Best way to store pcb's??

LUCKYMAN

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Anybody have any ideas on how to store extra pcb's?? I have a couple in mylar bags and i have them in a closet.. How do you store them, and keep them from getting corrosion on them or what not??
 
See, now I'm intrigued...



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I personally bubble wrap them and label them with the title and either working or non-working and store them in closets.
 
I personally bubble wrap them and label them with the title and either working or non-working and store them in closets.
I bubble wrap and put them back in the box I got it in with the name of the PCB on the box and working status.
 
I bubble wrap and put them back in the box I got it in with the name of the PCB on the box and working status.

Curious...you are using the antistatic bubble wrap, right?

Me -- static shielding bags and in boxes.
Ed
 
Didnt know they had antistatic bubble wrap just anti-s bags.

Yep -- usually pink. Costs more than the clear stuff. The clear stuff is a nasty static generator. If it wasn't too late and the test equipment wasn't locked up for the day - I'd go down to the lab to measure the voltages generated by the clear bubble wrap and compare to the pink.
Last week - I had the ESD meter and measured two clear plastic bags rubbing together just once - hit 3KV. I imagine rubbing them a couple times would get the voltage wayyy up there.

Also remember - antistatic and static shielding are two different animals.
Antistatic means it won't generate static...but it won't shield against static either.
Static shielding - won't generate static and will shield against static.

Pink (sometimes green) poly bags are usually antistatic.
Black or silver bags are usually static shielding.

Storing the boards open and in slots as the other poster showed (he's much more ambitious than me!) is far safer than using the ordinary bubble wrap. Even boxes is better (no bubble wrap) - cardboard is not much of a static generator.... and this keeps prying fingers from handling them.

Ed
 
Yep -- usually pink. Costs more than the clear stuff. The clear stuff is a nasty static generator. If it wasn't too late and the test equipment wasn't locked up for the day - I'd go down to the lab to measure the voltages generated by the clear bubble wrap and compare to the pink.
Last week - I had the ESD meter and measured two clear plastic bags rubbing together just once - hit 3KV. I imagine rubbing them a couple times would get the voltage wayyy up there.

Also remember - antistatic and static shielding are two different animals.
Antistatic means it won't generate static...but it won't shield against static either.
Static shielding - won't generate static and will shield against static.

Pink (sometimes green) poly bags are usually antistatic.
Black or silver bags are usually static shielding.

Storing the boards open and in slots as the other poster showed (he's much more ambitious than me!) is far safer than using the ordinary bubble wrap. Even boxes is better (no bubble wrap) - cardboard is not much of a static generator.... and this keeps prying fingers from handling them.

Ed

Good info to know there. Wonder where a good place is to buy a bunch of pink bubble wrap?
 
Good info to know there. Wonder where a good place is to buy a bunch of pink bubble wrap?

I buy it by the pallet load (I use LOTS of it) and have it shipped in from a packing supply company in Illinois - bubble wrap is somewhat inexpensive but shipping costs suck! I have yet to find a local outfit that carries it.

It's easier to find static shielding bags than antistatic bubble wrap. You can buy this stuff online lots of places. If you plan on reusing - go for the zipper bags.

Ed
 
LOL -- I've been taking a lot of this stuff from the trash piles at work in the hallways and collecting strange looks from co-workers.

I've collected the grey static shielding bags, red anti-static bags, red anti-static bubble wrap, red anti-static foam peanuts, red anti-static big air bubble strips, and big strips of grey static-shielding foam.

I've also grabbed a variety of crush-resistant boxes that have the side supports on the top flap and that's where my boards get stored; in those boxes, wrapped in static shielding bags; sometimes resting on the static shielding foam.

I never knew there were so many varieties. I'm just fortunate that they're constantly throwing these things away at work. :)
 
Wrap in anti-static bubble wrap,

store in USPS Priority boxes w/ big rubber band around it to keep them shut,

toss those into big 122 qt. storage bin (seems to hold a fair amount without much wasted space), but if you have a lot of shelf space there isn't much point in doing so.


And if the PCB is too long I just cut off part of another USPS box, toss it on the open end of the first USPS box, and tape up the joint. Sounds bad, but it is surprisingly sturdy (if you tuck the small flaps of the first box into the cut-off piece of the 2nd one) and only takes a minute.
 
Curious...you are using the antistatic bubble wrap, right?

Me -- static shielding bags and in boxes.
Ed

If I have the pink bubble wrap I use that by itself if not it goes into an anti-static bag with newspaper to fill in the gaps around the PCB in the bag.
 
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Sometimes we get in giant anti-static bags at work when we get a shipment of switch blades or development prototype boards. I usually snag what I can and set them aside for Channelmanic. He goes though quite a few when shipping PCBs.
 
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