Tools

What is the importance of an antistatic working space?

Static electricity can be found almost everywhere, including in the human body where it can generate an electrical charge of several thousand volts. While usually unnoticed, this charge can discharge when touching a doorknob, for instance, due to contact between poorly conductive materials. The resulting sparks can cause damage to electronic components, making it important to prevent static build-up. Anti-static tools are specifically designed to resist static electricity and avoid this issue.

Antistatic bracelet

The anti-static bracelet prevents charge from being discharged on electronic components, but also that charge can be built up. The static electricity is discharged to earth.

Resealable zip lock

To safely store your electronics, you can use anti-static resealable ziplock bags. These ensure that your electronic components are protected against charge when you are not using the components.

Silicone soldering mat and anti-static mat

You can also use a silicone soldering mat made of antistatic material or an antistatic mat with a grounding cord. The antistatic mat is equipped with a grounding cable so that cargo can be safely discharged. The mat works by using 2 layers (a conductive and a non-conductive layer) to prevent the formation of static charges. It can also be combined with a grounding plug when using multiple antistatic tools. This uses a common grounding point for the various connected devices. There is also a grounding cable that can be used on an anti-static mat. It can also be used by connecting with a supplied connector.

Anti-static brushes, tweezers and screwdrivers

You can also clean your parts, especially printed circuit boards, with an anti-static brush. This is made in such a way that it prevents a short circuit or discharge from occurring during cleaning of the printed circuit board. It also makes almost no scratches, causing minimal damage to the printed circuit board. Finally, you can use anti-static tweezers and screwdrivers that prevent the accidental release of an electrical charge when controlling electronics.

How can I measure the current or voltage?

multimeter

First and foremost, it is important to know that you are measuring the current through a component and measuring the voltage across a component. These 2 quantities are easy to measure with a multimeter. However, these currents and voltage are limited. Most digital multimeters can usually measure up to 10A and voltage up to 600V. It is also important to pay attention to the resolution of the multimeter. This indicates how accurately a measured value is displayed. This is also described by the number of counts. Furthermore, multimeters can also measure the resistance or indicate via a beep whether conduction occurs in a cable. The multimeter is easy to use with 2 test leads.

battery tester

The battery tester gives you the opportunity to test whether batteries are still working. The meter indicates the voltage of the battery. This allows different types of batteries to be tested such as AA, 9-volt or AAA batteries. These also exist in a digital and analogue version.