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No static bags, what else can be used?

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lincolnompa said:
What if you rma'd something with a ziplock bag?

They might not accept it. My understanding is that "normal" plastic bags are not static-proof. Why not simply go to your nearest local computer shoppe and ask for an anti-static bag?...
 
It was more of a rhetorical question, I was just wondering, I wasn't going to do it (so its not really a rhetorical question, I guess)
 
Don't use zip-lock bags. If you RMA'd it that way, they would probably accept it, but make fun of you later. I'm sure people do it all the time.

The key thing is not to find a 'bag' but to find something 'anti-static'. You need to protect the part from static. Maybe a paper bag? Does paper block static?
 
Bios24 said:
Don't use zip-lock bags. If you RMA'd it that way, they would probably accept it, but make fun of you later. I'm sure people do it all the time.

The key thing is not to find a 'bag' but to find something 'anti-static'. You need to protect the part from static. Maybe a paper bag? Does paper block static?
I doubt if they would make fun of anyone sending it in a zip lock bag. The main purpose of bagging an item is to protect it from static electricity. A zip lock would work fine for that purpose.
 
I'd be curious to know too. Not to RmA, but just to send something.

You are saying that ziplock bags would be fine or paper?
 
My older stuff I just pile it up with nothing. Nothing has ever happend either. Static will not get passed on from card to card, unless there was some there to begin with, but all my hardware is in drawers, so I have no problem there.
 
So what is the verdict on this matter, do Ziplock bags provide sufficient anti-static protection or not? And if not, what is a widely available alternative to those strange alien anti-static bags everything came in?
 
Maybe if you wrap the card in an unused dryer sheet before you put it in the ziplock bag... :)

X1g
 
lol i have all sorts of older hardware that just cruise the floor (carpet) drawers, tops of things....and i've never lost anything from it, so i would assume that that plastic bag would keep you better than ok
 
Yikes! These answers show why I don't often buy things used... damage from static is not always immediately obvious. Scary.
 
Ziplock bags provide essentially no static protection but do themselves hold static. It's worse than storing equipment in nothing. The bottom line is that if your bag isn't conductive, you aren't providing useful shelter for what you wish to protect.

Your best bet is to get cheap bags second-hand off eBay. Failing that, aluminum foil works well in a pinch though it's mostly suggested for individual ICs with the goal being to make all pins touch the foil so that there is always a more conductive path available via foil between any two pins than there is through the IC itself.

Foil bags follow a similar idea of being conductive themselves and coated with a thin layer of plastic so that static has no opportunity to build up but will instead dissipate as heat across the surface of the conductive layer.

A person would reasonably think a robust insulator would be a good candidate for protecting valuable electronics, but it is more dangerous than helpful. A mil of plastic or paper won't provide any meaningful handling protection but will certainly be capable of holding a static charge on its surface.

A final note: Make sure to get conductive bags (foil/gray) instead of dissipative bags (pink). Dissipative bags will do what the name suggests and dissipate static charges on their surface by being slightly conductive (10^3-10^7 ohms/sq typ). They're good for storage but provide no meaningful protection against a sudden static discharge such as that which might originate from a person's hand when picking it up. Conductive bags by contrast will conduct that discharge through the foil layer and it will quickly dissipate as heat.
 
Wowza... it came up on recent threads. I didn't look at the date. Must have been a spam message that was already deleted or something...
 
I was going to suggest just going to your local Bestbuy / staples / neighborhood computer shop and asking for a spare bag.

Then I saw the post date and decided to hop on the necro train.
 
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