
Re: PAIA Phlanger - Troubleshooting Tips
I would not be so concerned with the wrist strap to ground when making tests on the phlanger. The real concern is the live wall power wiring and board connections. Once the unit is open and not plugged into the wall outlet, do what is needed to position the board and prevent contact between the metal case and any tools or other metal on your bench.
A grounding wrist strap would be most useful in the handling of static-discharge-sensitive pars and the contact with their pins/leads when moving from their protective tubes or foam and installing them on the pcb, etc. On the board, the pins/leads aren't "floating" but likely terminated or in contact with some circuit node.
There will be a wire from the board ground to the panel connector ground lugs and this is where the tester should connect for the measurement reference. If you elect to wear the strap, just connect it to this same point too.
Remember though, chances are it might be OK and not need any testing, but just a run through the testing and calibration procedure per the kit assembly instruction manual. If it is known to be non-working, it might be that any trouble can be seen and corrected before any testing. Look for detached wires, compare the transistor orientation,
viewtopic.php?f=29&t=200and for other parts that must go onto the board according to polarity markings, and, inspect the kit-builder's soldering.