No anti-static bag for 3B+?

[royhenderson]

Anyone else a little surprised that the 3B+ does not come in an anti-static bag?

[jamesh]

I am not sure if we have ever sold Pi's in antistatic bags to be honest.

[Imperf3kt]

I am not sure if we have ever sold Pi's in antistatic bags to be honest.

I live in Australia, so this may be only here, but my Pi3b came in a box and inside there was an antistatic bag.

My Pi zero came in an antistatic bag.

My Pi0W came in an antistatic bag.

Dozens of YouTube videos show Pi's coming in antistatic bags.

[royhenderson]

.. all my previous RPi have been supplied in anti-static bags.

[gtechn]

I'll add in here - Every Raspberry Pi I have purchased (B+, Pi 2 B, Pi 3 B) have all come in Antistatic bags. If this helps at all, mine were all from element14.

[MrEngman]

Anyone else a little surprised that the 3B+ does not come in an anti-static bag?

Yes, I was. And I'm a little concerned that the Pi 3B+ seems to run a lot hotter than any of my other Pi's so wondered if it could have been damaged by electrostatic discharge. Even the USB and ethernet sockets are fairly warm where the ones on my other Pis are not at all. However, it seems to be running OK at the moment. All the other Pis I have, ~16, all came in ant-static bags all the way back to the original Pi 1.

One thing to note. The box it was in had the RS logo on it, although I didn't order it from RS, so is this an issue with RS's packaging.

[W. H. Heydt]

I've gotten Pis that had a paper bag inside the box. I wouldn't go so far as to say that that *isn't* an "anti-static bag", though. It's just not the usual gray conductive plastic film. I won't know about the Pi3B+ until tomorrow,.

[gtechn]

All of my 3 Pis came in a semi-transparent grey, surprisingly shiny, sticker-shut antistatic bag. Mine are all from element14 - I didn't order them on purpose from element14, they just all came from them [bought them from Amazon - sorry Pimoroni, Pi Hut!]

My B+ arrives in a few days, I will see what it comes in.

[HawaiianPi]

One of my Pi3B computers came in an anti-static bag, the other came in the paper bag. Pretty sure it was the UK one in the paper bag and the one in the anti-static bag was made in PRC. Both came from vendors on Amazon (USA).

My Pi Zero computers all came in zip-lock anti-static bags (they were all from Adafruit).

My GF's Pi2B v1.1 came in an anti-static bag. It was part of a Microsoft IoT bundle her sister received from work (Element 14/PRC). She got her Pi3B from Micro Center, but I don't recall what that one was packaged in (I should double-check that, because it's another UK model).

I have no idea how our original model B was packaged, because the database in my grey matter doesn't go back that far.

My 3B+ hasn't arrived yet, but it was ordered from Newark, so we'll have to wait and see...

[HawaiianPi]

One thing to note. The box it was in had the RS logo on it, although I didn't order it from RS, so is this an issue with RS's packaging.

Probably not (note the Element 14 logo on my Pi paper bag)...

Pi_paper_bag.jpg (39.89 KiB) Viewed 7698 times

Also note the anti-static logo.

[ejolson]

Yes, I was. And I'm a little concerned that the Pi 3B+ seems to run a lot hotter than any of my other Pi's so wondered if it could have been damaged by electrostatic discharge.

So far all my Pi computers--shipped to the States and Canada--have come in plastic antistatic bags. Given the tendency to rain, maybe there is less static electricity in the UK so antistatic bags aren't needed. Either that, or the paper is actually a new type of earth-friendly biodegradable antistatic bag. Maybe they only look like paper but are really made out of corn.

As far as heat production, my understanding is that the 3B+ dissipates heat efficiently into the circuit board. Therefore, it would make sense for the USB and Ethernet ports to radiate like heat sinks. While the board itself may seem hotter, the actual CPU should be cooler. Still, I hope the new model of Pi doesn't start melting SD cards.

[gregeric]

Those KnowCharge anti-static paper bags have been used on Pis coming out of the Embed factory for a good while.

As others have reported, my UK made Pi 3B+ came without any apparent ESD protection. It did however arrive sitting on a white card printed with a barcode - I wonder if that has ESD protection beyond that of damp cardboard?

[paulslocum]

Regular Pi 3s that I've bought recently came without the bag.

[mosespi]

I'm almost certain they need to be in some sort of anti-static bag/box/container. All the ones I've gotten, and I've purchased a good amount, came in anti-static bags. I even remember one or two that came in that anti-static paper bag looking thing, which according to the logo is anti-static.

Funny story: A few days ago I was packing up a batch of UPS hats I make for the Pi.. in their silver bags and sealing them with the yellow static sticker. My 3 year old niece, ever so curious and fond of stickers, had the job of putting on the anti-static warning stickers. When we were done she asks me.. "Finished with the creepy hand stickers?" -- I nearly fell off my chair.

Regards,
-Moses

[Pithagoros]

Yes, I was. And I'm a little concerned that the Pi 3B+ seems to run a lot hotter than any of my other Pi's so wondered if it could have been damaged by electrostatic discharge. Even the USB and ethernet sockets are fairly warm where the ones on my other Pis are not at all. However, it seems to be running OK at the moment. All the other Pis I have, ~16, all came in ant-static bags all the way back to the original Pi 1.

I think the Pi3B+ does seem to run a bit hotter because of the design which distributes heat away from the SoC to the rest of the PCB. So the heat is not isolated on the SoC, this is how the design has been able to achieve better thermal operation.

[Pithagoros]

Every UK Pi I've bought (a few dozen) previously from a variety of suppliers have been in the plastic blue tint anti--static bags.

However, if new Pis are being supplied in the more environmentally friendly brown paper biobag anti-static envelopes then this is much better for everybody.

http://www.newark.com/multicomp/biobag- ... dp/77R3049

[bensimmo]

Old Pi 'paper bags' in boxes from various places (and country of manufacture) for 3's
Incl A+/2 I can't remember but think they were paper. Farnell/Amazon UK etc.

zero's not so sure as most came from subscriptions, so static bag iirc.

3B+
Pimoroni ship them in a cardboard box, a different tear apart design to before. Here was nothing else around it.

PiHut just bunged them in antistatic wrap, no box.

[pcmanbob]

My Pi3B+ arrive from the PiHut yesterday in card board box with the pi in this bag.



text reads Pink Antistatic Bag

[bensimmo]

My Pi3B+ arrive from the PiHut yesterday in card board box with the pi in this bag.



text reads Pink Antistatic Bag

Did it come in the bag in a Pi box or just the bag?
(i.e. the box you mention is the large brown packaging box or a Pi box itself?

Pimoroni was just a in Pi box (in a jiffy bag).

[Pithagoros]

Mine just arrived this morning from CPC, in a cardboard box, no bag but the box itself clearly marked on the outside as anti-static packaging.

It's an anti-static box instead of bag.

[pcmanbob]

Did it come in the bag in a Pi box or just the bag?
(i.e. the box you mention is the large brown packaging box or a Pi box itself?

Its there own postal box , no pi box like you get from element 14 or RS

[eupton]

The boxes that we pack Raspberry Pi 3B+ (and recent units of earlier models) into at Sony contain conductive card which have the same effect as an anti-static bag. In practice I suspect it's overkill: I remember back in the day (2010) testing BCM2763 (BCM2835 but in a 9x9mm 0.4mm-pitch package with 128MB of RAM) units with the static gun and not being able to kill them until we turned the PCB itself black through repeated discharges.

[W. H. Heydt]

The boxes that we pack Raspberry Pi 3B+ (and recent units of earlier models) into at Sony contain conductive card which have the same effect as an anti-static bag. In practice I suspect it's overkill: I remember back in the day (2010) testing BCM2763 (BCM2835 but in a 9x9mm 0.4mm-pitch package with 128MB of RAM) units with the static gun and not being able to kill them until we turned the PCB itself black through repeated discharges.

Thank you for the anecdote. Goes to show how hard it is to kill a Pi. About the only ways to do that I've seen mentioned much are significant overvoltage (e.g. 12v) or some months long immersion in salt water (the lost HAB that got returned), and even then I'm not sure it couldn't have been gotten back into work order, albeit with a lot of work.

[HawaiianPi]

Just received my 3B+ and was also surprised to find it loose in a much more flimsy tear open box. It was just sitting on a white card on top of the safety instructions and quick start guide. So that must be the conductive card, and the guide did provide a little cushion (at least in one direction). Bottom line is my new Pi3B+ survived its journey intact and booted right up (using the same PSU and µUSB cable that ran my old Pi3B).

Ordered from Newark/Element 14 on the 15th, shipped the same day (US Priority Mail) and received on the 17th.

[W. H. Heydt]

Just received my 3B+ and was also surprised to find it loose in a much more flimsy tear open box. It was just sitting on a white card on top of the safety instructions and quick start guide. So that must be the conductive card, and the guide did provide a little cushion (at least in one direction). Bottom line is my new Pi3B+ survived its journey intact and booted right up (using the same PSU and µUSB cable that ran my old Pi3B).

Ordered from Newark/Element 14 on the 15th, shipped the same day (US Priority Mail) and received on the 17th.

Same here, though I actually ordered it late on the 14th, too late to ship that day. Arrived with the rest of the mail today. The one interesting thing about the box that I noticed that no one had mentioned so far is that it has a tab on one end with a hole for hanging it on a hook, as is done with many products in stores. Since I want at least a couple more Pi3B+ boards, I'll have to make sure to get at least one from Alled to see if they're doing their packaging differently.