Coin envelopes for SMT part, where?

practical for storing SMT. Much less space than

Ok, not as airtight but that should be fine.

you name it. None had any, most didn't even know

But then they take up more space and I can't get them into parts drawers. Usually I only keep 20-30 parts each, for fixing up a prototype etc.

IME it's ok. Clean paper isn't very static and stuff like diodes, resistors, caps has never died an ESD death here.

Well, I don't have to really write on them. Except for part value and a local ID. It's databased here so when I need, say, a double diode I look for it on the LAN drive. That tells we what I've got, location and container number.

But yes, even the big envelopes are better than all the little metal cans I've got now.

I really wanted to avoid that :-)

Thanks. However, Martin found a source for the roughly 1" by 1" I had seen back then.

That's often the shiny "lunchbag" paper (which crackles when you press and bend it), can be quite an ESD risk.

pages, and similar

collections

Good idea. Can become an ESD scare though.

Right, didn't think there was such a group. But Martin pointed out a source already.

I've got some of those. It's databased also by coordinates but tough to write part values onto them.

Have you tried a hobby store, such as Michael's?

I can recall getting 1" X 1.5" zip locks there.

...Jim Thompson

practical for storing SMT. Much less space than

Ok, not as airtight but that should be fine.

you name it. None had any, most didn't even know

They're so thin, there's hardly any volume. I bought a bunch of plastic bins with lids, loaf-of-sliced-sourdough-bread size roughly, and have one for caps, one for inductors, one for diodes, like that. Mostly I just toss them in, although I keep intending to get organized. You could use some plastic-tray drawer-organizer things and order parts by value or something, if you're compulsively neat. My office is directly over the company stockroom, with almost 2e6 parts in stock, so I can just grab anything from stock. So the coin envelopes in my office hols mostly samples, exotica, and stuff I use often, like 0.33 uF caps and such.

Two of the bins are specially reserved, cookies and chocolate.

Really, the bigger envelopes are great, because you can write a lot of stuff on them, measurement notes, mfr/part number, price, anything. I tape the Digikey labels to the back, which just fits.

It's interesting how important this seems to be.

John

The only parts we're fairly sure that we've killed from ESD are some gaasfets and some exotic Harris opamps. Most parts seem pretty rugged. I've heard rumors that LEDs can be killed from esd, but all my LEDs seem to light up, even ones that have been kicked around for years.

All our production people follow the esd rules, but engineers, working in their offices or the lab, often don't, and it doesn't seem to matter. But our humidity seldom gets below 40%.

John

practical for storing SMT. Much less space than

Ok, not as airtight but that should be fine.

you name it. None had any, most didn't even know

Yeah, you have a point there. I still got a 5-1/4 floppy storage case here, used for CDs right now. Occasionally they show up at a yard sale and the envelopes would fit into those. Maybe even into some 3-1/2" disk cabinets. One of the cabinets in the lab has 2-1/2" high drawers, maybe that would also work if I put them in sideways.

Zip locks they had but that's an ESD hazard.

are practical for storing SMT. Much less space than

Ok, not as airtight but that should be fine.

you name it. None had any, most didn't even know

I found some nice molded clear plastic trays, at Tap Plastics maybe, that are maybe 10" long and about business-card size. They'd be perfect for lining up coin envelopes by value or whatever. Just tuck them away in a cabinet when not in use.

John

Try a stamp collecting store.

Jim

-- "If you think you can, or think you can't, you're right." --Henry Ford

Had a hell of a day at the old airport last Thursday, didn't you?

Jim

-- "If you think you can, or think you can't, you're right." --Henry Ford

Just debugged a few prototypes for a client. Their assembly provider had all LEDs reversed. Turns out that the 4V breakdown spec indeed means 4V. All busted :-(

Luckily I was done before the Fedex cutoff on Friday so I have a free weekend. Or so I thought. Turns out the pool took a dump. Green clouds in there despite very controlled chlorine levels. Maybe it didn't like the cover on there. To add a little spice the pool sweep also croaked this morning while I was in there cleaning. Again. Oh man.

-> If anyone knows a better pool sweep than the Polaris, maybe a Hayward or so, please speak up.

Out here it can be close to 0%. Take the cover off the EMI box, bzzzt ... BANG! Nice dazzling blue flashes when you do that in the evening.

Yes, I should. First I have to find where there is one in the area ...