What an anti-static pouch does for a circuit board
Static that you cannot feel is enough to damage an electronic component. Anti-static film is made to carry that charge away before it builds up.
Most packaging protects against things you can see: moisture, dust, knocks. Electronics need protection from something invisible. A static discharge far too small for a person to notice can damage a component, and the damage may not show until the product is in use.
Where the charge comes from
Static builds up whenever two materials rub together and separate. Ordinary plastic film is very good at this: a part sliding into a plain polyethylene bag, or two bags rubbing in a carton, generates charge. Because ordinary plastic does not conduct, the charge stays where it is until it finds something to jump to. If that something is a circuit board, the discharge passes through the components.
What anti-static film does differently
Anti-static film is made so that charge can spread across its surface and drain away slowly, and so that the film itself generates very little charge when it is rubbed. Nothing builds up, so there is nothing to discharge.
When you need it
- Bare printed circuit boards and assembled boards
- Loose components, modules and cartridges
- Storage devices and anything with exposed contacts
Finished products in their own casing, such as switches, plugs and sockets, are usually packed in ordinary printed pouches. It is the exposed electronics that need the special film.
What to tell us
Send the size of the part, whether it is a bare board or a cased product, how it is packed at your end, and whether it needs to be sealed or simply bagged. We make these pouches in three-side seal, centre seal, stand-up and zipper formats, plain or printed.
Have a product to pack?
Tell us what it is and how it is sold. We will reply with a laminate, a format and a price.
