[sdiy] Carbon foam

[Andre Majorel]

A while ago there was a thread on sticking ICs in black conductive
foam for storage. Some say it's all right, some say don't do it.

Here's a data point : I recently inspected my 74LS drawers where
hundreds of DIPs have spent the better part of twenty years stuck
in bits of foam of various provenance.

A small fraction of the bits of foam have become gooey and stuck
to the pins. The residue can be scraped off with a cutter but it
looks like some corrosion has happened. All the defective bits are
made from the same material, which has distinctive large cells, a
lighter colour and a "viscous" feel, i.e. after it's compressed,
it takes a little time to expand back to its original size.

So there is foam and foam. Most types hold up well but some try to
eat your chips when you're not looking.

-- 
André Majorel <URL:http://www.teaser.fr/~amajorel/>
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