To start off: I was explaining to my friend that I don’t have a grounding point in my house (plumbing is PVC, outlets are gcfi protected only, not allowed to drive a grounding rod into the ground, etc…) and that I’ve just been handling sensitive electronics with just luck and preparation (humidity, moisturizer, no synthetic clothing, etc…) all this time. He told me to just wire myself to a good, multimeter tested, grounding point in a car and that will discharge any built-up static electricity. I’m not smart enough to argue with him on this subject but that doesnt seem the safest. Would that work or should I just keep doing my method? My understanding is that chassis grounding is essentially replacing wires with the frame so the outcome would just be connecting myself to the negative terminal of a car battery.
Tldr: I’m explaining my lack of a grounding point at home for sensitive electronics and is advised by my friend to wire myself to a grounded point in a car to discharge built-up static electricity. However, I’m uncertain about the safety of this suggestion and questions whether my current method of handling electronics with precautions is sufficient.
What even is a grounding point in a car? I mean if it’s a car on rubber wheels, is it even grounded or would that just be like touching the negative side of an AA battery?
You could just directly touch the soil infront of the house, the car seems to be an completely superfluous step anyways.
But it will also not help if the electronics parts aren’t grounded and neither is the table they’re lying on. Now you’re grounded and they might be charged. Same zap like if it were the other way around.
An electrical ground is reservoir into which you can dump charge with altering its potential difference. A car, in and of itself, is ground for the small shocks that occur from static. The earth is a bit overkill here.
In a car, my understanding is that it is to dissipate energy into the car frame vs catching wires on fire.