Author Topic: List your quality lab materials!  (Read 596 times)

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Offline neverendingstudentTopic starter

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List your quality lab materials!
« on: February 19, 2026, 04:15:34 pm »
TL;DR: what do you know of that are the best quality materials you use on your electronics workbench?  Not components, but materials - cleaning agents and cleaning materials, consumables, ESD bags, quality connector covers, etc...

...

Hi all.  I just thought to start this thread as I spent a while looking for the best ESD rated BNC covers I could find.  I've tried a number of different things as I sell electronics lab gear on eBay and want to present quality.  I've bought silicone caps and those were nice, but not ESD rated in a way I would trust.  I've received various items with these nice CAPLUGS brand model EP-8 and they felt nice, fit and retained well and are made in the USA.  The problem was that after research I found they were not ESD rated, and I wanted that.

After doing some research (and buying what I thought was the same size SEC-08 - those did NOT fit BNCs, they fell off) I finally found the SEP-08 model (also from CAPLUGS, also made in USA, but this model IS ESD rated) - link here: https://www.caplugs.com/p/static-dissipative-plugs-sep

After looking around for a convenient way to purchase these in small numbers (I wanted to make sure they fit) I found that Mouser stocks them and has reasonable prices.  Link here: https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/376-SEP-08

So, that is my contribution to what I hope will grow to become a nice list of quality materials and where to get them.  I do have a specific ask: does anyone know of quality ESD caps for as many of the other common connectors out there as possible?  It can be the CAPLUGS brand or not, so long as they are both good and available.  Not just all the other RF connectors like N, SMA/3.5mm, etc... but also GPIB plugs, serial plugs and others.  Who has had good experience with what products (that are still available)?

EDIT: I've sent an email to the engineering department at CAPLUGS asking if they have similar caps for N, SMA/3.5mm, GPIB, and Serial.  If they have compatible stuff I'll get a sample and test it.  If it's good I'll add it to this forum thread.
« Last Edit: February 19, 2026, 04:59:47 pm by neverendingstudent »
 

Online negativ3

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Re: List your quality lab materials!
« Reply #1 on: February 19, 2026, 05:21:04 pm »
We have potter wasps here so decent rubber covers for USB/BNC etc sockets are a must.
Kimtech wipes for cleanup.
 

Offline neverendingstudentTopic starter

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Re: List your quality lab materials!
« Reply #2 on: February 19, 2026, 07:00:22 pm »
We have potter wasps here so decent rubber covers for USB/BNC etc sockets are a must.
Kimtech wipes for cleanup.

I had to deal with what those wasps built all the time back when I was doing residential cable.  They got into everything.  Thoroughly crappified a ton of coax ports.


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