There's some good advice here but I'd like to add my two cents. In a pinch, you can make your own grounding / bonding wrist strap by stripping off a length of wire. Remove several inches of the stranded wire. From there, fold up some aluminum foil, attach the wire to the foil and wrap the foil around your wrist. Attach one side of the wire to a metal piece of the chassis of the affected device you are working on.
Remember, we are looking for your electrical potential to be at the same as the device you are working on, hence, NO POTENTIAL. or no voltage difference from one to the other. This is where the grounding pad would come in keeping all voltages the same or no potential difference.
Using your "earth" ground point with components you can actually create a "floating ground" which means a voltage potential. that is what we are trying to avoid. Knowing procedures , you can quickly overcome this "electrically potential" problem.
If you need earth ground, you could plug in that device and touch the metal portion of that device, that should also ground you. There again so long as the grounding of the device are intact and you have less than 5 ohms from the grounding pin to the metal chassis. (the device does NOT need to be powered up, just plugged into a grounded receptacle.)
Grounding straps and mats are not that expensive and well worth their money if you are working on very low current components.
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Just remember, current going from arm to arm or arm to leg passes through your heart. Your heart is sent a "message" of between 100 and 200 mA current. (not much) If you go above that very small amount of current, your gaming days are done. Remember as someone mentioned above, it's all about potential from point A to point B. Always remember the Left hand rule, that is make SURE plug for the device you are troubleshooting is in your left hand. If it's in your left hand, it can't be plugged in. LOL. Also, if there is a chance that you could get shocked, make sure the shock does not go through your heart, ie hand to hand, hand to feet or any combination of.
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Just remember, current going from arm to arm or arm to leg passes through your heart. Your heart is sent a "message" via sodium/potassium gate generating between 10 and 100 millivolts. (not much) If you go beyond 100 to 200 ma your gaming days are done. Remember as someone mentioned above, it's all about potential from point A to point B. Always remember the Left hand rule, that is make SURE plug for the device you are troubleshooting is in your left hand. If it's in your left hand, it can't be plugged in. LOL. Also, if there is a chance that you could get shocked, make sure the shock does not go through your heart, ie hand to hand, hand to feet or any combination of.
There's some good advice here but I'd like to add my two cents. In a pinch, you can make your own grounding / bonding wrist strap by stripping off a length of wire. Remove several inches of the stranded wire. From there, fold up some aluminum foil, attach the wire to the foil and wrap the foil around your wrist. Attach one side of the wire to a metal piece of the chassis of the affected device you are working on.
Remember, we are looking for your electrical potential to be at the same as the device you are working on, hence, NO POTENTIAL. or no voltage difference from one to the other. This is where the grounding pad would come in keeping all voltages the same or no potential difference.
Using your "earth" ground point with components you can actually create a "floating ground" which means a voltage potential. that is what we are trying to avoid. Knowing procedures , you can quickly overcome this "electrically potential" problem.
If you need earth ground, you could plug in that device and touch the metal portion of that device, that should also ground you. There again so long as the grounding of the device are intact and you have less than 5 ohms from the grounding pin to the metal chassis. (the device does NOT need to be powered up, just plugged into a grounded receptacle.)
Grounding straps and mats are not that expensive and well worth their money if you are working on very low current components.
Just remember, current going from arm to arm or arm to leg passes through your heart. Your heart is sent a "message" of between 100 and 200 mA current. (not much) If you go above that very small amount of current, your gaming days are done. Remember as someone mentioned above, it's all about potential from point A to point B. Always remember the Left hand rule, that is make SURE plug for the device you are troubleshooting is in your left hand. If it's in your left hand, it can't be plugged in. LOL. Also, if there is a chance that you could get shocked, make sure the shock does not go through your heart, ie hand to hand, hand to feet or any combination of.