Anti-Static ESD Wrist-strap

Anti-Static ESD Wrist-strap
Our Price: $2.95

If you do any electronics work at all, you need one of these wrist-straps. Most integrated circuits, MOSFET transistors and even some high power LEDs are all extremely sensitive to static discharge.

Static discharge is caused by voltage build up caused my movement. We are all aware of the high voltage discharge when touching a doorknob after walking across a carpet. What you may not be aware of is that even low voltage discharge can damage these sensitive components. Low voltage discharges are much different than a high voltage discharge. Here are some characteristics of low voltage discharges:

Lower Voltage Discharges are More Common

Because there is a greater chance of lower voltage discharge, these events are more common. Just because you rarely notice a spark discharge, that doesn’t mean there are not lower voltage discharges occurring much more often.

Low Voltage Discharges are Not Easily Noticed

Because the discharge is at a low voltage, you will not be aware of most of them. These discharges can be just as damaging as high voltage ones. Since you are not aware of them at the time they happen, you really don’t know how common they are.

Low Voltage Discharges Cause Minor Component Damage

When a low voltage discharge damages a component, it may not cause a catastrophic failure. Instead it may degrade its performance, cause erratic behavior, and/or early failure. Because such damage may not be detected right away, the ultimate cost can be significant in lost time and money.

Usage

To use these straps, you simply clip the pigtail end to a ground connection and then slip the loop on your wrist. You should always be wearing the strap before handling or soldering ESD (electro-static-discharge) sensitive components.

NOTE: For safety, these straps have a 1 megaohm resistor built-in. This resistance still permits a safe discharge to ground, but prevents you from being potentially dangerous grounded yourself.

Anti-Static ESD Wrist-strap by Provide Your Own is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.