Everything you need in an EPA
ESD control items are necessary in an ESD Protected Area (EPA) to minimize damage to sensitive electronic components. Knowing what items are required might be overwhelming, but fear not, we've got you covered!
ESD control items are selected based on the 3 key principles:
- Ground all conductors, including people
- Remove unnecessary insulators, or neutralize charges on essential insulators
- Place ESD-sensitive devices in shielding packaging
Personal Grounding
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Wrist Strap
The most common personnel grounding device used and required for personnel who are sitting. It helps to disperse static electricity generated from a person and reduce the chances of static electricity buildup once it has been secured to the wrist and connected to the earth bonding point.
Check out Hakko's wrist strap and tester here
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ESD Footwear
A standing, or mobile worker can be grounded using an ESD conforming shoes made from PU/PVC raw materials or ESD heel grounders on both feet to ensure that there is a path to ground from the operator to the floor.
Check out Hakko's antistatic shoe tester here
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ESD Flooring
A standing, or mobile worker can be grounded using anti-static floor mats on top of a conductive work surface or by using a ground cord connected to the workstation’s common point ground. This prevents ESD from building up and discharging into the environment which could be destructive to electronic devices and people.
Check out Vessel's working mats here
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Neutralize Insulators
Shielding
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ESD Shielding Bag
A conductive antistatic bag that is manufactured with a layer of conductive metal, often aluminum, and a dielectric layer of plastic covered in a static dissipative coating. This creates a shield and a non-conductive barrier known as a Faraday cage effect, protecting sensitive electronic devices against ESD damage outside an EPA
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With these ESD control items, you can now create an EPA! However, it does not end here. Another essential step is to regularly evaluate the effectiveness of the ESD control, which may be done by measuring voltage, current as well as polarity of the items and surfaces in the area.
Measuring Effectiveness of ESD Control
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Electrostatic Field Meter
A hand-held device that measures the static charges present on objects and surfaces, as well as ion balance on ionizer. Wherever electrostatic charges accumulate, they can be detected by the presence of an associated electric field.
Check out Vessel's electrostatic field meter here
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Surface Resistance Checker
It measures the ability of a material to conduct electricity, which include floor, mat, desk, and chair. A company’s compliance verification plan should include periodic checks of surfaces measuring Resistance Point-to-Point (Rp-p) and Resistance-to-Ground (Rg).
Check out Vessel's surface resistance checker here
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Congratulations, your EPA is now complete!
