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Static discharge from silicone soldering mat?
Rooster Cogburn:
--- Quote from: tooki on January 24, 2025, 04:13:58 pm ---Also, one other huge problem with staticky silicone mats: they attract dust horribly, making them almost impossible to keep clean. You can wash them with soap and water and they’ll be super clean — for about 10 minutes.
--- End quote ---
Oh yeah, the little parts tray always has dust in the corners. I occasionally clean the mat in the sink, but it's dusty again immediately.
--- Quote from: timeandfrequency on January 24, 2025, 03:53:33 pm ---Hello Rooster Cogburn,
I bought this light blue ESD mat.
It withstands heat. I deliberately dropped some solder on it : no marks or holes. Resistance to chemicals is good : the mat can be cleaned with alcohol or acetone if very dirty.
There are 2 male snaps at two of the four corners which makes it easy to connect to ground. The rubber is neither too soft nor too hard (shore A: 75).
--- End quote ---
This looks good, need to find a smaller one, though. My current mat is 50x40cm, I can increase the depth from 40 to 60cm, but more won't fit in my workspace. Welectron also sells reasonably priced ones, still too large:
https://www.welectron.com/SafeGuard-Premium-ESD-Table-Mat
Not sure how easy those are to cut to size, if they have any special edge finish I don't want to ruin by cutting them up.
--- Quote from: timeandfrequency on January 24, 2025, 03:53:33 pm ---This is NOT suitable for handling active electronic components. But you can still use your mustard silicon mat while soldering connectors or switches...
--- End quote ---
I got to be honest, I don't have really have a good understanding when something requires an ESD safe setup. I have a grounded mat and strap and all my tools are grounded as well. I generally only remove my silicone mat when I do something presumably sensitive, like swap a chip between two boards and such. I recently desoldered a broken switch from a CD player and bridged the connection, figured that would be fine without special grounding. I always assume components on a PCB are not that susceptible to zaps, maybe this is wrong?
--- Quote from: tooki on January 24, 2025, 04:12:26 pm ---Unfortunately what we get instead is crap claiming to be ESD-safe without actually being it. :'(
--- End quote ---
I think it would be really neat if I could buy a cheap & disposable ESD-safe silicone mat that I can keep putting on top of my regular one whenever I do something that might be damaging :/
--- Quote from: tooki on January 24, 2025, 04:12:26 pm ---Rather than cutting off the top, why not just make little containers out of metal or wood? (Or ESD-safe plastic, using a 3D printer.) I’ve actually been meaning to do exactly that: I want to take a little block of perhaps 8mm thick aluminum and mill little pockets into it.
But what I use at home for now is actually a watercolor paint mixing palette I picked up at the local art supply shop. It’s made of porcelain. As such, it’s antistatic, insulating, and also heavy enough to not slide around by accident. I don’t remember what it cost but it wasn’t a lot. Google “ceramic watercolor palette” to see the huge array of such things that exist.
--- End quote ---
I like those watercolor palettes, plenty of options to chose from!
timeandfrequency:
--- Quote from: Rooster Cogburn on January 24, 2025, 06:14:18 pm ---Not sure how easy those are to cut to size, if they have any special edge finish I don't want to ruin by cutting them up.
--- End quote ---
Not a problem at all : the mentionned mat can be resized with a vanilla X'Acto knife. No special edge finish either.
Shore A 75 is just mild rubber.
thm_w:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/silicon-heat-resistant-mats-vs-esd-safety/
--- Quote from: Rooster Cogburn on January 24, 2025, 06:14:18 pm ---I got to be honest, I don't have really have a good understanding when something requires an ESD safe setup. I have a grounded mat and strap and all my tools are grounded as well. I generally only remove my silicone mat when I do something presumably sensitive, like swap a chip between two boards and such. I recently desoldered a broken switch from a CD player and bridged the connection, figured that would be fine without special grounding. I always assume components on a PCB are not that susceptible to zaps, maybe this is wrong?
--- End quote ---
Thats something you figure out for yourself, assuming you are working at home and not somewhere with a company policy. Based on risk tolerance, and also clothing and humidity.
Components on a PCB are still susceptible to ESD, just usually less so, as there are other places the energy can go (power rails, planes, whatever), build in ESD diodes can do what they are intended to do.
I have an ESD mat and a normal silicone mat on top for temperature resistance, no wrist strap. But I'm working on consumer level gear, and parts that can be cheaply replaced if they fail. These devices get far far worse treatment in the field (lightning strikes, etc.).
Rooster Cogburn:
--- Quote from: timeandfrequency on January 24, 2025, 08:10:55 pm ---
--- Quote from: Rooster Cogburn on January 24, 2025, 06:14:18 pm ---Not sure how easy those are to cut to size, if they have any special edge finish I don't want to ruin by cutting them up.
--- End quote ---
Not a problem at all : the mentionned mat can be resized with a vanilla X'Acto knife. No special edge finish either.
Shore A 75 is just mild rubber.
--- End quote ---
Great, thanks! The mats I have so far are cheap stuff and clearly just cut from a big roll.
--- Quote from: thm_w on January 24, 2025, 11:10:55 pm ---https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/silicon-heat-resistant-mats-vs-esd-safety/
--- Quote from: Rooster Cogburn on January 24, 2025, 06:14:18 pm ---I got to be honest, I don't have really have a good understanding when something requires an ESD safe setup. I have a grounded mat and strap and all my tools are grounded as well. I generally only remove my silicone mat when I do something presumably sensitive, like swap a chip between two boards and such. I recently desoldered a broken switch from a CD player and bridged the connection, figured that would be fine without special grounding. I always assume components on a PCB are not that susceptible to zaps, maybe this is wrong?
--- End quote ---
Thats something you figure out for yourself, assuming you are working at home and not somewhere with a company policy. Based on risk tolerance, and also clothing and humidity.
Components on a PCB are still susceptible to ESD, just usually less so, as there are other places the energy can go (power rails, planes, whatever), build in ESD diodes can do what they are intended to do.
I have an ESD mat and a normal silicone mat on top for temperature resistance, no wrist strap. But I'm working on consumer level gear, and parts that can be cheaply replaced if they fail. These devices get far far worse treatment in the field (lightning strikes, etc.).
--- End quote ---
Ok, interesting data point! I'd say the biggest threat to devices on my bench is my own incompetence and that'll likely remain for the foreseeable future. I mostly repair consumer electronics from the 80s, 90s and 2000s, stuff like game consoles, CRT TVs, HiFi/Stereo stuff like amps and discman, etc. Humidity is generally high in Germany, can't even remember the last time I had static build up to a level where I felt a zap.
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