March 7, 2008 -- 3M's Electronic Solutions Division has released a lightweight electrostatic discharge (ESD) event detector capable of distinguishing various levels of ESD events. The 3M ESD Pro Event Detector is a handheld indicator of ESD events that detects and counts discharges and shows the relative electrical strength of each ESD event on a bar graph display. The portable instrument serves as a quick measure of the effectiveness of ESD protection, which is particularly important in sensitive component (Class 0) applications such as electronics assembly, semiconductor, medical, and disk drive device manufacturing.
Small and thin enough to fit in a shirt pocket, the 3M ESD Pro offers variable settings of discharge alarm thresholds to detect and count only ESD events that exceed the user-set threshold. On each discharge, ESD Pro provides an audio alarm and a 10-LED bargraph to show the relative strength of detected ESD events. If the discharge exceeds the set alarm level, the LEDs turn red. The unit's four-digit counter provides a count of discharges occurring above the set threshold, while disregarding those programmed as insignificant. ESD Pro can measure multiple consecutive discharges in an ESD event.
The ESD Pro Event Detector's proprietary waveform analysis algorithm in its charge device model (CDM) mode rejects most non-ESD EMI events to provide accurate detection of legitimate discharges in noisy environments. This feature is helpful in manufacturing and other environments where EMI (electromagnetic interference) events occur from motors, solenoids, relays and similar devices. Using the same antenna technology available in the 3M EM Aware, ESD Pro can quickly diagnose and troubleshoot environments for ESD events, evaluate ESD-protective equipment, or qualify tools for use in sensitive environments.
