June, 2021
www.us-tech.com
Installing ESD Flooring Without Adhesives and Downtime
By Dave Long, Founder and President, StaticWorx, Inc. E
MS companies often handle devices that are extremely sensitive to static electricity. If the manufacturer does
not have a static-control program in place, it can be tricky to implement one without shut- ting down the facility for days. Operations managers have to balance the enormous cost of lost productivity against the need to pro- tect new parts and devices. A major part of any ESD control program
is getting the proper flooring in place. Foreign objects and debris (FOD) can affect the relia- bility of parts and assem blies. How can one replace a floor with- out generating any debris? What
tiles in place. The installation looked great. The seams were tight, and the white tile added brightness to the building. A few months later, however, the new
tiles began to dimple. Lifting them revealed moisture under the floor, confirming that the vapor barrier was not functioning properly. The installation was a failure.
Dissecting the Problem StaticWorx visited the facility in May
2019. A huge challenge was the underlying con-
dition of AMC’s concrete substrate. The build- ing had been constructed before California building code required the placement of a plas- tic vapor retarder below the concrete. A plastic vapor retarder helps prevent
the permeation of water vapor through the slab. Without a vapor retarder, water vapor migrates through concrete and becomes alka- line. If the floor installed over the concrete cannot breathe, the alkaline vapors degrade the adhesive, and the floor fails. In AMC’s Continued on page 55
Testing of electronics in the era of miniaturization
Proper flooring is a
necessary part of any ESD control program.
if the subfloor is in such poor con- dition that it prevents a standard installation? What will make up for the lost time?
Failing Floors Fail Again AMC, a manufacturer of
motion control equipment located in Ventura County, California, had a fire in its building, with extensive smoke and water dam- age. Repairs included installa- tion of a conductive ESD vinyl tile floor. The timing was fortu- itous: their 30-year-old vinyl composition tile (VCT) had curled, pulling loose from the concrete substrate. By replacing the floors in their manufacturing and stockroom areas, they could also change the layout of their SMT operation. They purchased the ESD
vinyl tiles from a distributor and hired local flooring contractors for the installation. Because the old VCT was lifting, it had to be removed. The installer deter- mined the root cause of the floor- ing failure to be a combination of vapor permeation from moisture below the concrete and chemical residues from the bond breakers used to erect the original con- crete walls, part of a process known as tilt-up construction. The solution was to shot-
blast the concrete and install a vapor-resistant topical barrier on its surface. Shot-blasting gener- ates FOD, so the areas had to be cordoned off with plastic sheet- ing, with positive-pressure air handlers to filter the air. The installers blasted the
concrete, applied a vapor barrier, installed conductive epoxy adhe- sive over the barrier, and set the
25+ years in the heart of electronics
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