ESD possibility??

I have lately been worrying about my DIY red. On what kind of precautions I need to take about ESD. Although I hear that reds aren't nearly as sensative as blu-rays (and my blu-rays didn't get ESD I think), I don't want to break my 30 dollar diode from ESD.

I am thinking that If I plug my soldering iron in and touch it, i can ground myself. The soldering iron does have the third, ground prong, so would this work? also, can the diode even be shocked if it isn't grounded? because the way I look at it (could be right or not), the electricity wouldn't jump to the diode because the diode isn't a path to the ground..

can anybody confirm any of this?

You should get grounded soldering gear i guess... even if the diode is not grounded in any way static discharge could damage it.

If you cannot get your gear grounded, i'd at least touch the casing of the diode with the iron to cischarge any static buildup. It isnt ideal, but at least you'd equalize static charges to a degreel.

well my soldering iron is ESD grounded, so I guess that's good. I was just worrying about myself shocking the diode. I have been trying to ground myself as well as I can before I mess with the diode though.

actually ESD safe soldering gear is meant to absorb any static electricity from your own body, just like an antistatic wriststrap, so you only need to use one of both and a strap as my preference as the soldering iron only releases te esd from your body when you touch it and a strap is there all the time, given you didn't forget to put it on.

A grounded soldering iron is a must to release any static from the tip, but that's something else, you can check if our soldering is grounded by measuring for continuity between the tip and the ground pin on the plug.

Steve