Big box of 47 Amiga chips on uk ebay start off price £5.00

[DoomMaster]

That is NOT anti-static foam that those ICs are in.  You probably have damaged all of them.  I saw those on eBay and decided not to bid on them because they are not pressed into black anti-static foam and placed inside a sealed silver anti-static bag.  Those chips are easily damaged by static electricity that you can not see or feel.  My advice to the people looking at those ICs, DO NOT BUY THEM !!!!     :-o

[DoomMaster]

To N7VQM:

I saw them on the USA eBay.  That foam is NOT anti-static.  Anti-static FOAM is BLACK.     :-o

[DoomMaster]

To Oldsmobile_Mike:

I think that they are ALL damaged and no, the price is not worth it on static damaged ICs.  People must learn to take the proper precautions when handling static sensitive electronic components.  The number one cause of IC failure is static damage.  There are 2 kinds of static damage done to ICs- immediate and gradual failure.  Immediate static damage happens right away.  Gradual static damage usually takes about 3 mounths, this is the reason for the typical 90-day warranty.  The static electricity that a person sees and feels when touching a door knob after walking on carpet is between 3,000 to 10,000 static volts.  The amount of static electricity that it takes to damage todays modern ICs is less then a person can see or feel.  Many electronic components can be damaged by just 25 static volts.  You do not even have to actually touch an IC or Board to zap it, they can be zapped from up to 3 feet away.  So it is very important to always plug ICs into black anti-static foam and place them inside a sealed silver anti-static bag.  Boards should also be kept in a sealed silver or black anti-static bag.  White and yellow foam generate up to 10,000 static volts, so yes, these ICs are zapped and I personally would not trust them.     :-o

[DoomMaster]

To N7VQM:

You are wrong about that.  Pink foam is NOT anti-static, it just does not GENERATE static-electricity.  Pink foam does NOT protect ICs against static damage, black foam DOES.  In all the years that I have worked in the electronics / computer industry I have never seen yellow or white anti-static foam.     :-o

[DoomMaster]

To mikeymike:

Pink foam will not zap the IC, but it will NOT protect it either.  There may now be many different colors of the "pink foam" but they do not PROTECT the chips from being zapped.  Only the black foam does that.  You see, what makes the black foam black, is that it has carbine in it, which is conductive (same as the black anti-static bags).  Since I am a Class 4 Electronics Assembler and have worked in the electronics industry for many years, I have dealt with many hardware suppliers.  The reason why they ship ICs in the pink or white foam is because it is much cheaper then the black foam.  But they will usually also have them packed inside a black box or a black or silver anti-static bag.  The pink foam is ok, just as long as you put it inside a protective box or bag.     :-P