Where to connect Crocodi-Clip

There is a lot of confusion on what is ground and why you could get electrocuted.

So lets talk about safety first:

You will want to get an outlet tester to test the outlet to make sure its wired correctly. Here is one device: Socket tester (Europe). In its self that doesn't make you safe! As it's the devices that you are working on that wired to the outlet that then become the risk. So it you are working on a laptop and you have it running on battery there is no risk! But if you have the power adapter plugged in to charge/power the laptop then you could have a risk if the power adapter was bad. This also holds true with a desktop computer as well. So its important to use a Voltmeter to check your systems ground and the outlets ground to make sure the device does not have a bad power supply. Is this a big risk with todays computers? Nope!

Lastly, this has nothing to do with grounding of the mat or wrist strap! This is basic precautions you should do when working on equipment you are not sure of.

OK, so how do I deal with using and is there any risks in using an antistatic mat and/or wrist strap?

First you'll need to get a replacement plug like this European "Schuko" 16 Amp-250 VOLT CEE 7/7 (EU1-16P) TYPE E, F PLUG from your nearest hardware store and some green colored multi-strand wire (16 or 18 gage is fine). Wire the ground contact of the plug with the green wire so you have a means to clip the antistatic mat & wrist strap of your work bench.

The idea here is what you are working on and the tools and supplied you are using are all at the same voltage potential of the ground. This is important when you are working on sensitive electrical components of a logic board. If you are working on a desktop system you can just clip the wrist strap to the chassis and in some cases working on a laptop you can do the same! Vs wiring up the ground plug as I outlined.

Both the standard antistatic mat & wrist strap have a resistor within their line cords to protect you from being zapped by a badly grounded device. Even if you are working on something electrically hot.

It won't protect you from being zapped by a super cap using in a power supply or a charge in a CRT display so you still need to watch what you are doing even when the device is not plugged in with either of these.

Also keep in mind static electricity is very seasonal and depending on where you are more or less. As an example the moist air near the ocean will have less static during the warm months but in the winter in polar regions static can be a big problem. Living in an arid location like a dessert can have static issues all year round. So being attentive to ESD is more or less important depending on where and the time of year.

Lastly newer electronics do have better ESD design so they are currently less sensitive. But like everything things do change! The next wave of devices (sub 10 micron) will be more sensitive so we will need to be more careful moving forward!