Protecting ESD products
When sparks fly, it might mean love is in the air. Or maybe it’s just because of electrostatic charges. We’ve all been there – you touch the car door and get a tiny shock. In production settings, this electrostatic discharge (ESD) can damage sensitive components. As electrification and connectivity have increased, these components have become ever smaller, not to mention ever more common. The upshot is more ESD sensitivity.
In order to avoid damage, it’s important to use the right ESD equipment. We’ve got a wide selection of ESD products to protect your electronics, including material stands, safety shoes, mats and industrial swivel chairs.
Protect electronic components from damage
Discover here how and where electrostatic discharge happens and what the associated risks are. You will also find out which products you can use to protect sensitive components from ESD, both at workstations and during transport, which in turn will help you to avoid incurring high costs.
What does ESD stand for and what is it exactly?
As mentioned above, ESD stands for electrostatic discharge. But how does this happen?
To explain it in simple terms, we can use an example from everyday life:
- You walk across a carpet in shoes.
- This creates friction, which in turn causes first your shoes, and then your body, to gain negatively charged electrons.
- If you then touch an object made of a conducting material, the handle of a car door for example, the charge jumps from your body to the object.
The same applies when two objects rub against each other, causing charges to be transferred – for example, when plastic boxes are pushed across a surface or when a conveyor belt is in operation.
Is ESD dangerous?
The short answer is not for people, at least not directly. Although you will experience a small electric shock at charges of 3,500 volts or more, it would take a lot more than that to damage your health. Nonetheless, receiving even a small shock like this could cause someone a moment of alarm, which could in turn lead to an accident and/or injury.
However, electrostatic discharge presents an undoubted risk to all companies that work with or process electronic components. In a worse-case scenario, ESD can cause major damage, which in turn results in high costs and other negative consequences.
What damage can ESD cause?
ESD can cause serious damage to electronic components, which in turn can result in major disruption for companies:
- Even a charge exchange too small to be detected by humans can put vehicles or entire production lines out of action.
- Finding the defective parts is often a time-consuming process, since damage caused by ESD cannot be seen with the naked eye.
- And as it’s often customers who are the first ones to notice that components aren’t working, companies may face complaints and damage to their reputation, not to mention the financial losses incurred due to repairs and costly spare parts. Before you know it, a component that costs a few cents has set you back €10,000.
The risks associated with ESD are a growing issue as more and more companies start using electronic components, for example in the automotive industry.
Luckily there are ways of preventing these problems.
Good to know: discharges of just 5 V can cause major damage to microchips.
How to protect components from ESD
The best method of protecting sensitive components from damage resulting from ESD is to prevent charge from building up, and to ensure that objects and people can conduct electrostatic charge into the ground.
In order to do this, companies can set up an EPA (electrostatic protected area, also known as an ESD protected area), in which all materials are conductive.
This should be done in accordance with the ESD standard IEC (DIN EN) 61340-5-1.
Setting up ESD protected areas
Floor coverings
ESD protection starts from the ground up. ESD mats and other floor coverings drain static electricity into the ground. This can also be useful in the office, since high voltages can build up when office chairs are rolled across the floor. Anti-fatigue ESD mats are especially helpful for standing workspaces.
Storage
Use shelves with an ESD coating for storing electronic components. It’s important that the shelves are located within an EPA or are earthed. You can also store electronic components in ESD containers such as special box pallets or open fronted storage bins.
ESD workstations
ESD tables, chairs, stools and anti-fatigue stools prevent dangerous discharges at workstations.
Tools
When carrying out work on sensitive electronic components, be sure to use only conductive tools, for example ESD screwdrivers.
Transporting electronic components
ESD protection is also important when transporting equipment from one room to another. We recommend using electrically conductive platform trolleys with ESD castors. Sealed ESD plastic boxes can also be used to transport sensitive components safely.
ESD clothing
In EPAs, wearing ESD shoes is a must. In accordance with the EN 61340-5-1 standard, these shoes must have a resistance of between 7.5 x 105 and 3.5 x 107 Ohm.
They should ideally be paired with ESD wrist or heel straps, which are connected with an earthing cable, ensuring that the wearer is permanently earthed.
Final tip: check that you have the right humidity level
Low humidity leads to higher static build-up, and vice versa. This is because when the air is sufficiently moist, a thin layer of moisture develops on surfaces, making them conductive.
However, high levels of humidity aren’t ideal for sensitive components or the health of your staff, so it’s best to maintain humidity at between 40 % and 60 %.
Make sure there are no shocks in store
There’s bound to be an ESD solution that suits your needs, and we’d love to help you find it. We’ll kit you out with products that offer the best protection from this invisible danger.
