Chosen Solution
I work for a chitty repair shop and I am trying to set the story straight here on proper ESD safety procedures. Our main tech bench has the grounded mat on it, but we have a few other work areas that do not. Those other areas are used with these blue mats you see in the photo which do not have any grounding lead but I think the chinese package said they were ESD safe. I can not see how they would be very protective, as a minor of fact I picked one up off one of the work areas not long ago and you could hear snapping as I peeled it off a laminate surface. For at home purposes, I bought this red travel mat (with pockets at the top which I do not understand what you would use for?) but I still like the blue mats so I am wondering if the blue mat would isolate the device from being properly grounded through the red mat though?? I do not use a wrist strap at work but I always touch or lean on the grounded mat I am working on. If I have to wear one I would rather have it on my ankle to be honest.
On a side note I am looking to start a business working out of a commercial high top van and I need to know how you would go about grounding a mat on a desk in the van if it is isolated from the ground with rubber tires? Thanks
Hi, Just wondering if the blue mat is made of a material that has a high resistance to the discharge of static electricity from either you or the device which is placed on it. The pockets in the red mat are probably there to hold tools etc. That way you can roll up the mat with the tools enclosed and move onto the next place that you’re working at, ready to go when you unfold the mat. I think that the person repairing the device should be grounded as the body can build up and store static electricity and this static build up needs to be discharged before working on ESD sensitive devices. This static build up can be produced by just walking across different floor surfaces, e.g. walking across a synthetic carpet is a good way to build up static in the body. As for a solution for a van, if you ground the mat to the van’s chassis it will be at the same earth potential as the van and provide a path for the static to discharge to. You could also use a strap to ground yourself to the chassis as well then you and the mat will be at the same potential with respect to the same earth, (-ve side of van battery) If you want you could always connect an anti static strap under the van that touches the ground. It’s a rubber strap with a metal insert. They used to be quite a common sight. It was mainly used to help prevent people getting “zapped” when touching car doors to open or unlock. Just my $0.02 worth
