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ESD (electrostatic discharge) is the transfer of an electrical charge between two electrically charged objects. If two objects are at the same electrostatic charge or equipotential, no discharge will occur. However if two objects are at different levels of electrostatic charge, they will want to come into balance. If these items are in close enough proximity, there can be a rapid, spontaneous transfer of electrostatic charge. This is called electrostatic discharge (ESD).
A well-known example of ESD is the shock or “zap” you receive after sliding across a car seat or walking across a carpet and touching a metal door handle. While most ESD events are harmless to the human body, they can cause challenging and costly problems in certain industrial applications, including damage to and failure of static sensitive electronic components and devices.
Industry experts have estimated average electronics product losses due to static discharge to range from 8 to 33%. Others estimate the actual cost of ESD damage to the electronics industry as running into the billions of dollars annually.
Fortunately, there are methods you can use to prevent ESD damage to your static sensitive electronic components and devices. Here are four simple methods you can use to prevent ESD damage.
When opening static shielding packaging that contains a static sensitive electronic component or device inside, such as a printed circuit board or an integrated circuit, make sure to only open it within the ESD Protected Area (EPA). Never open static sensitive product packaging unless it is inside an ESD Protected Area. Opening the packaging outside of the EPA puts the ESD sensitive electronic component at risk to electrostatic discharge which could lead to irreversible damage of the component. When static sensitive items are unpackaged from static shielding bags or other containers, they should be handled by a grounded operator at an ESD workstation.
It is important to make sure that all employees follow the rules of the EPA. Electrostatic Protected Areas can be as small as one table or as large as an entire room.
In the Electrostatic Protected Area, it is imperative to make sure that your employees wear the correct type of personnel grounding equipment properly. All operators working at an ESD workstation must wear an anti static wrist strap, anti static garment and ESD gloves. If a grounded flooring system is in place, make sure that employees wear ESD shoe grounders on both feet – this can be in the form of either ESD shoes or ESD heel straps.
Prior to entering an ESD Protected Area (EPA), it is important that employees are checking their ESD wrist straps and footwear regularly with an ESD wrist strap / footwear testing instrument. These items should be tested at least daily while being worn. Unless the tester has a split footplate, each foot should be tested independently, typically with the other foot raised in the air. By doing this quick check, it can determine that no break in the path-to-ground has occurred.
Tip: Keep your ESD wristband snug, foot grounder grounding tab inside of the shoe, and ESD garments covering all clothing on body.
Insulators can be a major threat to your static sensitive electronic products. Remember that an insulator cannot be grounded so it will retain its static charge for a long time.
In order to keep your work area static safe, it is important to keep the area clear by removing static charge generating materials from the EPA. For example, all unnecessary items made from insulative materials such as common plastics, paper or polystyrene foam. These items are typically high charging and have no place at an ESD protective workstation. Alternatively, you could neutralise essential insulators with an ioniser. If an air ioniser is needed for your process, ensure that it is turned on with the airflow directed towards the work area.
All surfaces and items which make contact with ESD sensitive products in the ESD protected area must be grounded. A solution to this would be to install an ESD floor grounding system, ESD workbenches and anti-static matting in the EPA.
Additionally, you should also make sure only trained operators or visitors are allowed in the EPA. Do not allow anyone in the EPA without proper ESD protection. It is important that all visitors adhere to the rules of your ESD control program, making sure they wear protective personnel grounding items such as wrist straps, heel grounders and ESD smocks.
When storing or transporting your ESD sensitive goods outside the EPA, make sure to use only approved containers and packaging materials with shielding properties. These can be static shielding bags, conductive component boxes or even Corstat packaging.
When storing or transporting your ESD items in a container, it is important to always close containers completely. Make sure to place lids on boxes or containers, and close static shielding bags either by the loc top seal or with a label. Packaging with holes, tears, or gaps should not be used for storing or transporting your ESDS. This is because the contents may be able to extend outside the enclosure and lose their shielding as well as mechanical protection. A cover must be in place to create a Faraday Cage and shield contents.
At Bondline, we sell everything from anti static wrist straps, which use the conductive woven fibres in the anti-static fabric to create and maintain electrical contact between the ground and the body, providing excellent static dissipation – to anti static matting, which is designed to keep personnel grounded at a workstation when working with static sensitive electronic components and devices. We also stock complete ESD workstation kits, which has everything you need for static control in just one kit! These kits include blue matting, a floor mat, signage, Earth bonding plugs, wrist straps and cords.
Bondline Electronics Limited offers an extensive range of ESD control products, specially developed to help prevent ESD damage. With over 35+ years of experience, our static control experts can help you with your ESD challenges. Get in touch with our sales team by sending us an email to sales@bondline.co.uk or call us on +44 (0)1793 511000 where a member of our team will be happy to help and discuss a solution. You can also get in touch with us by filling in the form below.
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