Hey all, I have only one anti-static bag, and have to ship one vid card and (3) sticks of RAM. The anti-static bag can fit everything, but what should I wrap between the RAM sticks? (Or is it ok to just rubber-band the three sticks together and just put them in the anti-static bag too? I'm concerned about them rubbing against the vid card too if in the same bag. Thanks for all comments!
Best thing to wrap computer components in (if I don't have anti-static bags)????
- Thread starter Deuce24
- Start date
go to a local computer store.. ask if you can purchase some of their extra static bags, offer to pay.... they will probably give you a bunch for free.
Yeah, I have some, but they are DDR, and the ram I'm shipping is some old PC-100, so they're too big to fit. If I just put some paper between them to keep them from rubbing together, then rubber band them together, and put them in a ziploc, is that a bad idea?
Aluminium foil is OK, as long as there are no batteries built in. This means that it is not suitable for motherboards.
Foil works, but is not ideal - so you should try to get proper anti-static packaging if you can.
Foil works, but is not ideal - so you should try to get proper anti-static packaging if you can.
yea normal plastic easily holds a static charge. Paper usually does not. Just make sure its dense heavy weight (lbs). I have done this many times before with RAM with no problems and RAM is very static sensitive.
You should get some static bags, its much easier. But also do you have any foam (not meaning styrofoam) around? I usually save my foam from electronics packaging and reuse that for alot of things.
holy crap you wrap computer circuit stuff in foil??? That doesn't seem good at all. Aluminum conducts electricity!
to be on the safe side get anti-static bags, if foil and paper was a safe method then micron or any other pc producer would use paper or foil to package your product.
yeah use the real-deal anti-static bags, and save any that you get. Its a handy thing to have around, and they don't take any space. I bet ebay sells them, anyone want to spend the time to look? 
Agreed, I have a complete box full of them. I keep every single one I received. In fact I sent my old BX board to its new owner in its original bag and box (was using it to store X-mas deco), he was quite amuse when He received it.
Thats the point. Anti static packaging is actually conductive. Static electricity is created when insulators rub against one another.
yea but static bags dont transfer that static right? I can run a current through alum foil. I would imagine any other electric current like static discharge from my hand could then transfer through the foil and shock whatever is inside.
Yes, the whole idea of anti-static bags is that they conduct electricity and discharge any static that builds up.
Cheap bags are made of doped plastic which is very slightly conductive - it probably wouldn't show up on a typical multimeter. This offers reasonable protection from static charges generated by the part rattling around inside the bag. These bags are usually black in colour.
However, if a static charge is applied from outside the bag, the low conductivity of the bag is unable to dissipate it.
For modern PC parts which are very highly static sensistive, such bags are inadequate. They need a better conductor. These better bags use a very thin layer of conductive plastic on the inside, behind it is a (very) thin layer of aluminium and then some normal plastic for strength. These are silvery in appearance due to the aluminium. The excellent conductivity of the aluminium dissipates external static charge very effectively.
The disadvantage of aluminium foil is mainly its fragility - it tears easily, poentially exposing your parts to static. There is a theoretical disadvantage in that if a static charged part is placed on aluminium foil - there is nothing to limit the current that flows. The massive current surge as the static discharges could potentially blow out fragile circuits. The high resistance of multi-layer bags limits the current to a safe level.
wow thanks for the info
so it's the intensity of a static charge that is dangerous? So even tin foil will spread that static charge across it's surface so it's not harmful? Am I understanding that right?
Hi,
Antistatic bags have high resistances - but are conductive (megohms of resistance). This allows charge to dissipate gradually - so happening at low enough currents to not damage the electronics.
A very good insulating bag would accumulate static, which may discharge through the electronics and destroy them when the components are removed from the bag and brush against it's surface.
A very good conducting bag would conduct any contacting charge through the device easily - possibly too large a current for the electronics to handle safely. This too is avoided.
Hope that makes sense.
Andy
Antistatic bags have high resistances - but are conductive (megohms of resistance). This allows charge to dissipate gradually - so happening at low enough currents to not damage the electronics.
A very good insulating bag would accumulate static, which may discharge through the electronics and destroy them when the components are removed from the bag and brush against it's surface.
A very good conducting bag would conduct any contacting charge through the device easily - possibly too large a current for the electronics to handle safely. This too is avoided.
Hope that makes sense.
Andy
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