Author Topic: ESD Mats...should I use one for board work?  (Read 4210 times)

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Offline ajlaird

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Re: ESD Mats...should I use one for board work?
« on: November 04, 2012, 05:18:53 PM »
Interesting question.

Personally I have never used an ESD and in all the electronics and computer work I have done, it has never been an issue as far as I can tell. The one time I did see anything happen in terms of discharge into an IC (an FM receiver chip) I initially thought I had fried it but it actually worked just fine! Disclaimer: I have never done any work on a DMD board so am unaware of any issues particular to one.

I have always grounded myself on the computer case before working on computer internals.

You are far more likely to kill a chip with excessive heat than ESD - hence socket all ICs if possible rather than solder directly to a board.