Storing old PC parts...

[Flak Beard]

I'm gutting one of my PCs to sell the case, so I need to store a spare motherboard, VGA card and HDD. I used to have some anti-static bags lying around, but have no idea where they went. I do however have a roll of bubble wrap.

Is it safe to wrap these parts using the bubble wrap and store them in a plastic container? I'm not sure if the wrap would cause a static charge or not.

[Ziggy]

Do you have any boxes or card board? How much other stuff is gonna go in the plastic container? If it's just other computer parts, I would just lay them on top of each other, as long as the container wont be getting knocked around.

[Niode]

I would advise against wrapping in bubble wrap, unless it's anti-static bubble wrap.

The best thing you can do is put them in cardboard boxes. Make a bed of shredded paper (thick shreds, not the small stuff, this can get clogged in heat sinks and lower their efficiency.) and put the motherboard/pcb on it and cover it with some more shred. This will make a nice dry home for your components, if you want to make sure, (especially if you're storing them for long times) just use some silica gel sachets to absorb any moisture.

That's what I do (if I've lost/broken the anti-static bag they came in).

[Luke]

I've repaired countless numbers of PC's on my carpet, and have never had an issue with static. Not saying static can't cause problems, I've just never seen it happen personally.

[Frag Mortuus]

I store stuff in plastic bins, cardboard boxes, just shove them openly into a space in a closet and NONE have ever broken. PC parts arent as fragile as everyone would have you to think.

[JordanPlayer]

I also vote for tossing them in a box if you are storing them for a while. I've done PC/tech repairs for years and haven't had issues. Computer parts are resilient!

[Flak Beard]

You guys mention paper or cardboard, so I'm assuming something like manilla office envelopes could work? I could slide each of the parts in one and then just store everything in a box. I think I have a handful of those lying around.

[Hobie-wan]

You guys mention paper or cardboard, so I'm assuming something like manilla office envelopes could work? I could slide each of the parts in one and then just store everything in a box. I think I have a handful of those lying around.

That wold work. Would help keep things from scraping against each other. As mentioned, regular bubble wrap is bad and peanuts are terrible. Think of all the funny pictures of cats after being pulled out of a box of peanuts.