What kind of lab do you work in: Take the ESD strap off, of disconnect the strap - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: TheUnnamedNewbie
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2022, 01:37:00 pm
content: So, I've noticed that there seem to be two kinds of lab environments:Those where people wear their ESD strap, and connect the strap to the table when to work on something, and those where people leave a strap connected to every table, and put on the strap when working on something, and then taking it back off when they are done.What kind of person/lab do you work in?

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2022, 02:55:54 pm
content: 3: what the hell is an esd strap. i stick the 100$ xeons in my shirt pocket and shuffle along on the carpet all day long. never had any issues. there is no such thing as esd. it's all a ruse to sell those damn straps, shoes, sprays and give the compliance inspector weasels a job (they are otherwise unemployable)

author: Siwastaja
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2022, 03:34:38 pm
content: free_electron's obviously bullshitting us, although there is a grain of truth within that tin foil hat theory. (And I kind of like exaggeration as a discussion starter, just be aware that isn't actually honest description.)ESD is very real and also one of the easiest things to fix into manageable levels, and also freaking difficult to maintain to extreme levels. You should really go for the low-hanging fruits because ESD failures are huge time sink, you just debug very rarely occurring strange failures with no idea what caused it.The straps are obviously quite BS. Any half-decent workbench has an ESD mat properly grounded. It would be quite a feat to be able to work on that table, without periodically resting your hands on that ESD mat! In fact, my hands touch the mat almost all the time while touching the components.And this is the low hanging fruit: get an ESD mat, ground it, and make it a habit to touch that mat when you enter the workspace. Happens automatically.But humidity is a big player. I happen to live in a country where due to cold weather in wintertime indoor RH can drop below <10%. Huge zaps all the time.If your lab is always at RH>40% or so, serious ESD events are unlikely. It seems this could be the case in Silicon Valley.The ESD mat still costs some $20.

author: bingo600
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2022, 05:14:02 pm
content: Quote from: Siwastaja on January 26, 2022, 03:34:38 pm#METOOI had to skip my sneakers, and use "Work shoes" w. conducting soles.Was tired of the Zaps , whenever i had been sitting on a chair.Not handling components or PCB's @work/Bingo

author: TimFox
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2022, 06:39:53 pm
content: 50 years ago, attending college in Minnesota and living in a dormitory, the winter indoor humidity was so low that I filched 10 k carbon resistors from the physics lab and used them to touch the metal doorknobs as I walked down the carpeted hallway to my room to minimize static buildup.

author: RoGeorge
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2022, 06:46:46 pm
content: Quote from: bingo600 on January 26, 2022, 05:14:02 pmPlease do not use that hashtag as normal words, that is for rape, sexual harasment at work, etc.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MeToo_movement

author: CaptDon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 27, 2022, 06:33:24 pm
content: ESD can be very real and a big problem. We had some chairs that were fabric covered and just moving around in them would cause a static jolt when reaching out to touch something hard grounded, like a scope. We ditched those chairs real quick!!! Our lab required heel straps, static mats, conductive flooring and wrist straps. My personal strap had a coil-cord and if I moved around the lab I just unplugged it from my workstation mat and plugged back in at whatever workstation I was arriving at. These over-the-top anti-static procedures are required to meet ISO standards as a contract manufacturer and during an audit you damn-sure better be wearing/using the stuff!!! Without precautions you can be creating 'walkin-wounded' products. They may not fail today or tomorrow, but they probably will fail and leave the product managers scratching their heads on who or what to blame.

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 27, 2022, 06:55:22 pm
content: Quote from: Siwastaja on January 26, 2022, 03:34:38 pmno i'm not. what i did not tell you is that we had room ionizers...The whole ESD mitigation thing is horribly complicated and it needs to be done correctly or it doesn't work. the weak link is the walking meatbags. They are very difficult to train and resistant to understanding. They want simple procedures to follow without having to use their brain.The whole concept around ESD protection is to prevent charge buildup of a sufficiently large differential that it creates flashover in the small structures that make up an integrated circuit.The problem is the meatbag itself : it walk around, picks up charge and pokes it charged fingers everywhere. Keeping the human at the same potential is very complicated due to the fact it moves, cannot be strapped permanently , and , itself , is subject to discharges, some may kill it. so you can't use hardwired connections. the connection points need to be removable and of sufficiently large resistance so that we don't get fried when accidentally touching a live wire.On top of that, these bipeds want to follow the latest fashion trends and wear synthetic clothing, so you will have to drape them in something that traps all these nasties and avoids charge displacement to the area's you don't want them. shoes, garments , gloves, haircovers. it all wears out and needs maintenance (washing). the straps ( shoe straps, dissipative shoes , wristbands ) are worn improperly or worn out. so we need testers for that ...even then : you can still fry a device ! it is not the only the voltage that destroys a device (isolation punch-through). the current can do it as well. just limiting the charge is not enough. you can fry a device with 5 volts. if the internal wiring is small enough ( submicron) the current generated during charge balancing can be large enough to just fry the wiring.So there are TWO failure modes ! isolation punch-through ( high voltage) and wire destruction ( high current caused by charge redistribution)This is something people don't realize .so how do you solve this misery ? you make the air itself conductive ! by making the air ionized you can charge balance anything that moves through it. you now have an equipotential field without the risk of any form of charge buildup.

author: ogden
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 27, 2022, 08:24:50 pm
content: Quote from: TheUnnamedNewbie on January 26, 2022, 01:37:00 pmSeems, you did not notice enough. There are other kind of labs that do not need ESD straps. That's because everything is ESD-safe: floor, shoes, wear, work surfaces, instruments and even ventilation. If you want to hydrate - then better use ESD-safe waterbottle