ESD safe mail

[shobo]

I need to mail a mobo + cpu + ram.how can i make sure that it doesn't get zapped on the way?i dont have the esd safe bag it came in,just common house hold stuff

[grifftech]

aluminium foil

[wraper]

aluminium foil

Bad idea. Motherboard has battery on it. Just wrapping with a foil may short something. Also tiny pieces of foil can easily get into connectors and short contacts.

[TimFox]

Why not wrap it first in plastic wrap (probably polyethylene) and then in aluminum foil over the plastic?

[Twoflower]

Why not wrap it first in plastic wrap (probably polyethylene) and then in aluminum foil over the plastic?

Bad idea too: It can build up a charge just by open the bag.

Any computer shop near by? They might have on ESD bag from a newly build computer.

[Twoflower]

Aluminium foil could also ESD damage your parts because it is just too conductive. If there's potential difference between the foil and the device and you place it on aluminium foil the discharge current is too big and can cause damage. That's the reason why the package material and other ESD equipment has a specific conductivity.

I know it is/was partly used to ship single devices (I've received a 40xx device on a polystyrene foam piece that had a aluminium foil glued on it  ) but if you want to be ESD compliant it's to my knowledge not acceptable to use aluminium foil.

[james_s]

If you can't get an ESD safe bag, you could just wrap the thing in paper and then optionally wrap the paper in foil. Paper is not conductive but it tends not to generate static either.

[shobo]

Why don't get rid of the battery before shipping? Also, make sure your country allows to ship Li batteries by air.
I know Chinese laws say you can't ship Li batteries, even tiny coin cells, without a proper packaging. Also, all domestic flights in China don't allow any Li batteries to be checked in, they can only be carried on.
Make sure your country doesn't have a similar law.

it's not shipped by air,by post.i'll try to see if i can find an esd bag

[james_s]

Any computer shop probably has a pile of them in the trash. Every motherboard comes in one.

[Awesome14]

Wrap it in paper. It's not 100% safe. But it's pretty safe, because paper absorbs water from the air.