Always ship electronics in anti-static bubble bags.
When shipping electronics, it’s important to ship them in anti-static packaging. You may have heard this piece of advice before, but do you know why it is so important?
The static electricity that builds up from materials shifting and rubbing together can actually damage electronics. Some types of electronics can be damaged by as little as 30 volts of electricity. How much electricity is 30 volts? Consider this – the static electricity you can work up by walking can be in excess of 5000 volts! That means it can only take a little bit of electricity to damage electronics.
When shipping or storing electronics, there are several options for anti-static shipping supplies. One type is anti-static poly bags. These bags are made from a material that helps reduce or eliminate static electricity. If padding is needed, you can use anti-static bubble wrap, or even anti-static bubble bags. You can tell if bubble wrap is anti-static by it’s distinctive light pink color.
If you would like to know more about the science behind static electricity, and how anti-static packaging works, check out Packaging Knowledge.