Are you looking for advice? Or just a general consensus?
I store them everywhere. I have 14 boards (that I can see) on my desk right now, and dozens scattered along my peripheral. I have a more organized system for the ones that are going to customers or the ones that never will. They are both in boxes, bubble wrapped and stacked, or dumped as aggressively as possible, respectively.
I had an old book that I put in a mailing envelope. It was away from the air, moisture and sunlight for years. I opened it up and it looked like new.
I would suggest tupperware-like storage containers that you can find at K-Mart or some of the other stores. It keeps the dust out.
And lastly, I saw the Titanic exhibit a few years ago. People used leather bags and luggage back then. For some reason it preserved the money and other objects from microbes.
preserving almost anything comes down to moisture and oxygen. with electronics this is very true. Both cause oxidation on parts and boards. You will notice it especially on silver ROHS pads that don't get a coat of solder or flux. The best thing for long term storage would be a vacuum bag with a silica packate in it. That solves both problems, but any sealed container would work well to keep out oxygen, the silica is of course for the moisture.
I would suggest tupperware-like storage containers that you can find at K-Mart or some of the other stores. It keeps the dust out.
I would advise some caution there. Most hard plastics are great static generator/storage devices. But it's hard to pass on $1 shoe boxes, so I would advise either keeping the sensitive parts in an anti-static bag, or line the box with the appropriate material. I've heard that fabric softener is used to make plastic anti-static, so a coat of that MIGHT work.
There are plenty of commercially available storage solutions that are either conductive or non-static producing, but they can be expensive. Use some common sense with those. A company that I worked for was determined to have everything in anti-static storage. Including batteries. I had to argue with several people to convince them that the black foam is CONDUCTIVE (pink is not). So I would be careful how you store things like the Professional Development Board, if you leave a battery in for the clock.
The biggest concerns is static when storing PCBs in a typical "human" environment like inside your house. In high humidity environments (not here in Northern California), moisture may also be a concern for storage depending on your weather. Using an ESD safe desiccant pack in with the board will more than prevent moisture problems. (IE: use a paper type desiccant pouch rather than one of the plastic type ones)
For storage, most of my boards are in ESD bags and stored in various size Plano trays that slide into one of two large Grab-n-Go storage containers that I picked up at Joann's Crafts with a half price coupon. My PPDB is either on my work surface (on an ESD mat) or in the top of the case in a padded 3 way folding ESD bag. The 3 way folding design allows me to leave projects on the PPDB, yet still enclose it in the ESD bag. I'll post a picture of those bags when I get a chance.
My bad,
moisture and oxygen is bad when preserving dry foods (like pretzels) and oxidizing metals.
moisture and static is bad for electronic preservation (but oxygen may be included as bad when dealing with ROHS Silver pads and the like -- that's why gold is a good alternative to silver).
and moisture and heat are bad for organic preservation, like fruit and human bodies.
I think I have it straight. But moisture is bad for almost anything. Which makes the story about the Titanic stuff even more amazing.
Here are pictures of the ESD Pouches that I have many of my larger items stored in. The back and side flaps are bubbled and the bottom and top flaps are just ESD bag material. This one is 10"x14" when folded up. It can be about 2" thick and still close properly (velcro tab)
I think I have it straight. But moisture is bad for almost anything. Which makes the story about the Titanic stuff even more amazing.
A little off topic, but...
The secret is once it's wet, leave it wet (submerged) until you can fully deal with it. Being down as deep as the Titanic is, the lack of oxygen also helps significantly.
For mechanical steel stuff, if you something goes "in the drink", retrieve it, and if you can't thoroughly dry it off, you MAY be better off putting it in a container filled with water until you do a proper job of cleaning and lubricating. You need to evaluate the non feric components to determine if you can safely leave it submerged or not.
USMCinfinity
Posts: 150
Comments
I store them everywhere. I have 14 boards (that I can see) on my desk right now, and dozens scattered along my peripheral. I have a more organized system for the ones that are going to customers or the ones that never will. They are both in boxes, bubble wrapped and stacked, or dumped as aggressively as possible, respectively.
I had an old book that I put in a mailing envelope. It was away from the air, moisture and sunlight for years. I opened it up and it looked like new.
I would suggest tupperware-like storage containers that you can find at K-Mart or some of the other stores. It keeps the dust out.
And lastly, I saw the Titanic exhibit a few years ago. People used leather bags and luggage back then. For some reason it preserved the money and other objects from microbes.
I would advise some caution there. Most hard plastics are great static generator/storage devices. But it's hard to pass on $1 shoe boxes, so I would advise either keeping the sensitive parts in an anti-static bag, or line the box with the appropriate material. I've heard that fabric softener is used to make plastic anti-static, so a coat of that MIGHT work.
There are plenty of commercially available storage solutions that are either conductive or non-static producing, but they can be expensive. Use some common sense with those. A company that I worked for was determined to have everything in anti-static storage. Including batteries. I had to argue with several people to convince them that the black foam is CONDUCTIVE (pink is not). So I would be careful how you store things like the Professional Development Board, if you leave a battery in for the clock.
- Mark
For storage, most of my boards are in ESD bags and stored in various size Plano trays that slide into one of two large Grab-n-Go storage containers that I picked up at Joann's Crafts with a half price coupon. My PPDB is either on my work surface (on an ESD mat) or in the top of the case in a padded 3 way folding ESD bag. The 3 way folding design allows me to leave projects on the PPDB, yet still enclose it in the ESD bag. I'll post a picture of those bags when I get a chance.
moisture and oxygen is bad when preserving dry foods (like pretzels) and oxidizing metals.
moisture and static is bad for electronic preservation (but oxygen may be included as bad when dealing with ROHS Silver pads and the like -- that's why gold is a good alternative to silver).
and moisture and heat are bad for organic preservation, like fruit and human bodies.
I think I have it straight. But moisture is bad for almost anything. Which makes the story about the Titanic stuff even more amazing.
A little off topic, but...
The secret is once it's wet, leave it wet (submerged) until you can fully deal with it. Being down as deep as the Titanic is, the lack of oxygen also helps significantly.
For mechanical steel stuff, if you something goes "in the drink", retrieve it, and if you can't thoroughly dry it off, you MAY be better off putting it in a container filled with water until you do a proper job of cleaning and lubricating. You need to evaluate the non feric components to determine if you can safely leave it submerged or not.
John R.