Do Esd Mats Need To Be Grounded

Electrostatic discharge is no laughing matter.

Do esd mats need to be grounded.

This requires the use of a surface resistivity esd meter to perform both resistance top to top rtt and resistance to groundable point rtg tests. If an anti static mat is isolated from electrical ground by insulators carpets painted floors or tables you need to connect it to an electrical outlet by using a grounding cable. Use of an esd mat on an esd work surface is not required but esd working surfaces should always be grounded to a common ground point and never daisy chained. If the esd mat or a conductive metal surface that the sensitive circuit card assembly cca is resting on is grounded with just an electrical wire connection directly to ground there is nothing to slow down the discharge of the operator through.

Insulating materials cause static to be created on work surfaces and contribute to electrostatic discharges esd being created. Without that ground the mat could in theory protect the item being worked on at first but would then transfer the esd to the very next thing it comes into contact with the next item the person holding it and then to the item or even. If your facility includes the presence of a clean room there will be a greater need for specialized equipment and cleaning chemicals in order to meet esd grounding requirements. It usually takes several thoushand volts before humans can feel the discharge such as walking across carpet wit.

The ansi esd association standard used in the united states to test that an esd mat is static dissipative is ansi esd s4 1 worksurfaces resistance measurement s. The discharge voltage can reach tens of thoushands of volts although it is low amperage. The esd strap instead drains power from you more efficiently quickly onto whatever grounded object that you are connected to than a mat will do obviously a mat will only be of use if bare parts of the board are in contact with the mat itself. A number of factors lead to the degradation of esd mats including dragging heavy objects over the surface abrasion or cuts chemical cleaners or direct heat caused by soldering or rework.

Clean rooms often require the use of full body anti static safety suits ionized blowers and antistatic work tools. Esd grounding 1 meg ohm resistor why do we need to use a 1 meg ohm resistor for esd grounding. Just like working surface matting floor matting needs to be connected to ground. Esd mats also use a common ground to draw the electrostatic discharge away from offending areas.

Floor mat grounding cord. A floor mat grounding cord is used to link the floor mat to ground in our example an ebp bar.