Stupid observation

[Kevin Weddle]

My wrist strap has a current limiting resistor for my protection. This won't help one iota if a touch high voltage. Is this about freedom from liability?

 

[ante1]

Hi Kevin,

The high voltage will not kill you, but the current might if there where no current limiting resistor!

 

[gogo2520]

I don't think I would were a wrist strap around High Voltage. I thought the strap was made so it would let your body stay netural when working low power compoinents.
                                        gogo

 

[Kevin Weddle]

I have heard of using rubber mats and special boots when working with high voltage.

 

[awright1]

Why do you say the resistor in the wrist strap will not protect you "one iota" around "high voltage"?  How high is the voltage you are working around?  Assuming the strap has a typical resistor of at least, say, one megohm, current would be limited to a couple of hundred microamps if you accidentally contacted line voltage.  Since it is normally thought that it takes a few milliamps to cause fibrillation of the heart, wouldn't you be reasonably protected from serious shock by the resistor?

If you are dealing with kilovolts, then you may have a point, but then you should be using all sorts of other precautions and static discharge is probably not an issue.

While I have plenty of suspicions about the motivations of product manufacturers, the resistor in a wrist strap makes very good sense to me for all normal situations.  I think selling wrist straps without resistors would be highly irresponsible.

awright

 

[Kevin Weddle]

No, I don't believe so. A wrist strap will not protect anybody from the AC outlet. Even if the current limiting resistor approaches infinity.

 

[awright1]

Well, Kevin, since millions of people use wrist straps with series resistors in the belief that the resistor will protect them from injury resulting from accidental contact with line voltage while wearing the strap, can you provide a little more fact-based analysis of why the protection is not effective, or at least beneficial enough to be used?  That is, do you believe that the possible currents are above injury or fatality levels, or what?  What alternative do you suggest for static protection?

By the way, I'm not clear that we are talking about the same hazard when you say, "A wrist strap will not protect anybody from the AC outlet."  The WRIST STRAP is not intended to protect the wearer from the AC outlet.  The wrist strap is only to protect static sensitive euipment you are working on from discharge of the static electricity buildup on the body by continuously draining off the charge to ground.  The RESISTOR in the lead to the wrist strap is to limit currents that could flow through the body in case of accidental contact with the line to low enough values that injury or death is avoided.  Please explain why this is not protective.

Please don't be insulted about this effort at clarification.  You never know what experience level you are communicating with out there in the forums.

Thanks.

awright