Today I received...

[stephen_usher]

A pair of JS ROMs... stuck in normal expanded polystyrene (no foil), in a polythene bag... in a plastic "Jiffy" bag.

I wonder if the eBay seller could find anything more to generate static electricity to zap them. (A Van-der-Graf generator won't fit in the bag.)

Wish me luck!

[stephen_usher]

Well, the ROMs work! But I now need a new keyboard membrane. Oh well.

Order placed with RWAP.

[Silvester]

I wonder if the eBay seller could find anything more to generate static electricity to zap them. (A Van-der-Graf generator won't fit in the bag.)
!

Some of the ICs I get from china are packaged the same. I guess the real problem only arises with a potential between the pins destroying (or worse still undermining) the MOS gate.

I used to work for BT, they did some investigations into IC static damage (scanning electron microscope photos). It proved it was possible to damage a chip sufficiently only for it to fail in service much later. The result was they told staff to treat ALL IC's regardless with static precautions.