We manufacture our Charleswater conductive bags at our Letchworth facility in the UK. Our black bags are made of carbon-loaded polyethylene and remain a popular packaging for electrostatic sensitive devices despite the advent of metallised shielding bags.

They are black, tough and puncture resistant. They offer a degree of ESD protection for many ESD sensitive items. The electrical properties of black bags do not vary with humidity and are opaque to daylight.

Request a sample of our Conductive Black Bags today.

To view Conductive Black Bags Click Here.

To view all Shielding Bags Click Here.

“The Organization shall prepare an ESD Control Program Plan that addresses each of the requirements of the Program. Those requirements include:

• Training
• Compliance Verification
• Grounding / Equipotential Bonding Systems
• Personnel Grounding
• EPA Requirements
• Packaging Systems
• Marking”

“Each company has different processes, and so will require a different blend of ESD prevention measures for an optimum ESD control program. It is vital that these measures are selected, based on technical necessity and carefully documented in an ESD control program plan, so that all concerned can be sure of the program requirements.” [EN 61340-5-1 Edition 1.0 2007-08 Introduction]

To view the Charleswater ESD Awareness Booklet Click Here.

Request a sample of our ESD Awareness Booklet – Click Here.

• NEW Improved Banana Jack
  Creates a more consistent connection and helps to prevent accidental disconnects with operator’s wrist strap.
• Control unit LEDs indicate proper grounding of two mats and two operators; includes mounting hardware
  Allows mounting Control Unit at eye level, not using any work surface area
• Two Satellite Remote Monitors include monitored wrist strap ground, parking stud, and unmonitored
  ground for guest or equipment
  Versatile design allowing placement where desired up to 7 feet from control unit.
• Audio alarm
• Wave Distortion Technology provides real-time monitoring
  Ensures ESD protected workstation, reducing catastrophic failures and latent defects
• Utilizes reliable wave distortion technology
  Provides true 100% continuous monitoring.
• Can use with any brand of single wire wrist strap and coil cord components
  Life-cycle costs of monitor / wrist strap / cord are 66% lower than dual-wire approach
• Replaces item 99073
• Made in the United States of America

• Embossed with ESD protective symbol, allowing people to immediately
  know the bottle is ESD protective
• No migratory additives – reduces the chance for contamination from the bottle
• 180 mL. bottles include measurements on one side to see how much fluid is left in the container
• Printed bottles eliminate the need for additional labels
• Made in the United States of America

71010 Statguard® Conductive Epoxy

• Epoxide Polymer with Surface Resistance
  of RTT 10E4 – 10E6 ohms
  Coat concrete, wood, steel, and other surfaces to create a consistent path to ground for operators wearing a foot ground system.
• One Coat, 2-part, Water-based Epoxy System
  Mix 4 gallon pre-measured part A and B
  together and install with squeegee and nap roller.
• 50% Solids by Volume
  Easy to install and reduces dry time.
• Made in United States of America

71011 Statguard® Epoxy Primer

• Epoxy primer designed for use under
  71010 Statguard® Conductive Epoxy
  Use over concrete or other porous surfaces
  to increase spread and adhesion rate.
• Made in United States of America

Accurate process evaluation provides real answers

Provided by the ESD Association
by Stephen Halperin, in collaboration with Ron Gibson

“We need to spend HOW MUCH?”
Recently, a company experienced several large losses due to electrostatic discharge (ESD) and had a very unhappy customer on their hands. The manufacturing vice president now faced a substantial expenditure for new ESD loss prevention equipment. The company’s first step had been to hire an ESD consultant who recommended the purchase of several thousands of dollars in ionization equipment and monitoring instruments for several of the company’s facilities.

The troubled VP read the report several times looking for justification of the expense. However, the report did not define how the recommended equipment would meet the VP’s specific needs. Other than describing how ionization reduced electrostatic charge after it is generated and that the instruments could confirm that a discharge occurred, the report did not identify the actual cause of the process problem. No ESD measurements were described. There were no details related to cause of product loss, device sensitivity concerns, value issues, process and handling details, examination and description of existing controls, or rationale for how the recommended tools would solve the problem in question. The report was clearly based on the consultant observing the process of a single manufacturing environment. In effect, the report made a purchasing recommendation based on a “blanket” opinion, not on facts specific to the needs of the company or their customer. Such an approach typically makes a bad situation worse. While the recommended tools may have been very useful for investigating a process or for solving defined problems, they are expensive Band Aids“ when used in undefined problem situations.

Today’s electronic manufacturing environment demands that minimal ESD controls be in place to provide fundamental protection for electrostatic discharge sensitive (ESDS) devices. When basic ESD controls are employed and losses still occur, manufacturing and quality managers face more difficult problems., In assessing the problem, companies struggle with a variety of major questions concerning a specialized technology, while having minimal information and available skills. To avoid the risk of making the wrong investment decision without solving the initial problem, management needs a way to select and implement the most effective ESD controls that fit their financial situation, solve their specific problems, and provide a respectable return on their investment.

To continue reading Enhancing Profits with Effective ESD Control Click Here

In general, the ESD susceptibility of modern electronics are more sensitive to ElectroStatic Discharge; that is the withstand voltages are lower. This is due to the drive for miniaturization particularly with electronic devices operating faster. Thus the semiconductor circuitry is getting smaller.

See November 2001 Evaluation Engineering Magazine article “ESD Control Program Development” “As the drive for miniaturization has reduced the width of electronic device structures to as small as 0.10 micrometer (equal to 0.0001 millimeter or 0.000004 inch), electronic components are being manufactured with increased ElectroStatic Discharge (ESD) susceptibility.”

What’s happening currently? Intel began selling its 32 nm processors in 2010 that would be 0.032 micrometer equal to 0.000032 millimeter or 0.00000128 inch.

See www.ESDA.org, the ESD Association’s latest White Paper “Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) Technology Roadmap – Revised April 2010” forecasts increased ESD sensitivities continuing the recent “trend, the ICs became even more sensitive to ESD events in the years between 2005 and 2009. Therefore, the prevailing trend is circuit performance at the expense of ESD protection levels.” The White Paper’s conclusions are:

“With devices becoming more sensitive through 2010-2015 and beyond, it is imperative that companies begin to scrutinize the ESD capabilities of their handling processes. Factory ESD control is expected to play an ever-increasing critical role as the industry is flooded with even more HBM and CDM sensitive designs. For people handling ESD sensitive devices, personnel grounding systems must be designed to limit body voltages to less than 100 volts.

To protect against metal-to-device discharges, all conductive elements that contact ESD sensitive devices must be grounded.

To limit the possibilities of a field induced CDM ESD event, users of ESD sensitive devices should ensure that the maximum voltage induced on their devices is kept below 50 volts.

To limit CDM ESD events, device pins should be contacted with static-dissipative material instead of metal wherever possible.”

See InCompliance Magazine May 2010 article by Dr. Terry L. Welsher The “Real” Cost of ESD Damage which includes “Recent data and experience reported by several companies and laboratories now suggest that many failures previously classified as EOS may instead be the result of ESD failures due to Charged Board Events (CBE). … Some companies have estimated that about 50% of failures originally designated as EOS were actually CBE or CDE.”

For additonal ESD information Click Here

• “This standard covers … electrical or electronic parts, assemblies and equipment susceptible to damage by electrostatic discharges greater than or equal to 100 volts Human Body Model (HBM).”
• “When handling devices susceptible to less than 100 volts HBM, more stringent ESD Control
  Program Technical Requirements may be required, including adjustment of program Technical
  Element Recommended Ranges.”

HMB Classification Class 0 is:
Per ESD-STM5.1 Human Body Model (HBM) Table 1 Class 0 has ESD Voltage Range < 250 Volts
Basically, to control the environment to decrease the probability of ESD damage in “Class Zero”
situations, involves increasing ESD protective redundancies and periodic verifications to those ESD
Control technical elements.

Improved Grounding

• Personnel: Decrease Wrist Strap and ESD Footwear upper limit permitted (The ESD Association has test data showing charge on a person is less as the path-to-ground resistance is less) The use of continuous monitors, smocks, use / increased use of ESD flooring, sole or full coverage foot grounders (HBM & CDM)
• Worksurfaces: Dissipative (CDM) i.e. change < 10^9 to a requirement of 10^6 to 10^8 ohms
• Bonded grounds – Carts, shelves, equipment
• Conductors: Minimizing isolated conductors like devices on PC Boards (CDM)

To see examples of Wrist Straps capable of dealing with class zero environments Click Here

To see examples of Grounding Cords capable of dealing with class zero environments Click Here

Minimize Charge Generation
The best form of control is to minimize charge generation. Grounding and ionization eliminate charges once generated. Shielding protects from generated charges.

• Personnel – Low Charging floor finish
• Surfaces – Use of low charging (anti-static) topical treatments

Insulators

• Eliminate as best as possible all non-process necessary insulators
• Topically treat where ever possible insulators that cannot be removed
• Consider use of ESD Chairs or treat to reduce charge generation
• Shield charges on clothing by using ESD Smocks

To continue reading ESD Control Program Considerations when Dealing with
Class Zero Items Click Here

We have all seen static electricity in the form of lightning or perhaps felt the zap when reaching for a door knob. Similar types of electrical charges can have an effect on the electronic components you handle every day in your work. Unfortunately, their effect is much more hazardous and not as readily apparent.

Definition

Static electricity is an electrical charge at rest. Static electricity is most commonly created by friction and separation. Friction causes heat which excites the molecular particles of the material. When two materials are then separated, a transfer of electrons from one material to the other may take place.

As electrons transfer, the absence or surplus of electrons creates an electrical field known as static electricity. The simple separation of two materials, as when tape is pulled off a roll, can also create this same transfer of electrons between materials, generating static electrical fields.

The amount of static electricity generated depends upon the materials subjected to friction or separation, the amount of friction or separation and the relative humidity of the environment. Common plastic generally will create the greatest static charge. Low humidity conditions such as those created when air is heated during the winter will also promote the generation of significant static electrical charges.

Materials that easily transfer electrons (or charge) between atoms are called conductors and are said to have “free” electrons. Some examples of conductors are metals, carbon and the human body’s sweat layer. Materials that do not easily transfer electrons are called insulators. Some well known insulators are common plastics, glass and air. Both conductors and insulators may become “charged” with static electricity. When a conductor is charged, the free electrons give it the ability to discharge rapidly when it comes close to another conductor with a different potential.

Typical Electrostatic Voltages

Many of the common activities you perform daily may generate charges on your body that are potentially harmful to components.

Some of these activities include:

• Walking across a carpet, 1,500 to 35,000 volts
• Walking over untreated vinyl floor, 250 to 12,000 volts
• Worker at a bench, 700 to 6,000 volts
• Vinyl envelope used for work instructions, 600 to 7,000 volts
• Picking up a common plastic bag from a bench, 1,200 to 20,000 volts

To continue reading About Electrostatic Discharge Awareness Click Here

Desco Industries Inc. (DII), Employee Owned

November 1999

Reproduced with Permission, EE-Evaluation Engineering, November, 1999

INTRODUCTION

I. Introduction to ESD Control Programs

ESD Control programs are an essential part of a quality process and are always needed when handling ESD sensitive electronic/semiconductor devices. The extent of the ESD Control program is determined by the ESD Sensitive (ESDS) devices themselves and how they are handled. Refer to article “How to Set Up an ESD Control Program” [1] for additional information.

One of the main reasons that companies deploy ESD Control programs is to save money. Increased throughput and decreased scrap can yield a Return On Investment (ROI ) of up to 1,000% per [2]. A secondary reason is to comply with their customers’ and ISO 9000 type programs’ requirements. Whatever reason, setting up and implementing an ESD Control program will almost always produce favorable financial results.

II. Cost Reduction via ESD Control Programs

Having ESD awareness and following through with an ESD Control program is essential in reducing quality failures due to ESD. ESD can affect product reliability with catastrophic damage which is readily apparent to latent degradation. Latent degradation is particularly expensive requiring costly inspection and rework cycles in-house or product failure in the field. Maintaining good ESD controls will improve product throughput or yield, increasing reliability in the field which improves customer satisfaction leading to increased future business.

One test equipment manufacturer noted that GMR heads were being damaged during or after testing. These heads are extremely sensitive to ESD, and require additional handling precautions.

It is very important when designing and implementing an ESD Control program to know the ESD susceptibility of the ESD Sensitive (ESDS) devices you are trying to protect. Classification of these devices should include all simulation models human body model (HBM), Machine Mode (MM), and Charged-device Model (CDM) that will properly characterize the devices’ sensitivity when handled at various locations within the facility [6]. This will allow for the most economical program design.

Gene Chase, an ESD Consultant with ETS Inc., is quoted as saying “Millions of dollars are lost every year due to ESD [4]. Many of these incidents occur within the computer and communications industry.” Examples of losses from ESD may be any of the following:

• Lost Time
• Loss of Connection
• Loss of Data
• Shocks to Personnel
• Upset to A System Requiring A Re-Boot
• Damage to Equipment
• Equipment Hardware Failure

To properly determine the return on investment (ROI) from your ESD Control program, you must collect return, repair and scrap cost data before and after implementation.

To continue reading ESD Control, Return on Investment Click Here.