best way to store a processor?

[rootb33r]

Hey guys, i have to RMA my motherboard and I don't knwo how to store the processor while the new motherboard is coming in... what's the best way to store it?

(the old packaging got crushed while I was moving out of my apartment)

Thanks a lot

 

[jackluo923]

Get antistatic plastic bags. It will do. After you put it in the bag, get a card board box to put it in. Put the box in where its dark, without direct sun rays, without a heatsource close to it.

 

[Newf]

Upside down in a rarely used desk drawer.

 

[Zorg]

Upside down in a rarely used desk drawer.

Oh yeah? I say upside down on a high shelf, in a box in the dark.

Seriously, upside down someplace safe, in a stat bag if you have one. Please keep your sticky fingers off of the pins.

 

[Newf]

Just trying to save the cost of a bag and a box. It's only for a few days...

 

[rootb33r]

what if there's thermal paste on it? should i put a piece of paper towel over the paste and then into the static bag?

 

[ethernalite]

As Newf said, throw it in a drawer. It's only a couple of days, it isn't like it really matters. CPU's aren't that delicate. The only things to really be careful of is to make sure nothing gets on the pins and to make sure you ground yourself to something before you touch the CPU and you'll be fine. Even that is taking some pretty hefty precautions.

Just for example, I accidentally left a processor in a cardb.oard box with no bagging or anything outside and it rained.. the box was filled with water and the processor was soaked. I let it dry out for a while, cleaned the pins with isopropyl alcohol, and it worked fine. While I'm not saying that's how you should treat your processor, don't freak out about storing it. Think about what it goes through while in the actual computer: rapid temperature changes, dust all over the place, and many pounds of pressure placed on it by the heatsink

In short, just throw it in a drawer and don't worry about it.



edit in response to your new post: if there is paste on it, you're going to want to clean that off with 90%+ isopropyl alcohol.. you can't reuse it. You'll also want to clean off your heatsink and apply a new batch when you get the new motherboard.

 

[rootb33r]

great thanks guys

 

[StevieD]

A place where your children, wife and other stupid people can not find it.

Seriously the static control bag is needed for shipping due to the production of static electricity due to contact friction of the packing materials. The manufacturer may suggest using the original packing material or static control bags, but from a practical perspective the storage of the CPU could be any safe place that is not conductive.

In my business I am bench testing a beta version of a digital controller. The spare controller is stored on a wooden shelf above the equipment item. I swap out boards on a regular basis and have no problems. The manufacturer of those boards actually makes a batch and stores them on a wooden cart on their production line. Obviously the employees work on static control mats etc, but the storage of the controllers is actually quite casual as long as the storage place is not highly electrically conductive.

 

[jackluo923]

A place where your children, wife and other stupid people can not find it.

Hey you shouldn't be saying things like that. Don't call his children, wife and other people stupid~~!

just joking.

 

[Zorg]

Uh, I was just joking around.

 

[jackluo923]

Wow that was a quick reply. It only took you 1 second to write something.

 

[StevieD]

A place where your children, wife and other stupid people can not find it.

Hey you shouldn't be saying things like that. Don't call his children, wife and other people stupid~~!

just joking.

You are correct. I should have said "a place where your children, wife, stupid people AND the family dog can not find it"

Can you imagine the vet bill? Yes, doctor, the darn dog really did chew up my CPU and now he is passing metal poop.

 

[jackluo923]

LOL.. Also don't let any household feline piss on it. Someone in this forum reported that their roommate's cat urinated on his computer while he was upgrading and asking how to clean off computer.

 

[StevieD]

LOL.. Also don't let any household feline piss on it. Someone in this forum reported that their roommate's cat urinated on his computer while he was upgrading and asking how to clean off computer.

A few years back there was a book called "101 uses for a dead cat".

I think I would find that book and use it if the kitty pissed on my equipment.

 

[jackluo923]

How about Kitties destruction for Dummies

 

[croc]

According to the Baron, just stuff it into a piece of styrofoam... That must be appropriate, as the Baron is the most knowledgeable poster left on these forums!

Me, I'm dumb. At the least, I'd get an anti-static bag to store it in, and put it up in a kid-proof area if such animals were running around.

Sunlight won't hurt it, nor UV, etc. I would, however keep it away from 50k gauss mag. fields...

Static will kill a cpu.

But hey, its your money... Just stuff it in a sock drawer, and don't ever bother to change your oil.

 

[SEALBoy]

Uh, is it LGA or the pin type? LGA you'd be fine just putting it in an antistatic bag that you can pick up from Fry's for a couple bucks. If it's pin, I'd try to find something to put the pins in. Normal styrofoam isn't good because it can cause static. Maybe some soft cardboard (not sure if that will cause static)...

 

[SEALBoy]

Love your post count, Croc.

 

[StevieD]

According to the Baron, just stuff it into a piece of styrofoam... That must be appropriate, as the Baron is the most knowledgeable poster left on these forums!

I guess that means Baron is a complete idiot.

 

[StevieD]

Maybe some soft cardboard (not sure if that will cause static)...

In theory, any substance could generate a static charge.

However, cardboard is a wood product. And wood is not a great conductor of electricity (as compared to ole let's say ... copper wire ) and the static charge capacity of cardboard is pretty low. That said, I would be worried about bending the pins when I pressed the pins into the cardboard.

 

[croc]

Thanks for bringing that to my attention... Brings up thoughts of some former posters and their '1337' xlation calculators.

Oh well, doesn't matter now... They are gone, as is the number.

Does anyone have a link to the old stickies that Mpilchfamily had about psu's? They seem to have disappeared.

 

[croc]

One might also go to one's local computer build it shop, and ask them for an empty cpu shipping container... They probably throw out a few dozen a week. All one needs is the oem packaging, and an anti-static bag. The oem container will protect the pins, and SHOULD also do the job for static. But hey, I'm kind of a belts / suspenders type.

@Sealboy and Stevied... I'd not like the idea of cardboard. 'safer' is not safe. If cardboard was good, the manufacturer's would use it to ship cpu's.

 

[SEALBoy]

I work at Fry's, and all the OEM processors are stored in small clear plastic containers which I doubt are antistatic. The LGA ones have this black cover on the bottom, but the Athlon's don't, and they seem to work just fine.

EDIT: WOOT 1000 POSTS.

 

[croc]

Poly-olethene if memory serves... And will be quite the container for the OP's CPU. Wouldn't have a 3m logo on it, would it? Nevermind, other mfg's make a very similar product.