[time-nuts] Conducting Bench Top Material

[d.seiter at comcast.net]

I guess I wasn't too clear; it was the bare devices we were trying to destroy; the VIC20 was just used for testing. 

The largest discharge we got was from an acrylic rod and the cat. 

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Charles P. Steinmetz" <charles_steinmetz at lavabit.com> 
To: "Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement" <time-nuts at febo.com> 
Sent: Tuesday, January 26, 2010 7:04:11 AM GMT -07:00 US/Canada Mountain 
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Conducting Bench Top Material 

Dave wrote: 

>Back about 1981, we had piles of 6502s, etc and decide to some 
>"antistatic testing". We put a 40pin ZIF socket into a VIC-20, and 
>then set about trying to fry the uP using carpet, a cat, car seats, 
>etc. The DUT was then put back into the VIC and series of tests run 
>to verify operation. I don't think we ever had a failure. Of course, 
>there may have been some hiding that we missed, but all the static 
>damage I've seen has been pretty severe. 
> 
>That said, I always use a wrist strap and mat if I'm working on 
>something I don't want to break further. 

Installed components are generally much less vulnerable to ESD than 
bare parts, because there are leakage paths (both intentional and 
otherwise) on a circuit board that allow the ESD to flow around the 
component rather than through it. With a naked part, any ESD to one 
of its leads has to flow through its other leads or the case of the 
device, thereby maximizing any damage. 

Best regards, 

Charles 







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