Dangerously low humidity?

[DontTreadOnMe76]

Hey guys,

I live in an area where the humidity is 10% on average and I'm just wondering if this makes working with sensitive components like flash or whistle mix inherently risky?

Thanks in advance

[Mumbles]

You might want to have a read through this thread: http://www.amateurpyro.com/forums/topic/9422-preventing-electrostatic-discharge/

 

In general, it will make things rather risky. If you have a workshop available, it might be worth considering humidifying it during periods of low humidity.

[DontTreadOnMe76]

Thank you Mumbles for the link. I scanned that thread earlier but not closely enough apparently. The humidity/temp here is way into the red on those charts. I never realized that something as simple as static could be such a hazard.

[taiwanluthiers]

10% is really low... I mean if everything metallic you touch is giving you shocks, you should probably humidify the room until you don't get shocked so much. That shock is static and if there was a pile of flash next to it it would go off.

 

One quick way to raise humidity is take a shower in the room. Humidity hits 80% really quickly, but I'm not sure if the bathroom is a good place for mixing static sensitive comps. Hanging wet laundry in the room works too, but last time I tried it only raised the humidity to about 40%, which is better but still a bit low.

[BurritoBandito]

http://m.bestbuy.com/m/e/catalog/list.jsp?id=abcat0908003

[Arthur]

Static has afflicted the silicon chip industry too. There are some interesting articles and learned papers on static risk and hazard and mitigation in that industry. I did have some by National Semiconductor but I suspect that all the major chip fab companies have published similar papers. If you can find one from the 80's there should be some affordable jury rig methods that can be lifted from one industry to another.

 

Look at all the methods and techniques that they use. get a reliable measure of humidity where you work have a target in the order of 60% initially.

 

Remember full PPE.

[taiwanluthiers]

I guess that's why they make chips in Taiwan... it's extremely humid here. Humidity is never below 80% here.

[DontTreadOnMe76]

The static isn't so bad that I get shocked a lot but its certainly enough to make clothes stick to your body and your hair stand on end. I have a can of static guard that I actually use just for clothes! It sounds like a humidifier and full PPE on a rainy day is the way to go.

 

As for the production of memory chips goes... I have burned out several here and I can not think of any reason other than static. They are covered by a lifetime warranty though so no complaints.

[jessoman]

Hmm last time I made a large batch of whistle mix I worked undercover outside and hosed the ground. An idea?? Also wet your hair oh if your going to wait for a rainy day that's the go. Chances are you won't and if you do you will be storing stuff that shouldn't be stored. Which is even more dangerous in climates like that.

[DontTreadOnMe76]

I was just joking about the rainy day, though it would be ideal. There is no way that I would store any amount of whistle with the exception of finished items. I wouldn't touch whistle mix that had been stored unless I was walking it to a place to dispose of it via detonation haha. Thanks for the other tips, I never thought of wetting my hair. Wet clothes(also) would reduce static risk but I hate to think what would be worse, being burned, or boiled. There is a mythbusters episode where the guys actually dipped their fingers into molten lead after dipping it into some water and were not burned but the temperature had to be just right or else burns would still occur. Its pretty interesting.

[Arthur]

The article I once read about chip fabs said that they found that dry weather pushed the failure rate up too high so then they started first working only at above 65RH then conditioning the factory air to 65+%RH permanently. Now I suppose they have progressed past this BUT we can still learn form them. As these first fabs were in California I doubt low temperature bothered them but in low temperature where the air can hold little total moisture it's my guess that this may not be good for us.

[taiwanluthiers]

I guess it made sense to outsource chip fabs to Taiwan.... 65% RH here is actually considered low.

[Peret]

The article I once read about chip fabs said that they found that dry weather pushed the failure rate up too high so then they started first working only at above 65RH then conditioning the factory air to 65+%RH permanently. Now I suppose they have progressed past this BUT we can still learn form them. As these first fabs were in California I doubt low temperature bothered them but in low temperature where the air can hold little total moisture it's my guess that this may not be good for us.

Depending what processes you're using, humidity is really bad for chip making because you can't pump a hard vacuum if there's too much water vapor in the air. Actually you can't pump water vapor at all, you have to freeze it out with a cryogenic trap. Back in the days when America still made things, most of the fabs were in dry desert areas with average RH around 10-15%.

Edited July 6, 2014 by Peret