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Aluminum foil good for replacement for anti-static bags?

H

Hellotalkie

Golden Member
Iam leaving tommorow and need a good replacement for anti-static bags. I dont have time to go to a pc store and Iam currently out of bags. The foil would be for my mothorboard. Is foil ok to use. If i do use foil I am then going to wrap it in some type of bubble wrap or something. Thnx
 
Well its very hard to decide. I did a search in anandtech forums for aluminum foil and there has been a lot of threads. The only problem is that everybody has a different opinion. Some said its a great alternative to use and some said that its a very bad idea, etc. Well if I take out the cmos battery, will there be a problem. I just called pc club and they said they dont sell anti static bags or will give away ne either. So how about a shipping envelope, such as from staples. The yellow ones. Staples is less than a mile from me, and I dont think they sell anti-staic bags. Its just for a mothorboard and I really need something so I can bring it with tommorow. Someone suggested a box. I was a staples and they have shipping boxes. I dont know if this would be a problem with static issues. Also is it ok to put more than one ram stick in a anti-static bag?

Thanks
 
For putting more then one stick of RAM in an anti-static bag, I think it's fine. My old teachere used to have atleast 20 in a bag. They all worked.

For the alluminum foil, I think it's a very bad idea. I suggest newspaper, covered in bubblewrap.
 
Lol this is very hard, ppl said on the forums before that newspaper is the worse thing you could use. Would a cardboard box be fine?
 
There is not one reason why newspaper wouldn't work. It also is better for padding.
However, many can make arguement why alluminum foil is bad for it, it also does not provide much for padding.

I suppose it really doesn't matter if you take the battery out, but using newspaper wrapped in bubble wrap has always worked perfectly for me.
 
Originally posted by: JoeFahey
There is not one reason why newspaper wouldn't work. It also is better for padding.
However, many can make arguement why alluminum foil is bad for it, it also does not provide much for padding.

I suppose it really doesn't matter if you take the battery out, but using newspaper wrapped in bubble wrap has always worked perfectly for me.
Click to expand...


That sounds great. So have you used newspaper for a any mb's? If anybody else has an opinion that would be great.
 
Originally posted by: cr2250
Originally posted by: JoeFahey
There is not one reason why newspaper wouldn't work. It also is better for padding.
However, many can make arguement why alluminum foil is bad for it, it also does not provide much for padding.

I suppose it really doesn't matter if you take the battery out, but using newspaper wrapped in bubble wrap has always worked perfectly for me.
Click to expand...


That sounds great. So have you used newspaper for a any mb's? If anybody else has an opinion that would be great.
Click to expand...

It works for me. So either I am lucky, or it isn't ment to cause problems.

 
Aluminum foil would create complete conductivity through it to what is wrapped inside. The anti-static (cloated mylar) bag is the opposite - it is a barrier to static discharge. Why not as plastic padded bag like we use to mail media in?
 
creat a wooden box screw the mobo into it liek 4 screws use card board for spcer and then thats it, wood does nt conduct static. or taht what I think with i am pretty shour is correct
 
A lot of people here clearly don't understand what anti-static bags do.

The important thing about anti-static bags is that they are conductive. It is their conductive nature that stops the static charge from building up in one place. That's what does the damage - if one bit of circuit builds up static, the static will conduct through the circuit, destroying it.

Anti-static bags are made from plastic which has been made conductive. This allows charge to dissipate. Higher end anti-static bags are aluminium sandwitched between 2 layers of conductive plastic. The aluminium enhances the conductivity providing better protection than the plain condutive plastic (which only gives minimal protection).

Al foil is excellent as protection from static - the only catch is, that you have a static charge when you drop the board onto the foil - it will dissipate instantly (potentially causing damage) - whereas if you had a proper anti-static bag it would discharge slowly over several seconds or minutes.

Wrapping in newspaper or wood or bubble wrap would not allow any static to dissipate.

In fact, as long as you ground the board, foil and yourself before you wrap up - the foil will provide better protection than anti-static bags.

You just need to make sure that you use several layers - so sticky-up bits don't puncture the foil.
 
This should help the discussion. It is a confusing topic for many. (Including myself!)

Static

Anyway, it is moot now - the OP has departed on his trip.
 
If you can put the board inside Aluminum foil in such a way that it does not touch the foil, it will be good!!!!
[Sarcasm off].

One of the main tasks of an antistatic bag is to electrically isolate the contents from the outside environment. Something that foil would fail to do.


Comments like "I wrapped it in newspaper and it still works fine" add to the confusion. No one said that the board will fail if you wrap it in newspaper or foil. But, it will not be protected against ESD as it would be if you put it inside an antistatic bag.

Even then, you can still damage it if you do not ground the bag and yourself before opening and removing the contents.
 
Lol well I decided to just go in a pc store about 10miles from here and they gave me a anti static bag for free. The bag has a few holes but its better than nothing.
 
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