Jeff Liebermann wrote in message
...
On Tue, 29 Sep 2009 01:12:21 +1000, Bob Larter
wrote:

I stick mine on sheets of Velostat (black, conductive) foam, cut to fit
my parts drawers. It seems to work okay.

Bad idea. I did the same thing in the 1970's and 80's. Much later,
when I pulled out the IC's, the leads were gone. What happened is
that the foam absorbed moisture from the air, held onto it, and slowly
corroded the leads. In addition, some of the black foam deteriorated
into a crumbly mess. There are apparently different types (neoprene,
polyethylene, etc) of foam.

Black conductive foam is probably adequate for storing IC's for a few
years, but as I discovered, not for 20-30 years.

There was an article on the topic in May 1992 QST titled "Black
Conductive Component-Protection Foam Damages Parts (Mitchell): Feb, p.
75". If interested, I'll see if I can download or find a copy.


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

seconded
This is my experience, from my tips files. When I ran a shop I had the
example of this hanging up, 0.1 inch spaced rust marks in the foam
and ICs with rusted through legs

Note of caution for long-term storage of ICs
Some black conductive foam is hygroscopic in the long term and can
cause complete corrosion of the legs of ICs and trannies etc in an
ordinary storage situation ,not necessarily a damp garden shed.


The storage I use is 6 inch long x 1 inch diameter clear celluloid tubes
with polythene lids
I was lucky to be the only bidder for one lot in an auction , it was 5,000
unused tubes with lids. If you go into a habberdashers they always seem to
be used for storing buttons, ask someone there, where they get them from. As
I said with a strip of Al stuck along each one seems good enough for ESD


--
Diverse Devices, Southampton, England
electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on
http://home.graffiti.net/diverse:graffiti.net/