Component Damage

compressed air can over-speed some small fans...

For the same reason drive through ATMs have instructions in Braille.

One kind of something is cheaper to inventory than two kinds of something.

If you don't inventory non-static bags, nobody gets sensitive parts in the wrong bags.

Now that makes sense. I imagine that the cost of anti-static vs regular bags is minuscule when you buy at Digi-Keys volume.

Thanks,

John :-#)#

Most likely for compliance reasons. Thanks to the general CYA style over-protectiveness, ESD safety rules are going postal. In various places, rather than using common sense and somewhat educated employees, they don't allow any sort of non-ESD-protected items on the production floors any more. Having the sockets delivered in a non-dissipative plastic bag would have some QC lunatics throw a hissy fit and run screaming because they found something (the bag) that was (allegedly) compromising the ESD safety of the factory :)

Not really. Drive-up ATMs have Braille because it is not uncommon for a blind person to take a cab or have a friend drive them to the bank and use the ATM from the back seat or get out and walk to the drive-up ATM while their friend monitors them for safety. The National Federation of the Blind insisted that ALL ATMs provide a means for use by blind people.

All semiconductors need special handling. Usually I just wet my hands and ground myself. That is plenty. Wet hands cant cause static electricity. No other passive components need that (as far as I know). Tubes are safe too.

I rarely play with anything higher than a few MHz.

The "pill" molded transistors in early TV tuners weren't so robust - they weren't exactly molded as such, they were 2 plastic shells glued together.

They pack *EVERYTHING* in anti static bags - there was a time anti static bags alerted you to the need for special handling.

Wrong - your hands are essentially wet by default. Wet hands simply provide a lower impedance jump off point for that fat blue spark.

Working on a PC - I rest my bare elbow on the metal case so I'm at the same potential as what the PC thinks is earth. Some people insist on unplugging the mains - but it makes no difference from the ESD point of view if you do it properly.

Handling individual ICs, I breathe on them so the slight humidity provides a leakage path between the pins. I always plant my hand on the anti static mat before putting the chip down to make sure I'm at the same potential as where I'm putting the chip. Deploying the part is same as working on a PC - touch the ground plane while introducing the chip to its socket.

Not sure about the 'wet hands' part (your hands have lower skin resistance than a ground strap), and the 'ground myself' is likewise a problem. We all have to unclip from the leash at some point.

Installing RAM, I generally unseal the package, then hold onto the computer chassis with my left hand while installing the module with my right. Earth ground is not a requirement, just that the conductive packaging, the installer, and the computer's groundable parts are all at the same potential. If you have groundstrap and conductive mat, you STILL need also to ground the computer. Sometimes, this is done with a dummy cord, ground-only, to the power supply, but that's just SO ugly: a power cord that doesn't connect power !!ick!!

You didn't change much from what I said.

Cursitor Doom wrote: >

We had a pair of large (160 gallon) three phase air compressors at Microdyne. They ran the crimping tools, as well as supplying compressed air for two leased air nozzles with a radioactive element to prevent static buildup when cleaning flux from new circuit boards.