Are you regularly getting complaints from your operators that wrist straps are awkward or uncomfortable? As a result, do you come across them not being worn properly? Unfortunately, we see wrist straps being misused regularly. Here, you can find just 4 of the many mistakes we see with wrist straps, but do not fear, there is a solution!
Not Worn
Operators feel restricted by their wrist strap, do not understand the necessity and stop wearing it, even if only for a short period.
Disconnected
Operators leave their workstation and forget to re-connect their wrist strap on their return.
Incorrectly Fitted
For various reasons the wrist strap might not be fitted correctly, whether it be for comfort or by accident. Either way, it leaves the wrist strap potentially not functioning as it should.
Damaged
Operators used old or damaged wrist straps that might pass at the tester but could be intermittently failing whilst being worn. Perhaps the coiled cords have been patched up or the wristband is looking old and worn.
The Solution?
Wear SCS Groundable Static Control Smocks for hands-free grounding!
SCS ESD Smocks have a Hip-to-Cuff Grounding feature that allows for hands-free grounding by connecting a coiled cord to the snap on the side of the smock. This is directly connected to the conductive kitted cuff that acts as a wristband. Leaving the operator with a hands-free alternative to a wrist strap. Both Single-Wire and Dual-Wire options are available so even if you are using dual-wire continuous monitors, there is an option for you!
SCS Smocks – a hands-free alternative to wrist straps
In general, wearing Static Control Garments offers many benefits to controlling Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) and more. To learn more about the role of ESD Garments in the ESD Protected Area (EPA) visit this blog post.
Watch A Minute with Miranda on Static Control Garments:
Why do you need ESD smocks?
How to care for your ESD smocks
Testing Resistance Point-to-Point Rpp for an ESD Smock
Welcome back to “A Minute with Miranda.” This week we will be discussing how to test the point-to-point resistance (or Rpp) of an ESD Smock.
ANSI/ESD S20.20 requires initial and periodic verification of ESD Control items – this includes ESD Smocks. ANSI/ESD STM2.1 outlines the test method applicable for ESD Smocks: the ESD Smock is to be placed on an insulative surface and 2 x 5lbs cylindrical electrodes are to be positioned on each cuff before taking the measurement. The Resistance Point-to-Point Rpp of the groundable smock needs to be less than 1 x 109 ohms.
Welcome back to “A Minute with Miranda.” This week we will be covering how to launder your ESD Smocks.
SCS Static Control Smocks should be laundered periodically for proper operation. Smocks should be washed by hand or with a standard household washing machine using cold or warm water with a non-ionic liquid detergent. Avoid using bleach, fabric softeners or dry detergents as these can contaminate the conductive fibers and make the garment insulative .
After washing the smocks they should either be hung dry or tumbled dry at low heat. High heat can degrade the conductive fibers within the garment and degrade the ESD properties.
With normal wearing and washing conditions, SCS Static Control Smocks will maintain their ESD properties for a minimum of 100 washings.
SCS Smocks meet the requirement for Groundable Static Control Garment System per ANSI/ESD S20.20 required limit of less than 3.5 x 107 ohm Rtg tested per ANSI/ESD STM2.1 and ESD TR53.
SCS is excited to announce a brand new video series discussing real-life ESD problems and solutions. This is a great educational resource for anybody new to ESD or just wanting to learn more about best practices.
Each episode will focus on one issue commonly found in an ESD Protected Area – at the same time we will present solutions so you know how to tackle the problem should you ever face it in your own factory.
A new episode will be published each week so make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel to get notified when a new video is available. Episodes 1 and 2 are now live so don’t waste a second longer and catch-up now:
The best-equipped service bench in your shop can be a real money-maker when set up properly. It can also be a source of frustration and lost revenue if the threat of ElectroStatic Discharge (ESD) is ignored.
A typical scenario might be where an electronic product is brought in for service, properly diagnosed and repaired, only to find a new symptom requiring additional repair. Unless the technician understands the ESD problem and has developed methods to keep it in check damage from static electricity cannot be ruled out as a potential source of the new problem.
Static electricity is nothing new; it’s all around us and always has been. What has changed is the spread of semiconductors in almost every consumer product we buy. As device complexity increases, often its static sensitivity increases as well. Some semiconductor devices may be damaged by as little as 20-30 volts!
It is important to note that this post is addressing the issue of ESD in terms of control, and not elimination. The potential for an ESD event to occur cannot be completely eliminated outside of a laboratory environment, but we can greatly reduce the risk with proper training and equipment. By implementing a good static control program and developing some simple habits, ESD can be effectively controlled.
The Source of the Problem
Static is all around us. We occasionally will see or feel it by walking on carpet, touching something or someone and feeling the “zap” of a static discharge. The perception level varies but static charge is typically 2000-3000 volts before we can feel it. ESD sensitivity of some parts is under 100 volts – well below the level that we would be able to detect.
Even though carpet may not be used around the service bench, there are many other static “generators” may not be obvious and frequently found around or on a service bench. The innocent-looking Styrofoam coffee cup can be a tremendous source of static. The simple act of pulling several inches of adhesive tape from a roll can generate several thousand volts of static! Many insulative materials will develop a charge by rubbing them or separating them from another material. This phenomenon is known as “tribocharging” and it occurs often where there are insulative materials present.
Sources of Charge Generation: Unwinding a Roll of Tape
People are often a major factor in generation of static charges. Studies have shown that personnel in a manufacturing environment frequently develop 5000 volts or more just by walking across the floor. Again, this is “tribocharging” produced by the separation of their shoes and the flooring as they walk.
A technician seated at a non-ESD workbench could easily have a 400-500 volt charge on his or her body caused not only by friction or tribocharging, but additionally by the constant change in body capacitance that occurs from natural movements. The simple act of lifting both feet off the floor can raise the measured voltage on a person as much as 500-1000 volts.
Setting up a “Static Safe” Program
Perhaps the most important factor in a successful static control program is developing an awareness of the “unseen” problem. One of the best ways to demonstrate the ESD hazard is by using a “static field meter”. The visual impact of locating and measuring static charges of more than 1000 volts will get the attention of skeptical individuals.
ESD education and awareness are essential basic ingredients in any effective static control program. A high level of static awareness must be created and maintained in and around the protected area. Once personnel understand the potential problem, reinforce the understanding by hanging up static control posters in strategic locations. The technician doesn’t need an unaware and/or unprotected person wandering over and touching things on the service bench.
Workstation Grounding
To minimize the threat of an ESD event, we need to bring all components of the system to the same relative potential and maintain that potential. Workstations can be grounded with the following options:
Establish an ESD Common Grounding Point, an electrical junction where all ESD grounds are connected to. Usually, a common ground point is connected to ground, preferably equipment ground.
The Service Bench Surface should be covered with a dissipative material. This can be either an ESD-type high-pressure laminate formed as the benchtop surface, or it may be one of the many types of dissipative mats placed upon the benchtop surface. The mats are available in different colors, with different surface textures, and with various cushioning effects. Whichever type is chosen, look for a material with surface resistivity of 1 x 109 or less, as these materials are sufficiently conductive to discharge objects in less than one second. The ESD laminate or mat must be grounded to the ESD common grounding point to work properly. Frequently, a one Megohm current limiting safety resistor is used in series with the work surface ground. This blog post will provide more information on how to choose and install your ESD working surface.
Types of Worksurface Matting – click here for more information
A Dissipative Floor Mat may also be used, especially if the technician intends to wear foot-grounding devices. The selection of the floor mat should take into consideration several factors. If anything is to roll on the mat, then a soft, cushion-type mat will probably not work well. If the tech does a lot of standing, then the soft, anti-fatigue type will be much appreciated. Again, the mat should be grounded to the common ground point, with or without the safety resistor as desired.
Workstation Tools and Supplies should be selected with ESD in mind. Avoid insulators and plastics where possible on and around the bench. Poly bags and normal adhesive tapes can generate substantial charges, as can plastic cups and glasses. If charge-generating plastics and the like cannot be eliminated, consider using one of the small, low cost air ionizers It can usually be mounted off the bench to conserve work area, and then aimed at the area where most of the work is being done. The ionizer does not eliminate the need for grounding the working surface or the operator, but it does drain static charges from insulators, which do not lend themselves to grounding.
Personnel Grounding
People are great static generators. Simple movements at the bench can easily build up charges as high as 500-1000 volts. Therefore, controlling this charge build-up on the technician is essential. The two best known methods for draining the charge on a person are wrist straps with ground cords and foot or heel grounders. Personnel can be grounded through:
Wrist Straps are probably the most common item used for personnel grounding. They are comprised of a conductive band or strap that fits snugly on the wrist. The wrist strap is frequently made of an elastic material with a conductive inner surface, or it may be a metallic expandable band similar to that found on a watch. For more information on wrist straps, check out this post.
Ground Cords are typically made of a highly flexible wire and often are made retractable for additional freedom of movement. There are two safety features that are usually built into the cord, and the user should not attempt to bypass them. The first, and most important, is a current limiting resistor (typically 1 Megohm) which prevents hazardous current from flowing through the cord in the event the wearer inadvertently contacts line voltage. The line voltage may find another path to ground, but the cord is designed to neither increase or reduce shock hazard for voltages under 250 volts. The second safety feature built into most cords is a breakaway connection to allow the user to exit rapidly in an emergency. This is usually accomplished by using a snap connector at the wrist strap end.
Foot or Heel Grounders are frequently used where the technician needs more freedom of movement than the wrist strap and cord allow. The heel grounder is often made of a conductive rubber or vinyl and is worn over a standard shoe. It usually has a strap that passes under the heel for good contact and a strap of some type that is laid inside the shoe for contact to the wearer. Heel grounders must be used with some type of conductive or dissipative floor surface to be effective and should be worn on both feet to insure continuous contact with the floor. Obviously, lifting both feet from the floor while sitting will cause protection to be lost.Don’t forget to regularly check and verify your personnel grounding items:
The Personnel Grounding Checklist
Summary
An effective static control program doesn’t have to be expensive or complex. The main concept is to minimize generation of static and to drain it away when it does occur, thereby lessening the chance for an ESD event to happen. The ingredients for an effective ESD program are:
Education: to ensure that everyone understands the problem and the proper handling of sensitive devices.
Workstation Grounding: use a dissipative working surface material and dissipative flooring materials as required.
Personnel Grounding: using wrist straps with ground cords and/or foot-grounding devices.
Follow-up to ensure Compliance: all elements of the program should be checked frequently to determine that they are working effectively.
The ESD “threat” is not likely to go away soon, and it is very likely to become an even greater hazard, as electronic devices continue to increase in complexity and decrease in size. By implementing a static control program now, you will be prepared for the more sensitive products that will be coming.
There is a very common misconception that if a person is wearing a wrist strap, an ESD garment (ESD smock, ESD shirt, ESD coat etc.) is unnecessary. Operators falsely believe that any charge on a person and their clothes will find its way to ground via the wrist strap.
Today’s blog post will explain the importance of ESD smocks and why they should be considered for your ESD Protected Area (EPA).
Purpose of ESD smocks The main reason people wear ESD smocks is to shield their insulative clothing and minimize the electric fields generated from their clothing. As we learned previously, all process essential insulators should be kept at a minimum distance of 12 inches from ESD susceptible items. Clothing fabric, particularly when made from synthetic fibres, is a significant charge generator. Non-ESD clothing fabric is an isolated charged insulator which cannot be grounded and the resulting charges can threaten ESD control.
An insulator (like clothing) will not let charges flow and holds the charge until either neutralized naturally over time (hours or days) or with an air ionizer (artificially under a few seconds). Until the charges are neutralized, your clothing may have several thousand volts that could suddenly discharge and damage nearby static-sensitive items.
The ESD Standard does not require ESD smocks, however they are a very practical solution for minimizing ESD events from a person’s clothing. ESD smocks can be an important step to demonstrating commitment to an ESD control program.
Example of an ESD Smock
“Garments are intended to attenuate electrostatic fields that may be present on personnel clothing. The need for ESD protective garments is generally determined based on the sensitivity of the ESD items being handled where ESD control is a requirement. While a person may be grounded using a wrist strap or other grounding methods, that does not mean that insulative clothing fabrics can dissipate a charge to that person’s skin and then to ground. Personnel clothing usually is electrically separate or isolated from the body.” [ESD TR20.20 Clause 5.3.13 Garments]
ESD smock properties Most smocks are constructed of a dissipative material which incorporates texturized polyester and carbon nylon fibres. The conductive nylon fibres are woven in a chain-link design throughout the material, providing continuous and consistent charge dissipation.
ESD Smocks are an ESD protective product that should possess the following ESD control characteristics:
Antistaticlow-charging so they minimize the generation of electrostatic charges;
Dissipative so when grounded they will remove charges to ground;
Shielding creating a “Faraday Cage” effect so they will restrict charges generated on the user’s clothing to the inside of the ESD Smock and
Groundable so the user can easily and reliably connect them to ground.
The majority of ESD smocks on the market are single-wire ESD smocks meaning they provide one electrical connection to ground.
The all-new SCS Dual-Wire Static Control Smocks are designed for use with dual-wire grounding systems. The smock’s dual-wire circuit loop closes when its two conductive cuffs are bridged by the skin on the wearer’s wrists.
One conductive cuff is electrically bonded to the dissipative garment and one snap stud at the hip.
The second conductive cuff uses an isolated conductive path to bond to a second snap stud at the hip.
When used in conjunction with a dual-wire continuous monitor, SCS Dual-Wire Static Control Smocks provide assurance of a proper dissipative path from operator to ground at all times.
For more information on the differences of single-wire and dual-wire systems, please review this post.
Installation and grounding of ESD smocks Follow the directions below for proper installation and grounding of the ESD smock.
Put on the smock, and close the garment by fastening all of the snaps on the front. Verify that no clothing is exposed outside of the smock.
Fit the conductive knitted cuffs over the wrists. Ensure that the cuffs make contact with the skin. They should never be worn over the shirt sleeves.
Ground the ESD smock. A popular way to ground an ESD smock is with a coiled cord either attached to a snap on the waist area of the smock or via a wrist strap snapped to the inside cuff of an ESD smock. If none of these methods are suitable, the smock should be grounded via the person’s wrist removing charges via ESD footwear to ESD protected flooring.
Using Hip-to-Cuff Grounding with the SCS Dual-Wire Static Control Smock and SCS Iron Man® Plus Workstation Monitor
“After verifying that the garment has electrical conductivity through all panels, the garment should be electrically bonded to the grounding system of the wearer so as not to act as a floating conductor. This can be accomplished by several means:
Ground the garment to the body through a wrist strap-direct connection with an adapter
Ground the garment through a conductive wrist cuff in direct contact with the skin of a grounded operator
Ground the garment through a typical separate ground cord, directly attached to an identified groundable point on the garment
Garments should be worn with the front properly snapped or buttoned to avoid exposure of possible charges on personal clothing worn under the garment.“
[ESD TR20.20 Clause 5.3.13.2.6 Proper Use]
ESD Garments are a conductor and therefore should be grounded. If not grounded, the ESD smock can be a potentially threatening isolated charged conductor. If an operator is wearing a smock but is not electrically connecting the smock to either their body’s skin or ground, then charges on the smock may have nowhere to go or discharge to.
Testing of ESD smocks Panel-to-panel conductivity is essential to ensure portions of the smock are not left as isolated charged conductors. A Resistance Test Kit can quickly measure resistance of the fabric and ensure panel-to-panel conductivity by placing five pound electrodes on different fabric panels.
To ensure that the fabric is low tribocharging, a Static Field Meter can be used to measure charges generated by causing contact and separation with other materials. In addition, the Static Field Meter can demonstrate shielding by measuring a charged object and then covering the charged item with the ESD smock. Being shielded, the measured charge should be greatly reduced.
“Static control garments that electrically bond to the test subject and provide a path to ground for the test subject (Category 3) shall be evaluated by all three methods:
the resistance point-to-point test method (Fig Sa, 5b and 5c);
the resistance point to groundable point test method (Figures 4, 6a, 6b and 7); and
the system test to determine the resistance from the person, through the garment
groundable point of the garment to the groundable point, including the ground cord (Figures 8a and 8b).” [ANSI/ESD STM2.1 Clause 1.3.2]
Cleaning of ESD smocks Smocks must be laundered periodically for proper operation. The proper method to clean a smock is to:
Wash the garment by hand or with a standard household washing machine in cold or warm water.
Only use non-ionic liquid softeners and detergents when laundering. Do not bleach your ESD smocks!
Tumble dry with low heat or hang dry.
Do not use:
Hot water
Dry detergent
Bleach
Fabric softener
Industrial laundry machines
Please also note that smocks should not be altered in any way. The smocks effectiveness is in fully covering the human body and street clothes – especially at the wrists and front of the body. Altering the smock in any way will nullify its effectiveness.
The typical useful and effective life of an ESD smock under normal wearing and recommended washing conditions is a minimum of 75 washings. Under the same conditions, SCS smocks will maintain their usefulness and effectiveness for a minimum of 100 washings
