Many of the wrist straps have the MOhm resist built into them. At the factory we had anti-static procedures and devices big-time. Special lab-coat, foot strap and wrist strap, hand cream at entry doors, and ion-desk fans. It can get a bit crazy.
Hi folks, in a set up shown in the video (unknown resistance of wrist strap and lead, high resistance mat, unknown presumably low resistance, path from mat to ground) should be OK if you always slip the wrist strap off and leave this entire setup on a bench, and maybe cover the alligator clip of the ground wire with some insulator. If you like to move between benches and unclip the wrist strap from the mat to do so, you should make sure the wrist strap lead also has a high resistance. If not, and you are carrying a piece of electronics with the wrist strap dangling, you may build a static charge while you walk and the clip could touch something grounded. Your static voltage will be rapidly discharged and say goodbye to the electronics you're carrying. If you walk up to the mat shown above with a piece of electronics, and you have a static charge, so does the electronics. When you rest the electronics on the mat, be careful that it doesn't immediately touch the clip going to ground. The static built in the electronics (and perhaps you) will rapidly discharge through the clip and say goodbye to the electronics. Using the setup in the video, you would want to walk up, put the wrist strap on without contacting anything else. This will safely discharge you and the electronic item. then carry on at the bench as usual. This is why it's good practice to use a high resistance connection between the mat and ground. The reality is we want ESD, we don't want damaging ESD. When a static voltage is built up, we want all of these paths to ground to be high resistance, so static voltage gets discharged nice and slowly. There are standards for all of this stuff if you really want to know what range of resistance things should be. There are also relatively cheap testers out there that you can buy in the ~$30 US range for testing whether your wrist strap works right and your path to ground is in the correct resistance range. These testers fail you if the resistance is too low, and also if the resistance is too high. Finally, test the ground path to make sure it connects to ground. Appartments and rental office space are frequently repaired incorrectly. The ground socket of a power outlet is usually never connected to a power source, but frequently it's connected to nothing.
Hi! Why does it need to be a circuit, mat - > arm -> mat -> ground? Why not arm -> ground and mat -> ground... using two grounding pins in the mains? Sorry if it's a stupid question... :) Thanks for the video!
Thank you for your comment. The Circuit goes from your body to the mat and then to ground. The mat acts as a large resistor to ensure that there is a slow discharge to ground. We would never wire ourselves directly ground because it is too close to the mains, and electricians can make mistakes. What is labelled as ground may have a voltage at the mains. This is just a safe approach. I hope I have answered your question adequately. Thanks again.
Hi Robotvilla, Any stable path to earth ground is acceptable. The concern is not with accidental electrocution, as much as slowly and effectively bleeding off a high voltage difference. When you shuffle your feet on a carpet and then come close to touching your best friend's ear lobe and see a small spark, that's ~15kV. Fortunately non lethal because your body makes a poor capacitor (not much capacitance and very low Q) plus the air resistance, plus your friend is a poor conductor too. But 15kV or higher needs somewhere to go, and not all at once. It's the all at once bit that harms the electronics. The high value resistor in the wrist strap, mat material, and mat ground path will discharge high voltage if present, and it will do so slowly. It will also hold the operator and work surface at the same voltage potential. You can have a separate path to ground for your wrist strap as long as the path is high resistance. The mat should have a high resistance path to ground too. See my main comment in this video.
Yes, the mat ground path should be resistive anyway. Often mats come with snaps or banana jacks that a resistive ground lead can connect to, and that a resistive wrist strap can connect to.
You would have to run wires into the soil surrounding each plant. You don't really need the mat. Just a wire that connects to that round ground outlet and the other (wire uncovered) end into the soil or touching the plant. It's an excellent idea, BTW. Very good for your plants! They even ground fish aquariums for the fish's optimal health.
You should not earth yourself directly to ground because if your hand touches the mains voltage 240/220V you will receive a severe electrical shock which can kill you. The 1 Mohm resistor prevents this happening but also protects against ESD.
Any path to earth ground is acceptable. The concern is not with accidental electrocution, as much as slowly and effectively bleeding off a high static voltage difference. When you shuffle your feet on a carpet and then come close to touching your best friend's ear lobe and see a small spark, that's an ~15kV charge dissipating immediately. Fortunately non lethal because your body makes a poor capacitor (not much capacitance and relatively high series resistance) plus the resistance of the air that the spark had to jump through, plus your friend is a poor conductor too. But in the case of handling ESD for electronics, a charge like 15kV or higher needs somewhere to go, and not all at once. It's the all at once bit that harms the electronics. The high value resistor in the wrist strap, mat material, and mat ground path will discharge high voltage if present, and it will do so relatively slowly (gradually). It will also hold the operator and work surface at the same voltage potential, AKA prevent static charge accumulation.
@@gregfeneis609 Im afraid you tried too hard to explain the concept in laymans terms, but it lost me when you said thinks like 'bleeding off a high voltage difference' Then the Q factor mixed-up with capacitor stuff .... :(
@@ehobbyguy8980 i dit it after proving it was well grounded, using a grounding checker, but "the other end" came off from the grounding pin. The other end is narrower than standar end for grounding.
Is an Anti-Static Mats the same thing as a grounding mat (www.earthing.com/daytime/universal-mats/universal-mat-kit.html)? I want to use it to stay grounded while am using my PC or even sleeping. an AS map seems like a cheaper solution to the branded grounding mats. Am I wrong?
I looked at this video and thought "Ok, makes sense". Then I googled further and found this: elimstat.com/how-to-ground-yourself-with-anti-static-wrist-strap/ There it says "Just make sure you do not use the alligator clip to “ground” the wrist strap to an anti static mat. This will not work. In fact, this will increase the total system resistance to ground over the 35 megohm limit recommended per ANSI /ESD 20.20 [ESD Handbook Tr20.20-2008 section 5.3.2.2.2]" I don't get this quote, especially since it is contradicting what is done in the video (which made sense to me). Can anyone explain?
This was the only video that has made anti static mats clear to me, thank you
Many of the wrist straps have the MOhm resist built into them. At the factory we had anti-static procedures and devices big-time. Special lab-coat, foot strap and wrist strap, hand cream at entry doors, and ion-desk fans. It can get a bit crazy.
Hi folks, in a set up shown in the video (unknown resistance of wrist strap and lead, high resistance mat, unknown presumably low resistance, path from mat to ground) should be OK if you always slip the wrist strap off and leave this entire setup on a bench, and maybe cover the alligator clip of the ground wire with some insulator.
If you like to move between benches and unclip the wrist strap from the mat to do so, you should make sure the wrist strap lead also has a high resistance. If not, and you are carrying a piece of electronics with the wrist strap dangling, you may build a static charge while you walk and the clip could touch something grounded. Your static voltage will be rapidly discharged and say goodbye to the electronics you're carrying.
If you walk up to the mat shown above with a piece of electronics, and you have a static charge, so does the electronics. When you rest the electronics on the mat, be careful that it doesn't immediately touch the clip going to ground. The static built in the electronics (and perhaps you) will rapidly discharge through the clip and say goodbye to the electronics. Using the setup in the video, you would want to walk up, put the wrist strap on without contacting anything else. This will safely discharge you and the electronic item. then carry on at the bench as usual. This is why it's good practice to use a high resistance connection between the mat and ground.
The reality is we want ESD, we don't want damaging ESD. When a static voltage is built up, we want all of these paths to ground to be high resistance, so static voltage gets discharged nice and slowly.
There are standards for all of this stuff if you really want to know what range of resistance things should be. There are also relatively cheap testers out there that you can buy in the ~$30 US range for testing whether your wrist strap works right and your path to ground is in the correct resistance range. These testers fail you if the resistance is too low, and also if the resistance is too high. Finally, test the ground path to make sure it connects to ground. Appartments and rental office space are frequently repaired incorrectly. The ground socket of a power outlet is usually never connected to a power source, but frequently it's connected to nothing.
2:30 This is an excellent illustration how to verify the mat effectiveness. Thanks!
perfect resistance to short your components if you want to plug them in
also perfect resistance to not tell you anything about ESD
Thanks for your time and effort. This helped
Very nice and informative video sir. Thank you very much.
Thanks for watching
Thank you! Just what I needed to know !!
Chicago John thank for watching!
great video! NOW , Esd mat can be customized!
Is there a major difference between rubber and vinyl anti-static mats? How about mats made of other types of materials?
Hi! Why does it need to be a circuit, mat - > arm -> mat -> ground? Why not arm -> ground and mat -> ground... using two grounding pins in the mains? Sorry if it's a stupid question... :) Thanks for the video!
Thank you for your comment. The Circuit goes from your body to the mat and then to ground. The mat acts as a large resistor to ensure that there is a slow discharge to ground. We would never wire ourselves directly ground because it is too close to the mains, and electricians can make mistakes. What is labelled as ground may have a voltage at the mains. This is just a safe approach. I hope I have answered your question adequately. Thanks again.
Thank you so much. This makes perfect sense.
Thank you Patrick 909, I bought the grounding plug. Seemed like a nice addition to the setup EHobby Guy demonstrated in the video. :) Safety first.
Hi Robotvilla, Any stable path to earth ground is acceptable. The concern is not with accidental electrocution, as much as slowly and effectively bleeding off a high voltage difference. When you shuffle your feet on a carpet and then come close to touching your best friend's ear lobe and see a small spark, that's ~15kV. Fortunately non lethal because your body makes a poor capacitor (not much capacitance and very low Q) plus the air resistance, plus your friend is a poor conductor too. But 15kV or higher needs somewhere to go, and not all at once. It's the all at once bit that harms the electronics. The high value resistor in the wrist strap, mat material, and mat ground path will discharge high voltage if present, and it will do so slowly. It will also hold the operator and work surface at the same voltage potential. You can have a separate path to ground for your wrist strap as long as the path is high resistance. The mat should have a high resistance path to ground too. See my main comment in this video.
Is there any other way to ground the mat other than using a clip and plugging it into an outlet?
Yes, the mat ground path should be resistive anyway. Often mats come with snaps or banana jacks that a resistive ground lead can connect to, and that a resistive wrist strap can connect to.
What if I placed plants on a grounding mat?
You would have to run wires into the soil surrounding each plant. You don't really need the mat. Just a wire that connects to that round ground outlet and the other (wire uncovered) end into the soil or touching the plant. It's an excellent idea, BTW. Very good for your plants! They even ground fish aquariums for the fish's optimal health.
Thanks very informative
Good video...
What is the purpose of the 1Mohm resistor shouldn't it just be going straight to ground
You should not earth yourself directly to ground because if your hand touches the mains voltage 240/220V you will receive a severe electrical shock which can kill you. The 1 Mohm resistor prevents this happening but also protects against ESD.
Any path to earth ground is acceptable. The concern is not with accidental electrocution, as much as slowly and effectively bleeding off a high static voltage difference. When you shuffle your feet on a carpet and then come close to touching your best friend's ear lobe and see a small spark, that's an ~15kV charge dissipating immediately. Fortunately non lethal because your body makes a poor capacitor (not much capacitance and relatively high series resistance) plus the resistance of the air that the spark had to jump through, plus your friend is a poor conductor too. But in the case of handling ESD for electronics, a charge like 15kV or higher needs somewhere to go, and not all at once. It's the all at once bit that harms the electronics. The high value resistor in the wrist strap, mat material, and mat ground path will discharge high voltage if present, and it will do so relatively slowly (gradually). It will also hold the operator and work surface at the same voltage potential, AKA prevent static charge accumulation.
@@gregfeneis609 Im afraid you tried too hard to explain the concept in laymans terms, but it lost me when you said thinks like 'bleeding off a high voltage difference' Then the Q factor mixed-up with capacitor stuff .... :(
@@Pulsonar Edited.
@@gregfeneis609 The edit makes for better reading and a clearer explanation, thanks.
im very afraid of connecting the other end in the grounding pin
from pathetic to a machine! Thank you for your comment and thank you for watching.
from pathetic to a machine! If you are afraid to do it definitely do not do it.
@@ehobbyguy8980 i dit it after proving it was well grounded, using a grounding checker, but "the other end" came off from the grounding pin. The other end is narrower than standar end for grounding.
please reply quick I need help
Very nice
Is an Anti-Static Mats the same thing as a grounding mat (www.earthing.com/daytime/universal-mats/universal-mat-kit.html)? I want to use it to stay grounded while am using my PC or even sleeping. an AS map seems like a cheaper solution to the branded grounding mats. Am I wrong?
you dont have 1Mohm resistor on the mat?
restistance is available on esd band
Resistance is still needed between the mat and ground.
i was having some confusion in grounding that you have eliminated
I looked at this video and thought "Ok, makes sense". Then I googled further and found this:
elimstat.com/how-to-ground-yourself-with-anti-static-wrist-strap/
There it says "Just make sure you do not use the alligator clip to “ground” the wrist strap to an anti static mat. This will not work. In fact, this will increase the total system resistance to ground over the 35 megohm limit recommended per ANSI /ESD 20.20 [ESD Handbook Tr20.20-2008 section 5.3.2.2.2]"
I don't get this quote, especially since it is contradicting what is done in the video (which made sense to me). Can anyone explain?
Usefull
Thanks..