Is it bad to ship a CPU without an anti-static bag?

[Ryan]

I am fresh outta anti-static bags, and I have to ship a package out now. I have protected teh CPU (p120) i'm gonna ship, but I don't have an anti-static bag. Do i really need it?

 

[Shmorq]

I've received OEM CPU's without static bags. Only had the pink foam protecting the pins and it was wrapped in bubble wrap. So I don't think the static bag is absolutely necessary.

 

[stultus]

I would be pretty upset if I ordered a part and it came shipped without an anti-static bag. If it is received DOA then you only have yourself to blame. Most mom-n-pop hardware stores will give youa couple for free (or for next to nothing).

 

[CurtOien]

I would not ship one without it.
Shmorq may have gotten antistatic bubble wrap.

 

[Ryan]

Alright, thanx! I have protected the pins

 

[bluesky]

I heard you could use aluminum foil, instead.

 

[Shmorq]

All that the anti-static bag is a plastic type bag made with conductive material so current will flow around the bag and not through the item inside the bag. So the aluminum foil sounds like a great idea.

I have all the stuff my new Thunderbird came in, and I could find only the foam and the bubble wrap and I save everything just in case I have to return the item. Maybe the packager forgot the bag?

 

[madthumbs]

Aluminum foil is not a good thing to blindly recommend. There are many things with capacitors, and stuff that aluminum foil could short. Not sure if it applies to cpu's or not, but it's not a good idea to wrap motherboards, or AGP/PCI/ISA cards with.

 

[forkd]

Just use Duct Tape! LOL. I have received OEM with the pink foam but wouldn't ship that way because I am uncomfortable taking the liability of DOA. Just wait a day or two and ship it the best way.

 

[pm]

Aluminum foil works fine for CPU's - but I don't recommend it at all for non-discrete components. Wrap it so that all the pins are equally covered and there are no pins that are not touching foil. This is how we carry CPU's between the labs at Intel. Using foil and protecting the pins are a bit harder. We have these little boxes that we put them in that are exactly the size of the chip, so you wrap in foil and put into the box. About the only other thing that I've seen is wrapping the CPU completely in foil and using bubble-wrap to protect the pins.

 

[neuralfx]

well if its a p120, then its ok. static cant make that one any slower heh, itll give the reciever an excuse to get a real cpu heh..
-neural

 

[Noriaki]

Static can kill a CPU quite handily.

Aluminum foil is ok for CPUs as long as the pins are protected...but don't us Al Foil on anything with capacitors.

 

[Lord Gwynz]

Does it matter which side of the aluminum foil is wrapped around the item, the shiny side or dull side?

 

[pm]

It shouldn't matter. The stuff we use at Intel doesn't have a shiny side, so if I had to choose, I'd choose the dull side.

 

[jamarno]

Aluminum foil is perfectly fine for protecting a CPU.

Don't use duct tape unless it's rated for less than 100 volts. I'm serious - there is such a thing as anti-static tape that doesn't generate much voltage when peeled off the roll.