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.

Edit: lmao people are really getting hung up on the no grounded outlet part. Umm my best explanation I guess is that its an older house that had 2 prong outlets and was “updated” with gfci protected outlets afterwards think the breakers as well. My understanding is that its up to code but I’m not an electrician. As for the plumbing I’m sure there’s still copper somewhere but the majority has been updated to pvc over the years. Again it’s not my house I don’t want to go biting the hand that feeds me. Thank you though, haha

Edit #2: thank you all so much for the helpful advice, I really appreciate all of you!

    • litchraleeEnglish
      5·
      10 months ago

      While the NEC does generally require grounded receptacles, there remain a lot of old homes which don’t have the ground wire (formally the “equipment grounding conductor”) in the junction box to actually connect to said grounded receptacles. Fortunately, the NEC provides a rule in 406.4(D)(2), allowing an upstream GFCI to be used in lieu of the safety of a ground wire, and permitting a 3 prong receptacle to be installed. This is a practical consideration by the NEC, since obviously rewiring homes to add the ground wire would be safer, but economically, a GFCI provides a pretty good degree of safety; the NEC makes these compromises all the time, in pursuit of “good” rather than an implausible “perfect”.

      That said, the lack of a grounded receptacle has some notable limitations, since technically some appliances must have a properly grounded receptacle to be used, although it’s rarely checked. And in OP’s case, the lack of ground wires means OP cannot leverage the convenient earth ground point.