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Ask Dr. Static…. Will static dissipative mats and wrist straps help in my manufacturing process?

Ask Dr. Static | This Week’s Question:

A medical device and plastics manufacturer asked us: “Will static dissipative mats and wrist straps help in my manufacturing process?”

Great question, and one we hear frequently.
Here’s the short answer: it depends on what type of static problem you actually have.


If you’re working with plastics or other insulators and dealing with ESA (electrostatic attraction) – particles clinging, films sticking, contamination – mats and wrist straps won’t solve your problem.

Here’s why: those tools work by grounding. And you simply cannot ground an insulator. A plastic part has no electrical path. The charge stays, no matter what mat you stand on or strap you wear.
The only solution for ESA in plastics? Ionization.


Ionization neutralizes the electrostatic field on the surface of insulators – it’s the missing piece that mats and wrist straps can’t provide.


Now, if you’re also interfacing those plastic parts with boards or electronic components, then you do have ESD (electrostatic discharge) considerations as well – and grounding becomes essential in addition to ionization. In Class 1 ESD environments, we still want operators grounded to prevent human body discharge during assembly. But that only works after the electrostatic field on the plastic has been neutralized first.


In this week’s video, Stephen Carfaro (Dr. Static) demonstrates this live, using a plastic disk, a metal disk, a static field meter, and a grounded mat- to show exactly why one dissipates and one doesn’t.
It’s one of the clearest visual demonstrations we’ve done. Worth 3 minutes of your time if plastics, medical devices, or contamination control are part of your world.

Have a question for Dr. Static? (click on this link or send an email to: static@ccsteven.com)
AskDrStatic thestaticexperts ESD ESA CCSTEVEN #thestaticexpert #NoMoreStatic #StaticMitigationSince1978

https://youtube.com/shorts/sHnVf1S2aK0

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