We All Make Mistakes - 5 Tips to Help You with Social Media

"We all make mistakes!"

 

As a company, Combotronics decided we were going to jump into this thing called "social media". We knew that there was potential there for some interaction with other businesses and potential clients, but like most everyone else, we didn't really know what we needed to do.

At first, we were doing great, 800-something followers on Twitter and a great Facebook page. But something went wrong (long story) and we had to start over.

Unfortunately, that "something" left us with nothing: No passwords. No profiles. No access to any of our social media efforts.

Recycling - Combotronics' Green Efforts

What do you think of when someone says 

 "Global Warming"?

What about when you hear them mention Recycling or Recycling Program? Does your mind immediately jump to the landfills of our nation? Do you think about how the climate is changing due to our lack of knowledge?

Combotronics is a leading Industrial Electronics Repair shop. Our job is to repair and rework items that were slated obsolete by the manufacturer, and in that sense, we offer a type of recycling service. We fix those machines and parts that you might otherwise throw out.

But our "green" efforts as a company don't just begin and end at what we do for you. We also do our best to recycle in other ways that benefit our community and the world.

Electrostatic Discharge- Part 2: What Helps Control ESD?

So what controls ESD? Anti-Electrostatic bags and Anti-Electrostatic bubble wrap exist to help dissipate the charges that exist in everyday activities such as when we ship and receive items at our jobs, and at our homes. When you walk into the shipping room of Combotronics, you can identify the special, anti-static bubblewrap by its pink color. In fact, this is the industry's way of marking a packing item as safe for electronics. If it's pink, its anti-static.

We have grounded wrist straps and floor mats to help slow down a discharge when we are working with your electronics, so even though we are carrying a charge of some kind, it will dissipate safely, and not affect the equipment. Combotronics sees and works on thousands of parts with exposed electrical components that could be potentially damaged simply by picking the item up.

Other ways to control ESD:

•  Ionization – The process for removing or adding particles - is used to neutralize charges on insulating materials, such as common plastics. The process generates negative & positive ions that are attracted to the surface of the charged object, which neutralizes the charge.
• Implementing an ESD Control Program at your jobsite to familiarize your employees with the precautions and possible “dangers” ESD can have on electronic equipment and parts. (More information can be found on how to form a program at http://esda.org/Documents.html#s2020 You must register for free on their website for the information to become available.)
• Avoid wearing clothing made of synthetic fiber. They are likely to contribute to the static charges in the body. Wearing materials of 100% cotton or a blend of cotton/polyester blend at some 50% ratio helps.
• Use humidifiers in your building. Combotronics uses them to keep the air from drying out too much, helping prevent further possible “events”.

*You can find tons more information on Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) from the Electrostatic Discharge Association at http://www.esda.org/esd_fundamentals.html

Electrostatic Discharge - Part One : What is ESD?

Have you ever walked across a plush, fuzzy carpet with your socks on, only to touch someone else and hear them yell out "Ouch! You shocked me!"? Or maybe your kids can be found scooting across the floor in their slippers only to attack you with that jolt of electricity? This is called Electrostatic Discharge or ESD for short. Electrostatic Discharge occurs everywhere, all of the time, but most of the time, we simply aren't aware of it. Just by walking across a carpeted floor, you can generate up to 15,000 volts (or more)!

Imagine what that "shock" could do to an electrical device. Have you ever seen that little blue arc that occurs when you shock someone? Depending on a variety of factors, that shock can generate quite a large number of volts and has the potential to negatively affect electronics.

Now, when applying this information to the electronic industry, such as Combotronics serves, you might be able to figure why ESD might play an important role in our daily activities and work.

Even a small jolt can damage an item such as a circuit board. Since many of the products Combotronics works on come from some type of computerized machine, we know that we have to take some precautions to prevent our staff from "shocking" an item and possibly doing more damage to the equipment.

ESD “events”, as they are called, happen when two materials are in contact and then separated, negatively charged electrons move from the surface of the first material to the other. One material will lose electrons and become positively charged, while the other material will gain electrons and become negatively charged. This process is the Triboelectric Charge.

The amount of the charge or the strength of it will depend on the materials and other factors, such as humidity. Once the triboelectric charge has been created on a material, it becomes the "electrostatic charge". Once the Triboelectric charge becomes an electrostatic charge, it creates the "shock" we feel when we are wearing our wool socks on the carpet and touch someone else.

Hopefully, you can now understand why Combotronics would need to consider ESD in our work. Stay tuned for part two of this series “What Helps Control ESD?”

*You can find tons more information on Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) from the Electrostatic Discharge Association at http://www.esda.org/esd_fundamentals.html