Question about static electricity

[void.no.spam.com@gmail.co]

I bought a USB drive, and it came in a small plastic shell package.
Is it safe to assume that this plastic material is anti-static?

I have not yet opened the package, and I left it sitting on the carpet
for a while. Then I did some vacuuming, and ran the vacuum cleaner
right next to the package.

Assuming that the plastic package is anti-static, would that be enough
to prevent the USB drive from being damaged by any static electricity
generated from the carpet or the vacuum cleaner?

 

[z]

On Jul 7, 11:40 am, "void.no.spam....@gmail.com"
<void.no.spam....@gmail.com> wrote:

I bought a USB drive, and it came in a small plastic shell package.
Is it safe to assume that this plastic material is anti-static?

I have not yet opened the package, and I left it sitting on the carpet
for a while.  Then I did some vacuuming, and ran the vacuum cleaner
right next to the package.

Assuming that the plastic package is anti-static, would that be enough
to prevent the USB drive from being damaged by any static electricity
generated from the carpet or the vacuum cleaner?

most places north of the equator, static is more of a problem during
the dried out winters than the muggy summers.

 

[table.delete]

On Jul 7, 8:40 am, "void.no.spam....@gmail.com"
<void.no.spam....@gmail.com> wrote:

Is it safe to assume that this plastic material is anti-static?
Being that the amount of static that may build up on the packaging is

unlikely to kill you, your assumption is safe... however the same case
may not be true for the USB drive... although most drives are quite
resistant to static damage, you've given us no information about your
drive, so we'll assume the worst case.

Assuming that the plastic package is anti-static, would that be enough
to prevent the USB drive from being damaged by any static electricity
generated from the carpet or the vacuum cleaner?
If the package is indeed anti-static, the drive should be relatively

safe from static damage, as long as you open it with care, that is,
ground yourself before opening the package! Touch a grounded (bare)
metal object for a few seconds before opening the package and you
should be safe.

If it is not, the package may have accumulated some charge which
should be dissapated before you open it. Try touching a grounded
metal object while touching the package for a few seconds... that
should take care of most of any charge on the package.

 

[John Larkin]

On Mon, 7 Jul 2008 08:40:55 -0700 (PDT), "void.no.spam.com@gmail.com"
<void.no.spam.com@gmail.com> wrote:

I bought a USB drive, and it came in a small plastic shell package.
Is it safe to assume that this plastic material is anti-static?

No.

I have not yet opened the package, and I left it sitting on the carpet
for a while. Then I did some vacuuming, and ran the vacuum cleaner
right next to the package.

Assuming that the plastic package is anti-static, would that be enough
to prevent the USB drive from being damaged by any static electricity
generated from the carpet or the vacuum cleaner?

I carry my usb drive in my watch pocket in my jeans... no cover, no
retractible connector, no special handling. Works fine. The active
pins are nicely recessed inside the metal shell. They thought about
this.

John

 

[whit3rd]

On Jul 7, 8:40 am, "void.no.spam....@gmail.com"
<void.no.spam....@gmail.com> wrote:

I bought a USB drive, and it came in a small plastic shell package.
Is it safe to assume that this plastic material is anti-static?

It is not. Static charge is sufficient to cause voltage overstress
on some high-impedance MOS devices, but USB doesn't
have any connector pins attached to high-impedance
circuitry, only to transceivers ( the low impedance of the
transceiver output circuit protects the input it's attached to).