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
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
