I just use what I want and leave the rest in the package they were supplied in.

The components are more susceptible to fingers and static discharge.
Don't wear a nylon shirt or rubber boots.
Earth yourself before touching components.

 

...
The conductive boxes really stack well. Very stable, no slippage:

...

Cute!

I'ts hard to remember the days when all my components fitted in six little boxes, and did not fill multiple walls in multiple rooms.

 

I just use what I want and leave the rest in the package they were supplied in.

That's what I did initially, but I ended of with shoe boxes full of antistatic bags filled with parts. Finding something in there meant rummaging through all that; I found that very irritating.

 

Cute!

I'ts hard to remember the days when all my components fitted in six little boxes, and did not fill multiple walls in multiple rooms.

Well, you have to start somewhere I do have more than those six boxes though. I ordered a total of 25 for now (the conductive boxes are actually cheaper than the regular boxes I usually buy), and I'm pretty sure I'll have them filled soon, at the rate I'm stocking up.

For DIPs, I use conductive-foam lined cardboard boxes:

 

There is another problem to worry about - humidity.
The older black carbon impregnated foam retains the humidity resulting in accelerated corrosion of IC pins and component leads stuck to the foam.

 

There is another problem to worry about - humidity.
The older black carbon impregnated foam retains the humidity resulting in accelerated corrosion of IC pins and component leads stuck to the foam.

I think this has been mentioned before; that would really be a shame. Is there a way I can identify the type of foam used in the box I posted? I noticed that different boxes have different types of black foam: one had somewhat stiff, almost "crunchy" foam, the other had more of a soft kind.

I guess I could try contacting the manufacturer.

 

Sticka little gel bag in each box. They absorb the humidity.

You can buy them in most supermarkets, and they can be re-used. You just cook them on a real low heat for an hour or leave them on hot concrete on a hot sunny day for an hour. That dries them out and makes them as good as new.

 

Sticka little gel bag in each box. They absorb the humidity.

I did that for the conductive parts boxes, although they're hard to see in most of my pictures, only white blobs (sorry, camera phone).

The cardboard boxes with foam aren't sealed that well, but I guess it can't hurt adding a package there as well, as they cost practically nothing.

You can buy them in most supermarkets, and they can be re-used. You just cook them on a real low heat for an hour or leave them on hot concrete on a hot sunny day for an hour. That dries them out and makes them as good as new.

I wasn't aware -- thanks for the tip!

 

Hi,

I just got into electronics and I have begin stocking up on various supplies. I'd like to organize them in various types of boxes, and while I do have better picture of the issue after having read the Proper storage for Logic and other ESD sensitive IC's thread I still have some questions.

This is mostly a question of practicality. Ideally, I'd like to by cheap, plastic storage bins for most of my stuff -- I do not yet have the space for a permanent work bench, so I need to be able to move things around easily. And my compontents should be safe, of course.

Right away, all DIPs I have purchased so far are kept in cardboard boxes lined with conductive foam like these here (all pins are stuck in, so they are at the same potential). This works great for me: the 10cmx10cm boxes come fully assembled, are inexpensive, and they organize very well (I have ICs grouped by function, boxes labeled with part numbers, etc).

Now, I also purchased quite a few other components, eg transistors and 2N7000 MOSFETs (thread). Keeping them in cardboard boxes is not practical. In a perfect world, I'd be able simply dump the stuff in clear plastic boxes like this or this.

Question 1: Unless I'm mistaken, those plastic boxes linked above aren't ESD safe, which means I'd have to wrap components in aluminium foil or stick them in conductive bags, no? If I'm right, that would make things impractical, unfortunately, and I'd probably have to buy something like these conductive part boxes, but I can't find them cheaply here in Europe.

Question 2: What other non-passive parts also susceptible to ESD? For example, I bought this kit of zeners + voltage regulators, and as you can see the storage box is non-conducting plastic. Are these parts at danger?

I think that the way the major suppliers shipped me their parts, often with two kinds of ESD protection, has made me a bit paranoid

Thanks in advance for your input!

Christian

Generally; all parts are supplied in anti-static packaging - including a lot that don't really need it.

The first thing you need to do is not take the parts out of the anti-static packaging until you're ready to use them.

Your parts could have a static charge of 10,000V - as long as everything they come in contact with has exactly the same charge, no discharge current flows and no damage is done.

An input pin feeding an insulated gate could aquire fairly high static charges - its the discharge current that does the damage when you touch the pin and short the charge.

A trick I was taught early in my career; pick a chip up carefully, only touching the plastic/ceramic part, then breathe on it - the moisture in your breath condenses on the chip and creates sufficient leakage path to dissipate any static.

If you are going to do a lot of ESD handling, you need a sheet of conductive rubber to cover your work surface and also a wrist grounding strap so you don't walk across a synthetic carpet and bring a load of static to the work.

An absolute must is a high resistance path between the work top and earth - a hard earth can facilitate high discharge currents from static charges, and more importantly; if you have the misfortune to touch a live conductor - its also touching something earthed that completes the circuit and finishes the job!