Originally posted by: JimPhelpsMI
Hi, Do not wrap in paper or anything else that is not conductive. Aluminum foil was used years ago before antistatic bags were invented. Anyone with any knowlege of electricity and static electricity should understand the reason for using a conductive material to protect electronic gear.
Jim
Bad advice!
There is no way to guarantee that the aluminum foil makes a good electrical contact with all points of the board. The problem occurs if there is a discharge and the charge is transferred to a sensitive component on the board (through the conductive wrap) but not the ground plane of the same board. Then, you will end up with a high voltage on the sensitive component with respect to the ground plane and fry it.
You claim that antistatic bags are conductive on all sides. What is your definition of "conductive"? Something with a resistance in the Mega Ohm range? Yes, that is correct. A few Ohms (like aluminum foil)? No, you are wrong. Just use a meter and measure the resistance of an antistatic bag. Just read the link posted earlier in this thread.
Falling off the top of the third floor may be better than falling off the top of the forth floor. But, ....
Aluminum foil is better than newspaper! But, it is still bad.
If you have a reference to what you are saying, please post.