How Do You Store Your Spare IC Chips and Sockets?

[cwilkson]

I built a rotating parts tower to store stuff in. It's over 6 feet tall with 720 drawers IIRC.
All ESD safe...but not grounded as it should be. Because my 100+ year old house wiring is.....100+ years old.
(mostly)

Can't get the old photos to work. But here's a copy/paste of the thumbnail from the other thread.
No foam was used....



There's a really funny edited version of this in the other thread, but it's not available.
just like almost every other image on KLOV..

 

[shawncruiksh]

Along the same lines...you really want to choose static DISSIPATIVE materials over conductive materials. The conductive materials can allow excessive currents to flow resulting in dead devices. Or even worse....degraded devices that will happy work for a while after installation and then die for no apparent reason.

How necessary is it to have ESD materials if you live in an area (coastal California) where there air is rarely ever dry and prone to static? I think in the 16 years I've lived here, I've only gotten a shock a handful of times. I understand it's a risk, but do people who live in humid climates still ensure things are ESD when working with electronics?

 

[cwilkson]

How necessary is it to have ESD materials if you live in an area (coastal California) where there air is rarely ever dry and prone to static? I think in the 16 years I've lived here, I've only gotten a shock a handful of times. I understand it's a risk, but do people who live in humid climates still ensure things are ESD when working with electronics?

Yes. Always.
Why take the risk when it's so easy to handle material correctly?

You say you've been shocked a few times before. That means you've likely been shocked many, MANY times without realizing it....you just didn't feel it.
The electronics will feel it way before you do. Especially CMOS stuff. Use protection.

 

[Azure Oz2]

I am sure many others would have lived through the days that IC's were shipped in white foil covered foam or the black foam that disintegrates over time (still used today). Think of these as shipping packing not storage.

I started with multiple drawer units, went to the divided plastic storage containers and am slowly going back to drawers. The containers are good for moving items. After you get to around 20 or more, the containers start to get hard to move around to access the parts inside compared to the convenience of sliding open or removing a few drawers to put onto the bench. Most of my work that requires components is done in the workshop these days.

 

[DeLuSioNaL29]

And this whole time I had thought this was the best method... I stand corrected!

 

[cwilkson]

I built a rotating parts tower to store stuff in. It's over 6 feet tall with 720 drawers IIRC.
All ESD safe...but not grounded as it should be. Because my 100+ year old house wiring is.....100+ years old.
(mostly)

Can't get the old photos to work. But here's a copy/paste of the thumbnail from the other thread.
No foam was used....

View attachment 714096

There's a really funny edited version of this in the other thread, but it's not available.
just like almost every other image on KLOV..

Thanks to our benevoilent overlords the pictures are back!!! :So I can get to the full sized images now! D

(Rampaging vandals added by @osver . )

 

[osver]

Thanks to our benevoilent overlords the pictures are back!!! :So I can get to the full sized images now! D

(Rampaging vandals added by @osver . )

View attachment 714745

LOL, I forgot about making that image.

 

[parism]

Thanks to our benevoilent overlords the pictures are back!!! :So I can get to the full sized images now! D

(Rampaging vandals added by @osver . )

View attachment 714745

I am jealous, very nice setup, reminds me of the Monolith from 2001: Space Odyssey.



p

 

[SNESNESCUBE64]

Thanks to our benevoilent overlords the pictures are back!!! :So I can get to the full sized images now! D

(Rampaging vandals added by @osver . )

View attachment 714745

I think that building a component tower of power is in my future. This is a hella neat way to do it.

 

[cwilkson]

I am jealous, very nice setup, reminds me of the Monolith from 2001: Space Odyssey.

View attachment 714750

p

Funny you should mention it!!! I guess it's true because the monolith showed up in my original parts bin FS thread too:

SOLD - PARTS - Parts cabinets. $10 each

I built a parts tower, so I don't need these anymore. Multiple units can stack on a bench with care, but better to mount them to a wall or thin plywood sheet so they don't fall over. They are/will be empty. No parts included! I have drawer dividers available too. Grab these when you pick up...

forums.arcade-museum.com

For completeness....good stuff starts here:

SOLD - PARTS - Parts cabinets. $10 each

I built a parts tower, so I don't need these anymore. Multiple units can stack on a bench with care, but better to mount them to a wall or thin plywood sheet so they don't fall over. They are/will be empty. No parts included! I have drawer dividers available too. Grab these when you pick up...

forums.arcade-museum.com

 

[DogP]

For my specifically organized arcade stuff, I use a really old Addressograph catalog file that I picked up cheap on CL. I think the lady said her dad got if from the hospital that he worked at when they switched from a "card catalog" to digital. It's really great because the drawers are so deep that full length IC tubes fit, and the drawers are completely removable, so I can take them to my workbench, and easily reorganize the order of the drawers if necessary.

I have them generally sorted (e.g. 74 series 100-199), but not by specific part. Inside the drawers, the tubes are either dedicated to a specific part, or for parts that I only have one or two of, they're in a mixed tube (which I labeled with a red marking).

For the more misc. stuff, like bags of caps, resistors, "kits", etc... I put them in bags inside of Sterilite File Bins ( https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sterilit...ile-Box-18-1-2-L-x-14-W-x-11-H-Black/19400063 )... they're a nice size, stackable, and strong.

For labeling, I use whiteboard stickers, and mark on them with a wet erase "Vis-a-Vis" marker. That way they don't smudge/erase accidentally when handling, but if contents change, I simply take a damp rag, wipe, and write the new contents.

DogP

 

[yorkshire_spam]

Compartment boxes by p/n number range for "common" stuff, no ESD, never had issues:

Bulk eproms and IC sockets stored in tubes in a box on the shelf.
Specialist "large" ICs stored in larger compartment boxes with anti-static foam (pokeys, processors etc)

 

[armis2000]

I'm a little too organized...

 

[Azure Oz2]

In the middle of sorting the Workshop (moving Shelves around for better access and use of space). Here are my Parts Containers and Parts Drawers that I store parts in. I also have Binders with Pockets that I generally use for smaller stuff (low quantity full ranges of Ceramic Caps, Inductors, Resistors, Zeners as well as assorted Diodes, Transistors, ICs, etc. I'll post a pic of those (pth and smd) when I get them off the shelves. I also have those stackable open Trays for large parts and lots of Boxes with parts in them. I'll post more pics of stuff I store parts in as I make progress on the workshop rearranging. I have a new little label printer to label all the drawers properly.