Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange
Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [esd]

ElectroStatic Discharge, it's caused by accumulation of electrostatic charge as a result of rubbing, and can damage semiconductor devices like integrated circuits.

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USB Shield. To ground or not to ground?

I have been given a device at work to do some testing on. Basically an IC is becoming obsolete so I need to test a replacement part. Upon redoing the ESD checks, the device failed. I checked the history of the device, and there were problems…
MCG
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Is it a bad idea to plug the other end of ESD strap to wall ground?

I have gone through this answer on Superuser, while it provides good information, I still have a specific question from electrical/electronics engineering point of view. Is it wrong and unsafe to connect the other end of the ESD wrist strap to the…
rajeev
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Should I be worried about electro-static discharge?

Doing mostly micro-controller work, I have never bothered with grounding myself with a wrist-strap or any other implementation. Should I be worried about this? How serious is ESD when working at my workbench on projects?
stbtra
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Cleaning Circuits with Compressed Air

I've been arguing with a colleague whether it is a sensible solution to clean dusty PCBs with compressed air. While I think this is the best solution (nothing touches the PCB), he claimed that spraying off the dust can cause ESD, because the charges…
Count Zero
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Anti-static vs. conductive vs. dissipative foam?

UPDATE: I have included some basic answers inline that I received after talking in depth with an application engineer at a foam company. I think it would still really help for someone to help flush out the theory behind these answers. I am having…
user39075
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Why am I cooking MOSFETs?

I've made a very simple MOSFET LED driver that uses the PWM of an Arduino Nano to switch a MOSFET which controls the power for about 16 meters of LED strip. I am using STP16NF06 MOSFETs. I am controlling RGB LEDs, so I use three MOSFETs one for each…
hamsolo474 - Reinstate Monica
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How to safely discharge oneself

At work I have the problem that I seem to collect a lot of static charge as soon as I leave my desk and return. I am not quite sure why this happens. Strangely enough the effect is stronger the briefer I am away. Since I work with electronics being…
Karsten
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Isn't my ground different from the factory's ground?

My understanding is that ESD safety things (mats, wrist straps, specially marked soldering irons) are designed to bring everything that can touch a component to the same electrical potential energy – ground. But it seems unreasonable to expect that…
Maxpm
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ESD protection of ADC input

I want to protect a MCU (PIC18F67J60) ADC input (0 to 3.3V) against ESD surges. I have seen different approaches and have some doubt what would be the preferred method. Or possible just pros and cons of each method. The methods are: A TVS diode…
JakobJ
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How to inflict ESD damage on a board?

I have a mature product (designed by me) on a PCB. For science, I would like to induce Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) damage to the board so I can see how it behaves afterwards. This test would be purely academic. One idea that comes to mind is to…
bos
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Are discrete MOSFETs ESD sensitive?

CMOS inputs on microcontrollers and other ICs can be damaged by ESD discharges. Can the gate of a big discrete MOSFET (2N7000, IRF9530, etc.) be damaged by ESD discharges?
Thomas O
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How does a diode clamping circuit protect against overvoltage and ESD?

I always see this circuit when talking about overvoltage or ESD protection (does this circuit accomplish both, or just one?): However, I don't understand how it works. Say I put in 20V at Vpin. So Vpin is at a higher potential than Vdd, so current…
tgun926
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Tips on ESD protection for hobbyist designs

I'm finally getting into simple PCB design for my personal projects, and I'm concerned about ESD protection on exposed parts of my board like USB ports. I know how wrist straps work and I understand things like clamp diodes on modern CMOS IC inputs…
tummychow
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How to Connect USB/Ethernet Shields to Chassis or Digital Grounds

I have a PCB with a few USB and RJ-45 Ethernet connectors on one side. I'm quite confused as to how exactly I'm supposed to be hooking up the SHIELD pins on them though. This is for a host device that will interface with peripherals. It is provided…
Matt
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Static-sensitive high-precision resistor?

I just received some 10K .1% precision resistors from Digikey (part number PTF10KECT-ND). Unlike all their other passive components, which come in a normal plastic bag, these came in a metalized bag with a yellow seal that warns me that they're…
Pete Becker
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