[Elecraft] easy source of static dissipating work mat?

[Matt Palmer]

A ESD bag and a mat are 2 different animals, a ESD bag (silver)
creates a faraday shield around the object protecting it from esd
(think tinfoil) an esd mat is a relatively high Z conductor designed
to bleed off charge as to avoid arcing (think rub feet on carpet and
touch doornob.) there are also pink 'esd' bags that are not shelded
but are simply made of a plastic which will not generate static
electricity. A ESD bag is not a suitable replacement for a mat.


Matt
KD8DAO
http://blog.MattIsKichigai.com



On Fri, Dec 12, 2008 at 10:29 AM, Jerry Flanders <jeflanders at comcast.net> wrote:
> At 07:59 AM 12/12/2008, Don Nelson wrote:
>
>> The K3 kit has two sub assemblies that come in large conducting plastic
>> bags. I used these bags for an antistatic mat. I put these bags down on
>> the
>> work bench overlapping to provide a good conducting surface. If you want
>> you
>> can cut open two sides of each bag and fold open the bag to double the
>> covered surface.
>>
>> Don
>
> I don't understand how that material is supposed to function, but I tested a
> piece of it (may have been from some other source) and found that it was not
> conductive, at least as far as my DVM could measure. I concluded that I
> could not trust it to drain off any static charge from a workpiece - wrong?
>
> Jerry W4UK
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