Aluminium Foil as Antistaic bag

[TiPEX]

Hi all, I heard that aluminium foil can be used as a static bag. Is this true?
Thanks in advance.

[_I_]

no

foil conducts
antistatic bags insulate from the outside world

[TiPEX]

I heard it conducts electricity, but not satic, so u'll be fine if theres no battery.

http://forums.anandtech.com/archive/index.php/t-1915528.html This is my source.

[_I_]

there are other components that can be damaged by teh caps on the board that cannot be removed

'One of the main tasks of an antistatic bag is to electrically isolate the contents from the outside environment. Something that foil would fail to do.'

[TiPEX]

Ok, thanks. Would it be fine to use it on a stick of RAM, or a GPU though?

[_I_]

ram, maybe
gpus have caps on the 12v rails
if you dont have a antistatic bag, use a cardbord box or paperbag

[TiPEX]

K, furtherdown that page I posted, it says not to use paper or cardboard :L

[_I_]

newspaper and printer paper can gather static
cardboard can but not nearly as much

[TiPEX]

OK, I think I uderstand now :) thanks.

[ome geert]

An anti-static bag is faraday cage combined white isolation so no danger from static electricity or electricity from what other source you might incounter so i think you should put a layer between the aluminum foil and what your protecting so in theory you would have just that.
but a paper bag as sugested would be fine for storage.
Also the danger from static electricity isn't as big as you might think. Remember to discharge before and while working (by touching the case), use a non conducting surface and don't build on carpet

[NoOne]

most computer shops or techo's would gladly give you a spare antistatic bag - just have to ask...

[TiPEX]

Thank you ome geert, you cleared things up a little for me :)