antistatic bag alternative?

[f1sh3r]

i sold a motherboard on fleabay, and i have been unable to obtain an antistatic bag to put it in. is there an alternative available that would give me a reasonable amount of protection?

tia,

 

[jnojr1]

Brown paper bag.

Yes, really

 

[Zepper]

Remove the battery and wrap in aluminum foil, then into the brown paper bag.

.bh.

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: f1sh3r
i sold a motherboard on fleabay, and i have been unable to obtain an antistatic bag to put it in. is there an alternative available that would give me a reasonable amount of protection?

Unfortunately, there is a misconception that an antistatic bag is conductive, which is absolutely incorrect.
And because of this misconception, you often hear the advice to use Aluminum foil.

Even if the antistatic bag has a conductive layer, it will not conduct electricity through it. In other words, if you touch the outside of the bag, you will not be electrically connected to what is inside, like you will be if you use Aluminum foil.


Either find antistatic bag and use it, or do not use anything!
Definitely not any kind of paper since paper produces static charge.

 

[JackMDS]

Static is generated by rubbing.

The Antistatic plastic is based on creating a special molecular arrangement of the coating material to neutralize static generated by rubbing.

There is partial involvement of metal molecules but it has nothing to do with Aluminum Foil.

Home Depot, Office Depot, and similar stores might have Antistatic bags, or othe Antistatic aids.

 

[Zepper]

If you have a Mom&Pop computer shop nearby, those usually have a stack of antistatic bags that they will either sell cheaply or give away.

Many antistatic bags have a conductive surface which can be on the inside or outside. Most mobos come in an A-S bag that is conductive on the outside so as not to discharge the battery. Those that come in an inside conductive bag usually have a jumper that disconnects the battery during shipping.

If you do remove the battery per my earlier suggestion, be sure to tell your buyer how to put it back in and to be sure to reset the CMOS before attempting to boot up.

.bh.

 

[jadinolf]

A good idea to to hang on to all of your anti static bags for future use.

Adjusts halo.

 

[f1sh3r]

yeah, i do, but unfortunately my collection of mobo sized a-s bags was depleted a few days ago mom and pops store doesnt have any local home depot got nothing. bah. this guy is going to have to wait another day. hopefully hes understanding. better late than DOA i guess.

 

[Modelworks]

I thought about aluminum foil once myself.
Decided not to on the thought that a small piece may flake off into a slot or get caught on a sharp pin on the bottom of the board, and the installer might not catch it

I also wouldn't put it in a plastic bag wrapped in aluminum foil. Thin plastic layer, covered by a thin metal sheet, makings of a capacitor , although very small one .

 

[bruceb]

You can use the aluminum foil. A long time back, say early 80's or so
the chip makers were providing the cmos IC's wrapped in aluminum foil.
Worked fine. Later they switched over to either antistatic tubes or the
black conductive foam.

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: bruceb
You can use the aluminum foil. A long time back, say early 80's or so
the chip makers were providing the cmos IC's wrapped in aluminum foil.

There is a big difference between an IC (chip) and a motherbaord.

For ESD to cause damage, it must cause a voltage difference between two pins. Then, current will flow between the pins, possibly through sensitive components. If the voltage is high enough, the current could be destructive.

Keeping all the pins of the IC shorted together, which aluminum foil can, guarantees that there will never be any voltage between any two pins of the IC.

But, can you make sure that all the conductors on the motherboard are making perfect contact with the aluminum foil. Because, even if one conductor isn't, the aluminum foil now will be working against you since it will provide an easy path for static charge to get onto the sensitive components, but not all of them.

That is why putting a motherboard inside aluminum foil, for ESD protection, is a big mistake.

 

[JackMDS]

Motherboards have quite few very large capacitors that can maintain enough electrical energy to damage sensitive components on a Motherboard in case of multiple shorts.

Therefore, Aluminum foil is a Bad solution.

 

[bruceb]

Point well taken, Jack, and one I did not think of.
So the best choice then is an antistatic bag. You
could either buy them or probably get one free from
a local computer store, like Microcenter or Best Buy
where do they system builds and repairs.