HP xw6000 manual Electrostatic Discharge Information, Generating Static, Relative Humidity

Identifying the Chassis, Routine Care, and Disassembly Preparation

7.2Electrostatic Discharge Information

A sudden discharge of static electricity from your finger or other conductor can destroy static-sensitive devices or microcircuitry. Often the spark is neither felt nor heard, but damage occurs. An electronic device exposed to electrostatic discharge (ESD) may not appear to be affected at all and can work perfectly throughout a normal cycle. The device may function normally for a while, but it has been degraded in the internal layers, reducing its life expectancy.

Networks built into many integrated circuits provide some protection, but in many cases, the discharge contains enough power to alter device parameters or melt silicon junctions.

7.2.1 Generating Static

The following table shows that:

■Different activities generate different amounts of static electricity.

■Static electricity increases as humidity decreases.

		Relative Humidity
Event	55%	40%	10%
Walking across carpet	7,500 V	15,000 V	35,000 V
Walking across vinyl floor	3,000 V	5,000 V	12,000 V
Motions of bench worker	400 V	800 V	6,000 V
Removing DIPs* from plastic tube	400 V	700 V	2,000 V
Removing DIPs* from vinyl tray	2,000 V	4,000 V	11,500 V
Removing DIPs* from Styrofoam	3,500 V	5,000 V	14,500 V
Removing bubble pack from PCB	7,000 V	20,000 V	26,500 V
Packing PCBs in foam-lined box	5,000 V	11,000 V	21,000 V

*These are then multi-packaged inside plastic tubes, trays, or Styrofoam.

✎700 volts can degrade a product.

7–2 Service Reference Guide