to the ground pin of a 3-prong plug. It looked like I was plugging myself into the mains, but the hot and neutral pins didn't go anywhere. Problem solved, works anywhere in North America.

I live in Asia now, where they don't appreciate grounded circuits. At all. Everything is 2-pin, with a short green pigtail on the cord that is useless as there is nothing to attach it to. However, it's humid enough that static discharge is a very minor problem.

paul
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  • There are many different countries in Asia, with many different electrical codes and weather conditions, care to add some details? – Lior Bilia Jul 08 '15 at 06:42