60
votes
Accepted
Is it a bad idea to plug the other end of ESD strap to wall ground?
If your ground strap has a proper current limiting resistor, then you would be perfectly fine connecting it directly to ground.
If your ground strap does not have a resistor, then it greatly ...
- 57.6k
46
votes
Accepted
Why am I cooking MOSFETs?
Your problem is the gate drive voltage. If you look at the datasheet for the STP16NF06, you'll see that the 0.08 Ω Rdson only applies for Vgs = 10 V, and you're driving it with only (a bit under) 5 V, ...
- 2,551
33
votes
Accepted
Isn't my ground different from the factory's ground?
Components are damaged by two or more of their pins being at a large enough potential difference. If the component has a conductive case, or pad, then that counts as a 'pin' too.
It's possible to ...
- 140k
32
votes
Accepted
How to safely discharge oneself
The best way is to use an ESD strap, that is connected to earth via a 1MOhm resistor. This slowly but continuously discharges you without creating high currents. This way it does not hurt or damage ...
- 8,613
31
votes
Isn't my ground different from the factory's ground?
Hopefully your parts are packaged in an ESD-dissipative tray or bag. Then when you set them down on your ESD mat in your lab, any charge that's built up on them can drain away through the packaging ...
- 121k
30
votes
Accepted
How to inflict ESD damage on a board?
My go to method is my ghetto ESD-gun (a cheap electronic lighter)
ala - Long neck lighter Split it open, strip the wires and zap away :) It should produce a few kilo volts.
- 1,277
29
votes
Accepted
Is static electricity really so dangerous?
Is static electricity really so dangerous?
Yes.
The conductive paths inside an IC are really small, so it doesn't take much energy through them to vaporize them.¹
There are millions of such paths ...
- 3,692
27
votes
Anti-static mat connected to earth directly or 1E6 ohm resistor?
You (and the some of the other answers) focus too much on the actual value of the resistance to ground; the fact is that the actual value is irrelevant regarding ESD. The ESD charge just needs a path. ...
- 78.8k
26
votes
Accepted
USB Shield. To ground or not to ground?
Best Practice
Firstly (as a bit of a cop out) personally, in designs I always ground through a 0R resistor so that the decision can be changed. This goes for pretty much any shield (Ethernet, USB etc)
...
- 1,643
25
votes
ESD Mat and wrist strap grounding - Ground hole not available in my country
You don't actually need to bond your ESD mat to earth. People do, but there is really no need.
The idea is not really to earth yourself, but rather to create an equipotential region. You want to keep ...
- 56.6k
21
votes
How does a diode clamping circuit protect against overvoltage and ESD?
You are forgetting that these voltage sources are "ideal". So if your input is 20V directly from a supply, it will always be 20V.
Throw a series resistor in there and you can see how it works.
I ...
- 11.5k
20
votes
Should there really be 1 MΩ resistance between an anti-static wrist strap and a pc?
The 1meg resistor is needed to safeguard the user from faults from other equipment connected to mains earth.
Keep in mind that the wrist strap is a permanent connection to the electric system of the ...
17
votes
Why am I cooking MOSFETs?
The point about the gate voltage is valid, but if the MOSFET is not heating up, I'm not sure that is the actual culprit here.
16 meters of 12 V LED strip driven at several amps is going to have a ...
- 3,757
16
votes
Anti-static wrist strap around your wrist or around your ankle?
It makes no difference where you connect the anti-static strap to your body.
The reason is that your body is much lower resistance between any two points than the strap is.
Also, most of the ...
- 306k
16
votes
How to safely discharge oneself
You can use a ESD mat, which is directly connected to the electrical ground. Just place it under your electronics and wear the connected bracelet when you are working with them. Touching the mat when ...
- 356
15
votes
Accepted
Some questions about antistatic wrist strap
should the alligator clip of the wrap always be grounded to the mains earth in a way?
Yes, the alligator clip should be earthed. As should the work surface beneath the work piece.
Is this type of ...
- 121k
15
votes
Accepted
Are MOSFET drains ESD sensitive?
Yes, mosfets drains are sensitive to ESD. If you look at the Vds spec in the datasheet, it cannot be exceeded (for the IRF530, it's 100V), even for short amounts of time.
ESD over-voltage conditions ...
- 63.4k
15
votes
Where is the return path for electrostatic discharge (ESD)?
It's very tempting to casually say that the discharge is the return path, but it would be more correct to say that it is a path of resolution which dilutes an imbalance of charge created by some other ...
- 32.9k
14
votes
Accepted
How does a diode clamping circuit protect against overvoltage and ESD?
The circuit protects against overvoltage and ESD subject to certain conditions.
The main assumption is that Vd is "stiff" compared to the energy source on Vpin. This is usually true for Vd = power ...
- 142k
14
votes
Accepted
How does a bare PCB product such as a Raspberry Pi pass ESD testing for CE mark?
Does this answer your question (emphasis added)?
9.3.2 Test method The test method shall be in accordance with EN 61000-4-2 [2]. For radio equipment and ancillary equipment the
following requirements ...
- 328k
13
votes
Accepted
Is my simple home setup ESD protected?
Don't get hung up about connecting things 'to ground', that is, that brown stuff outside the door.
What is important for you, your worktop, your tools, your components, is that they are all at the ...
- 140k
13
votes
Isn't my ground different from the factory's ground?
My understanding is that ESD safety things are designed to bring everything that can touch a component to the same electrical potential energy
That's when you're right.
ground.
And here's when ...
- 1,685
13
votes
Accepted
Is a single wrist strap enough against ESD?
Grounding yourself is only part of mitigating ESD. You can still cause damaging discharges while properly grounded when the device you're working on is itself charged, when the tools you use (like a ...
- 8,314
12
votes
Accepted
ESD protection for OpAmp inputs and outputs
The answer to this question requires us to look at both the threat and the specifics of this circuit. ESD protection is not a one size fits all, unfortunately.
The threat is IEC61000-4-2, 8kV contact....
- 21.4k
12
votes
ESD wrist wrap resistance
Either is ok, The idea of an ESD band is to slowly remove charge from your body and equipment you contact. If there was no resistance, there would be two problems:
Danger of electrocution if you ...
- 3,426
11
votes
Accepted
How to Connect USB/Ethernet Shields to Chassis or Digital Grounds
You may or may not be over thinking this, it depends on what your application is, and if you have to pass any regulatory inspections for a product. The general idea is to shunt the ESD to ground ...
- 63.4k
11
votes
Anti-static wrist strap around your wrist or around your ankle?
Electrically, it doesn't matter where it makes contact, with contact being the key word! I find however that it doesn't suit my workflow round either wrist or ankle.
If worn on my wrist, the ...
- 140k
11
votes
Accepted
Electrostatic precaution for sensitive chip
Even if I doesn't take such precaution, chips behave as expected. Is
that normal?
Yes, ESD is an unpredictable event, and you can't see it (most of the time, sometimes you can see damage on IC's). ...
- 63.4k
11
votes
ESD Mat and wrist strap grounding - Ground hole not available in my country
I also live in the Netherlands and these contacts are indeed quite common. However, I assume somewhere in your house you also have the ground version (see picture below), which includes ground.
I'm ...
- 13.6k
11
votes
Accepted
Difference between ESD and TVS diode?
A TVS diode is typically capable of much higher power than ESD diodes.
TVS - "Transient Voltage Suppression" can, if rated accordingly, be capable of suppressing surge pulses - these are ...
- 1,640
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible