Solder mats

[Andy1979]

I do some occasional solder work (not as much as I'd like) which tends to be either simple repairs or small circuits like serial adapters or basic micro-controller stuff.

I was all set to buy myself a nice silicone solder mat but have seen reviews complaining about static (e.g. https://cpc.farnell.com/weller/wlaccwsm ... AUQAvD_BwE)

Am I worrying about nothing given Velleman and Weller sell these designs, or has anyone had any problems with them?

I do have an anti-static mat that I use when taking things to bits, but it's very much not heatproof. I'd propose to ground myself and but the silicone mat on top of that if soldering anything static sensitive. Not looking to spend loads on this as it's a very occasional hobby these days.

[danielj]

Get one sold as antistatic? https://www.unmannedtechshop.co.uk/prod ... mat-large/

[1024MAK]

They are often described as ESD safe, like this one.

For what ESD safe means, read this.

Mark

[gfoot]

Bear in mind that the antistatic mat's purpose is to gently discharge any static charge in the device, your tools, and your body - so there's not much point in having an antistatic mat if you're and putting an electrically-insulating mat on top of it.

That said, in a hobbyist context you may not need to worry much about anti-static precautions - personally I try not to touch IC pins, but don't really take any other precautions, and haven't had any particular cases where I think that static discharge has caused me any problems. It may be something to do with the climate here in the UK, or just luck - but it's not something I'm draconian about, and if an IC does fail, I can always replace it with another one.

[BeebMaster]

"Static?...Powers?...What are they called, these creatures?"

"DOK-TOR!!!! Now do you understand?!"

CPC website isn't working for me just now (probably been exterminated), but looking at the URL for the one Mark linked to, "AS11" is the one I have, and I've never had any problems with it. Well, it could work a bit harder, like measuring out the components for me, and soldering them in place, and cleaning up afterwards, and making me a brew now and again, but I spose I didn't pay for that.

[scruss]

An educational charity I used to work for used silicone baking mats for our group solder sessions, and we didn't experience ESD problems with them. Some of our designs were fairly static-sensitive, too. (That's not to say that we didn't lose quite a bit through careless soldering, lifted PCB pads, but ...)

They really come into their own when using a hot-air solder station.

[Andy1979]

Thanks for all the replies, I'll stop worrying and order one of the very similar models for sale online.