How do you guys store your chips?

Broodwich

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In a bag? do you eat them all up and not have any extra's? do you keep them in a hard plastic case? put them on a piece of foam so you don't get crumbs?

Seriously tho i'm talking about eprom holders/cases/protectors/storage. I've seen cool plastic "C" shaped holders the chips slide right into, pushed into some foam and put in an anti-static bag, Aluminum foil, ziplock bag, cool plastic case that opens like a box. ect...

I've been very interested in getting the plastic C shaped channel style but the plastic case would be awesome too (suppose i could go out and find just about any plastic case and put a piece of foam in there).

Is there a down side to pressing them into the foam? (other than the obvious breaking of pins) and are there different types of foam that's better to use??? (esd safe?)

I know there's a bunch of questions here, I'm just looking for input on any of this stuff and what people prefer to use and where you get it :D



btw by plastic C shaped channel/holder i mean this kind:
5454695935_6607f7e2c0.jpg
 
I store all of mine on pink anti-static foam. I've had too many old, valuable chips get destroyed by decaying black anti-static foam.

The pink foam isn't as conductive but it sure is a hell of a lot less destructive.
 
I store all of mine on pink anti-static foam. I've had too many old, valuable chips get destroyed by decaying black anti-static foam.

The pink foam isn't as conductive but it sure is a hell of a lot less destructive.

what about the blue foam? is there a difference? where do you get said foam? thanks!!!
 
Got a Kohl's near you? Go to their jewelry department and ask for some jewelry gift boxes. The have 3 sizes, ring, bracelet, and necklace. The ring box should comfotably hold 2-4 IC's. The necklace box (longer one) should hold up to 8 IC's no problem.

They are free, as long as you don't ask for a metric shit-ton of them. And they have gauze stuffing in them to pad them and keep them from sliding around.
 
I store all my chips in the original anti-static tubes. I occasionally get chips on foam so I put them in tubes as soon as I get them. Like Raymond said, that black foam will corrode the legs if left in too long.
Chips I use for repair work are stored in bins for easy access.
 
In a bag? do you eat them all up and not have any extra's? do you keep them in a hard plastic case? put them on a piece of foam so you don't get crumbs?

Seriously tho i'm talking about eprom holders/cases/protectors/storage. I've seen cool plastic "C" shaped holders the chips slide right into, pushed into some foam and put in an anti-static bag, Aluminum foil, ziplock bag, cool plastic case that opens like a box. ect...

I've been very interested in getting the plastic C shaped channel style but the plastic case would be awesome too (suppose i could go out and find just about any plastic case and put a piece of foam in there).

Is there a down side to pressing them into the foam? (other than the obvious breaking of pins) and are there different types of foam that's better to use??? (esd safe?)

I know there's a bunch of questions here, I'm just looking for input on any of this stuff and what people prefer to use and where you get it :D



btw by plastic C shaped channel/holder i mean this kind:
5454695935_6607f7e2c0.jpg

That 'C shaped' thing is actually a small section of a tube - when you buy dips in bulk, they used to come in long tubes (20 chips long perhaps). The tubes would then be stuck into a long ESD safe bag. When people needed to store just a few chips, they cut the tubes down.

I've not found a source for bare tubes. At this point if I don't have tubes I either use the foam (whatever I have around), or I use some of the crappy sockets I have around. I cut the socket's legs off, stick the chip in the socket, then drop the whole mess into a static bag. Cutting the legs off the socket make it less damaging to the ESD bag. The socket will keep the chip's legs from getting bent.

The other thing I've seen is putting the chip in a matchbox - with the matches under the chip to support it! This is how a chip was recently sent to me, and while it more or less worked (had a couple of bent pins, but nothing major), I'm going to have to call this a last-ditch idea.

Note that the pink foam and the black foam are NOT equivalent - the pink stuff is anti-static (that is to say you can rub it and it won't build a charge, but it's still an insulator) and the black stuff is actually conductive. For storage in foam you really want the conductive stuff, as any charge that gets near gets dissipated through the foam. The problem is that the stuff degrades over time, so it's not great for long-term storage. The pink stuff is better than nothing, and at least it keeps the chip legs protected mechanically.

Note: I have a bunch of crappy sockets because I was foolish enough to buy a JAMECO grab bag of sockets. Don't do that. Their regular stuff is fine, but the grab bag of sockets (and I presume other grab bags are similar) are full of crap.
 
Note that the pink foam and the black foam are NOT equivalent - the pink stuff is anti-static (that is to say you can rub it and it won't build a charge, but it's still an insulator) and the black stuff is actually conductive. For storage in foam you really want the conductive stuff, as any charge that gets near gets dissipated through the foam. The problem is that the stuff degrades over time, so it's not great for long-term storage. The pink stuff is better than nothing, and at least it keeps the chip legs protected mechanically.

Anti-static foams (and plastics) are made by adding compounds that make them slightly conductive. Your statement above seems to imply that the pink foam is not conductive, which is not true. Just wanted to clarify.
 
Anti-static foams (and plastics) are made by adding compounds that make them slightly conductive. Your statement above seems to imply that the pink foam is not conductive, which is not true. Just wanted to clarify.

Huh. My training always said that it wasn't conductive. I guess it wasn't 'significantly' conductive (i.e. it's very high resistance), whereas the black stuff is much more conductive?
 
How about the blue foam?? i recently got a pair of chips in a 12x12 section of foam that was broken in 1/2 to sandwich the chips and i could use it on a bunch more that's the only reason i ask.

mhkohne that's what i'm looking for is those tubes! (figures their hard to find, gonna start searching now :D ).

found this with a lil google searching (not sure if .60 is the right size tho): http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10001_10001_29524_-1
 
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How about the blue foam?? i recently got a pair of chips in a 12x12 section of foam that was broken in 1/2 to sandwich the chips and i could use it on a bunch more that's the only reason i ask.

mhkohne that's what i'm looking for is those tubes! (figures their hard to find, gonna start searching now :D ).

Let us all know if you find a source. I only ever got them when I worked places that used a lot of DIP parts and I could grab empties from the discard pile. Unfortunately I work from home now, and I'm in PA while the factory is in NC, so I can't go down and scrounge through the trash anymore. Not like they use many DIPs anymore anyway.

Huh, let me do some more google searching.

AHH! here's a UK place. No prices, probably won't sell small #s, but now I have the term 'DIP shipping tubes'.
http://www.antistat.co.uk/section.php/226/1/dip_shipping_tubes

Hah! still no prices on the web site (You know, for small lots, you really shouldn't make me call a sales goober). And it's in the US.
http://texastechnologies.com/semiconductor-handling-supplies/antistatic-tubes.htm

Also, anti-static shipping tube and 'IC shipping tube' seem to be google searches of worth.
This lot http://www.epak.com/c4470/c4479/c4482/default.html seem to have it, but their link to their sales locations list is broken. So not a good sign.

On reflection, probably the thing to do is figure out who the local distributors of electronics parts are and call them. It's worth a try anyway.
 
Let us all know if you find a source. I only ever got them when I worked places that used a lot of DIP parts and I could grab empties from the discard pile. Unfortunately I work from home now, and I'm in PA while the factory is in NC, so I can't go down and scrounge through the trash anymore. Not like they use many DIPs anymore anyway.

Huh, let me do some more google searching.

AHH! here's a UK place. No prices, probably won't sell small #s, but now I have the term 'DIP shipping tubes'.
http://www.antistat.co.uk/section.php/226/1/dip_shipping_tubes

Hah! still no prices on the web site (You know, for small lots, you really shouldn't make me call a sales goober). And it's in the US.
http://texastechnologies.com/semiconductor-handling-supplies/antistatic-tubes.htm

Also, anti-static shipping tube and 'IC shipping tube' seem to be google searches of worth.
This lot http://www.epak.com/c4470/c4479/c4482/default.html seem to have it, but their link to their sales locations list is broken. So not a good sign.

On reflection, probably the thing to do is figure out who the local distributors of electronics parts are and call them. It's worth a try anyway.

I saw those, the first one is in the UK so i'm sure shipping would be horrible.

I think i'm going to end up ordering from http://www.jameco.com i put a direct link to the tubes in my last post. they seem to have a bunch of other stuff i'd like to have on my bench too so the $5 minimum order won't be an issue. Also it's only $.30 a piece from them for 20" long sections.

edit: looks like shipping isn't to bad $7-$9 for the first 2lbs.
 
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