General > General Technical Chat
Workbench electrical safety advice
<< < (5/13) > >>
AndyBeez:
What about ventillation? Are you going to have an extractor fan with conduit to pull the solder fumes etc out of your man cave?
aduinstat:

--- Quote from: tooki on December 17, 2022, 01:44:30 pm ---
--- Quote from: EPAIII on December 17, 2022, 08:28:36 am ---As for anti-static mats, I have worked with and without them. I saw ZERO difference. Perhaps if you find that static discharge is a problem for you, then get one. But I see no reason otherwise. Not having a carpet on the floor is probably a better anti-static protection than those mats ever will be.
--- End quote ---
The big problem with the “I’ve never had ESD damage before” is that you don’t actually know that; a lot of ESD damage is not such that it causes immediate, complete failure, and the discharges sufficient to damage sensitive electronics are far smaller than anything we can see or feel. Often, a discharge just degrades a part, such that it no longer performs to spec, or damages it in a way that it fails down the line (and then we attribute the failure to random failure or age, and not the causative ESD event).

ESD mats are cheap, and a great way to protect the workbench anyway, so IMHO there’s no excuse to not have one.

--- End quote ---
I have had ESD damage before, and let me tell you, it is a wonderful feeling when your devices suddenly start working after the ESD mat is installed. I also recommend an ESD chair (even if it is not grounded), because chairs are probably the number 1 source of ESD, and an ESD chair cannot build a charge.

BTW, the reset pin on Atmel microcontrollers do not have ESD protection and are easy to blow.
nctnico:

--- Quote from: aduinstat on December 17, 2022, 03:05:03 pm ---
--- Quote from: tooki on December 17, 2022, 01:44:30 pm ---
--- Quote from: EPAIII on December 17, 2022, 08:28:36 am ---As for anti-static mats, I have worked with and without them. I saw ZERO difference. Perhaps if you find that static discharge is a problem for you, then get one. But I see no reason otherwise. Not having a carpet on the floor is probably a better anti-static protection than those mats ever will be.
--- End quote ---
The big problem with the “I’ve never had ESD damage before” is that you don’t actually know that; a lot of ESD damage is not such that it causes immediate, complete failure, and the discharges sufficient to damage sensitive electronics are far smaller than anything we can see or feel. Often, a discharge just degrades a part, such that it no longer performs to spec, or damages it in a way that it fails down the line (and then we attribute the failure to random failure or age, and not the causative ESD event).

ESD mats are cheap, and a great way to protect the workbench anyway, so IMHO there’s no excuse to not have one.

--- End quote ---
I have had ESD damage before, and let me tell you, it is a wonderful feeling when your devices suddenly start working after the ESD mat is installed. I also recommend an ESD chair (even if it is not grounded), because chairs are probably the number 1 source of ESD, and an ESD chair cannot build a charge.

--- End quote ---
I agree about getting an anti-static mat. And if you work on customer products, get a wrist strap as well. I won't touch anything that goes out to a customer without wearing an anti-static wrist strap (and work on an anti-static mat). I learned about damage due to static discharge the hard way a couple of decades ago. I have a couple of these from a reputable brand:

nctnico:

--- Quote from: tooki on December 17, 2022, 02:08:31 pm ---
--- Quote from: nctnico on December 17, 2022, 12:48:54 am ---That is impossible.

--- End quote ---
Oh?
Why can’t you have an electrician install as many as you need?


--- Quote from: nctnico on December 17, 2022, 12:48:54 am ---You need about 20 outlets per meter of bench space.

--- End quote ---
Says who?


--- Quote from: nctnico on December 17, 2022, 12:48:54 am ---Good quality power strips (fixed to the underside of the desk for example) will do that.

--- End quote ---
Sure, but why do that when you could have real, hard-wired outlets?


--- Quote from: nctnico on December 17, 2022, 12:48:54 am ---Regular outlets not so much; they physically won't fit

--- End quote ---
A 10-gang US electrical box is about 22” (around 60cm) wide, and that would fit 20 outlets.


--- Quote from: nctnico on December 17, 2022, 12:48:54 am ---and you need excessive daisy-chaining.

--- End quote ---
American outlets are designed for daisy-chaining, and hard-wired daisy chains are certainly preferable to plugged ones.

--- End quote ---
20 outlets in 60cm would mean they are 3cm apart. Then you won't be able to fit a wall-wart in. And daisy chaining outlets isn't a very good idea because you create a connection at every point (worse when the outlets have push-in contacts). What I have done in my lab is to have use a star like distribution. There are two mains busses (on seperate circuits) running under my bench which feed a bunch of outlets (as branches from the bus). Those busses are connected using twist-on wire connectors instead of spring loaded connectors for improved reliability under high loads. From those outlets, a whole bunch of power strips are supplied (a total of 110 outlets for about 6 meters of bench / desk). That gives the least number of connections between the grid connection and outlets.
Monkeh:

--- Quote from: nctnico on December 17, 2022, 06:23:06 pm ---And daisy chaining outlets isn't a very good idea because you create a connection at every point

--- End quote ---

This is how nearly every lighting and socket circuit throughout the world is wired. Hell, this is how every street light and house is wired under or over the road. You're overthinking things.
Navigation
Message Index
Next page
Previous page
There was an error while thanking
Thanking...

Go to full version
Powered by SMFPacks Advanced Attachments Uploader Mod