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ESD Shelving

ESD Shelving

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Good Morning, I need to know if the tubular plastic shelvi... - May 04, 2021 by Luke

The fact that it is plastic means it is probably a static ge... - May 04, 2021 by charliem

Can the plastic shelving be used if the ESD sensitive materi... - May 04, 2021 by Luke

What do you call ESD safe bags? The pink poly bags are non c... - May 04, 2021 by Stephen

3 more questions I promise. :) 1. If a populated PCB is put... - May 04, 2021 by Luke

My 2 Cents -> 1. If a populated PCB is put on a ESD safe... - May 28, 2021 by cbart

Luke

#86594

ESD Shelving | 4 May, 2021

Good Morning,

I need to know if the tubular plastic shelving (the type that you buy at big box stores for storage) could ever be grounded? We want to use it for ESD shelving but because its plastic/pvc I doubt it can ever really be grounded like a metal shelf.

Could someone post links to articles explaining the pro's or con's? Or give some insight on if this is a good idea or not?

Thank you, Luke

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charliem

#86595

ESD Shelving | 4 May, 2021

The fact that it is plastic means it is probably a static generator, which is a bad thing. It also being plastic means it cannot be grounded. We use Metro carts (see pic) with each shelf wired to the next and cart dragging a chain across ESD waxed floor.

Attachments:

20210504_091155.jpg [2.5M]

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Luke

#86596

ESD Shelving | 4 May, 2021

Can the plastic shelving be used if the ESD sensitive material are in ESD safe bags? ESD safe containers? on ESD safe trays?

Thank you!

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Stephen

#86597

ESD Shelving | 4 May, 2021

What do you call ESD safe bags? The pink poly bags are non charge generating but not static dissipative. The plastic can hold a localised charge and that can induce a charge separation in something you put on the plastic. So I think that means you can not put something in a pink poly ESD safe bag and put it on the plastic shelving.

You can buy ESD coating sprays but I don't know how effective they are. See if you can get them to cover the plastic pipes with copper tape. It will probably be too expensive but you can ask.

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Luke

#86598

ESD Shelving | 4 May, 2021

3 more questions I promise. :)

1. If a populated PCB is put on a ESD safe Rack, is it able to be placed on a Plastic Shelf?

2. If a populated PCB is put in a covered ESD box, is it able to be placed on a Plastic Shelf?

3. Could we put ESD vinyl mats on the plastic shelves and ground those?

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cbart

#86717

ESD Shelving | 28 May, 2021

My 2 Cents ->

1. If a populated PCB is put on a ESD safe Rack, is it able to be placed on a Plastic Shelf? = I would say no, here is why: if there is an esd event on the rack/tray where will it go with no path to ground? being the rack is a generator you are going to have esd events for sure!

2. If a populated PCB is put in a covered ESD box, is it able to be placed on a Plastic Shelf? = Short answer is yes, but do your homework on the box/tote to know its a true faraday cage.

3. Could we put ESD vinyl mats on the plastic shelves and ground those? = do the math on this! figure out what the cost of the matting/ ground snaps/ ground cable connections and plastic racking is along with the time spent messing around with all of this and compare that to the cost of the cheapest ESD rack you can find and i bet you will find its cheaper to go with a ESD rack. Check Craigslist and FB marketplace and i bet you can find some metro (or knock off) racks that will work for you, we find most of ours this way and usually only have to replace the plastic sleeves or run a screw through each rack to the post to make it conductive. if you are a CM and have the chance of getting audited by a customer this will remove doubt and eliminate a point of argument.

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