I recently ordered 100 BC560's for matching purposes. The supplier has shipped them individually wrapped in normal plastic bags:
Are BC560s (and other BJTs?) effectively imune to static, or should I reject these and get the parts from somewhere else?
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Are BC560s (and other BJTs?) effectively imune to static, or should I reject these and get the parts from somewhere else?
Very low static energy from packing material shouldn't be a problem.
But all low noise transistors can have their noise performance seriously impaired by a reverse breakdown of the B-E junction: suppose you walk on a synthetic carpet with your rubber sole shoes and you plug a mike into a preamplifier and it makes a nice blue spark, well, chances are the first transistor has taken some damage and become noisy.
It will test perfectly OK in every respect, and it can still be used in any non sensitive application, but for low noise purpose, it is dead.
So, don't be paranoiac about plastic bags, but take care no to inflict severe static discharges either.
Thanks for the reassurance both. When I'm soldering and otherwise working on builds I'm always earthed via anti-static wrist band and work earthed mat. Now I'll have some fun emptying each bag. At least I'll know which I've measured 🙂
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