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’t 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
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