> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dan Armbrust [mailto:daniel.armbrust.list at gmail.com]
> Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2006 10:56 AM
>
> I've used high pressure air (150 - 200 psi) directly from an air
> compressor quite a bit... I did so reluctantly and on old hardware at
> first, (I was worried about static too) - but I've never had an issue.


I've used high pressure air too and without an obvious problem so far.
However, static generation can occur this way, and it can be fatal as
well as just damaging to electronic chips.  In FL, I could not get
static generators to run at all in a lab with natural humid air, but up
here I can kill an IC just from walking across the room and touching
something.  I'd like to get some real data about this form of static
generation and its suppression and then decide whether to ignore it.
Static damage is often a subtle internal "fracture" in a chip that
eventually makes something flakey and/or dead.  The less common
catastrophic forms of damage are easier to discover by test.

Chuck