Best thing to lay PBCs on when playing them?

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djsheep
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Best thing to lay PBCs on when playing them?

Post by djsheep »

At the moment, I'm using a Boardmaster Supergun with the Jamma harness hanging out the left side.

I am then laying my PCBs flat on a sheet of pink anti-static bubble wrap which is wrapped around a piece of cardboard.

I was wondering if there's a better solution to this scenario, or if this is appropriate.

Ideally I'd mount the PCBs on feet and then onto wooden boards, but I do not have the space at the moment.

Would a anti-static mat or something else be better in anyway? And could my setup cause any future damage my boards through heat dispersion or otherwise??

Looking forward to learning and hearing more from ya'll. Cheers.
Last edited by djsheep on February 13th, 2018, 9:31 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Rossyra
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Re: Best thing to lay PBCs on when playing them?

Post by Rossyra »

Antistatic material is probably one of the worst things you could rest a live PCB on, short of a sheet of conductive metal.
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crunchywasp
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Re: Best thing to lay PBCs on when playing them?

Post by crunchywasp »

Oh dear.

Mount your PCBs with PCB feet on a wooden board. Solve your space crisis by selling or breaking then discarding PCBs.
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ChuChuFlamingo
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Re: Best thing to lay PBCs on when playing them?

Post by ChuChuFlamingo »

People usually use the term antistatic and static dissipative interchangeably from my experience, when they mean two entirely different things.

From what I've read and experienced things that are antistatic like pink bubble wrap simply don't build up a charge via the triboelectric effect. So just because you wrap your stuff in anti-staitc bubble wrap a electrocharge can still pass through it (a minute chance but it really depends upon how much bubble wrap/air is in it as electricity has to travel through it)

Things that are static dissipative (those nice uline esd boxes and others, metallic bags) act as a faraday cage. Essentially anything inside the bag is protected and shielded while the outside is conductive discharging constantly. This is why you see these shipped with electronics if the manufacturer knows what they are doing. They are essentally ESD proof due to their inherent design. That is why I shake my head whenever I see someone put a board on top of one, especially running.

Djsheep the best thing to do would be to mount them on wood boards. Don't sit them on plastic as it can build up a significant charge or metal since that is conductive.
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Rossyra
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Re: Best thing to lay PBCs on when playing them?

Post by Rossyra »

I think you would, at the very least, expect the PCBs to glitch if you don’t eventually (possibly quickly) kill them or potentially start a fire.

You would be better off putting them on the bit of cardboard.
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djsheep
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Re: Best thing to lay PBCs on when playing them?

Post by djsheep »

ChuChuFlamingo wrote:People usually use the term antistatic and static dissipative interchangeably from my experience, when they mean two entirely different things.

From what I've read and experienced things that are antistatic like pink bubble wrap simply don't build up a charge via the triboelectric effect. So just because you wrap your stuff in anti-staitc bubble wrap a electrocharge can still pass through it (a minute chance but it really depends upon how much bubble wrap/air is in it as electricity has to travel through it)

Things that are static dissipative (those nice uline esd boxes and others, metallic bags) act as a faraday cage. Essentially anything inside the bag is protected and shielded while the outside is conductive discharging constantly. This is why you see these shipped with electronics if the manufacturer knows what they are doing. They are essentally ESD proof due to their inherent design. That is why I shake my head whenever I see someone put a board on top of one, especially running.

Djsheep the best thing to do would be to mount them on wood boards. Don't sit them on plastic as it can build up a significant charge or metal since that is conductive.
Thanks for the informative reply.

When I was in Japan recently testing some PCBs before buying, it seemed common place in every store to unwrap the end of the PCBs wrapped in bubble wrap. Plus, looking at photos of people doing similar things in and out of their cabs with bags, wrap, boxes, etc. I was just confirming and checking as there isn't much information out there. I'm by no means a expert on these things, hence why I'm asking.

Is there anything safe at all to put a bare flat PCB on running?

Anyhows, good to see people like yourself on here actually trying to help out. Cheers mate.
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Re: Best thing to lay PBCs on when playing them?

Post by crunchywasp »

What’s your aversion to using PCB feet? You don’t have to screw them to the wooden board if everything’s sitting flat and the PCB’s in no danger of slipping off. I use a plywood board with my supergun and just sit the PCB with feet on that. If you’d feel more secure screwing it down then it’s only 4 screws or whatever.
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Re: Best thing to lay PBCs on when playing them?

Post by djsheep »

crunchywasp wrote:What’s your aversion to using PCB feet? You don’t have to screw them to the wooden board if everything’s sitting flat and the PCB’s in no danger of slipping off. I use a plywood board with my supergun and just sit the PCB with feet on that. If you’d feel more secure screwing it down then it’s only 4 screws or whatever.
No aversion. Don't have any PCB feet on me and feel like playing. Easy.
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Re: Best thing to lay PBCs on when playing them?

Post by ChuChuFlamingo »

djsheep wrote:Thanks for the informative reply.

When I was in Japan recently testing some PCBs before buying, it seemed common place in every store to unwrap the end of the PCBs wrapped in bubble wrap. Plus, looking at photos of people doing similar things in and out of their cabs with bags, wrap, boxes, etc. I was just confirming and checking as there isn't much information out there. I'm by no means a expert on these things, hence why I'm asking.

Is there anything safe at all to put a bare flat PCB on running?

Anyhows, good to see people like yourself on here actually trying to help out. Cheers mate.
I wouldn't run your arcade boards inside of antistatic bubble wrap. Even though it is commonplace in Japan to do so it is foolish. A lot of these arcade boards are passively cooled and already run relatively hot on their own. Putting them inside an enclosed space is definitely shorting their lifespan via increased temperatures, albeit however small it may be.

I've seen a lot of people run boards without pcb feet, but if it were me I wouldn't. You need to keep in mind if there is any static charge dissipated from the surface it is going directly to the metal solder points. If you had PCB feet on it wouldn't really matter as they give you like 1-2 inches. Another reason to have pcb feet is to prevent solder through joints (on the underside of the board) from getting bent and bridging/flexing.
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Re: Best thing to lay PBCs on when playing them?

Post by Rossyra »

https://www.akishop.jp/connectors/221-ll-2.html##

My pleasure, glad to be of help! :awe:
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Re: Best thing to lay PBCs on when playing them?

Post by crunchywasp »

djsheep wrote:No aversion. Don't have any PCB feet on me and feel like playing. Easy.
Ahh, ok. I didn’t appreciate that the best option had to be one that was immediately available :roll:
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Re: Best thing to lay PBCs on when playing them?

Post by ifog »

When using it, vertical on PCB feets, with nothing else in contact is probably the safest.
(electricity, weight and heat).

In storage, "anti-static" is not "static shielding", so you still need to be carefull with your PCBs in those pink bags.
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djsheep
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Re: Best thing to lay PBCs on when playing them?

Post by djsheep »

crunchywasp wrote:
djsheep wrote:No aversion. Don't have any PCB feet on me and feel like playing. Easy.
Ahh, ok. I didn’t appreciate that the best option had to be one that was immediately available :roll:
My bad too, I was asking in general, but also because I usually have a cab, but now am on a supergun which leaves little space on my table :)

Thanks for all the info, appreciate it.

Maybe the excellent AO FAQ could have a section for "Safety" -- definitely learned a lot from here, and would be an excellent addition I think?
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Re: Best thing to lay PBCs on when playing them?

Post by invzim »

I dislike pcb feet, they snag on everything and I never actually need to screw my boards to anything.

I use M3 nylon nuts instead, made a thread about it some time back:

https://forum.arcadeotaku.com/viewtopic.php?t=31115
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Re: Best thing to lay PBCs on when playing them?

Post by LEGENOARYNINLIA »

I usually lay my PCBs on a bed of spinach.
Emulation's nice when done well
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Re: Best thing to lay PBCs on when playing them?

Post by charlie chong »

these guys are all lying
wet towels are the best :awe:
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Re: Best thing to lay PBCs on when playing them?

Post by mufunyo »

Flat on wooden table, plank of wood, piece of cardboard, or sheet of paper. Pink bubble wrap is okay (non conductive) but don't leave it wrapped, just use it as a bed. As others have said, reflective ESD bags are a big no-no. PCB feet are cheap.

I personally store my PCBs in reflective motherboard bags, and when stacking them in a box I put bubble wrap sheets between the individual bags. When I run the games they're either in my arcade cabinet, or on top of, or leaning against the side of the plastic CRT TV that I've connected them to.
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