SafetyPrecautions
Observethefollowingsafetyprecautionsbeforeperforminganyinstallationorbreak/fixproceduresinvolvingdisassemblyorreassembly:
Turnoffthesystemandanyattachedperipherals.
DisconnectthesystemandanyattachedperipheralsfromACpower,andthenremovethebattery.
Disconnectanytelephoneortelecommunicationslinesfromthesystem.
Useawristgroundingstrapandmatwhenworkinginsideanycomputersystemtoavoidelectrostaticdischarge(ESD)damage.
Afterremovinganysystemcomponent,carefullyplacetheremovedcomponentonanantistaticmat.
Wearshoeswithnonconductiverubbersolestohelpreducethechanceofbeingshockedorseriouslyinjuredinanelectricalaccident.
StandbyPower
Dellproductswithstandbypowermustbecompletelyunpluggedbeforeopeningthecase.Systemsthatincorporatestandbypowerareessentiallypoweredwhileturnedoff.
Theinternalpowerenablesthesystemtobesuspendedintoasleepmode,andhaveotheradvancedpowermanagementfeatures.Afterunpluggingthesystem,allowthe
chargetodrainfromthecircuitsbywaitingapproximately30to45secondsbeforeremovingcomponents.
ElectroStaticDischarge(ESD)Protection
ESDisamajorconcernwhenhandlingelectroniccomponents,especiallysensitivedevicessuchasexpansioncards,processors,memoryDIMMs,andsystemboards.Very
slightchargescandamagecircuitsinwaysthatmaynotbeobvious,suchasintermittentproblemsorashortenedproductlifespan.Astheindustrypushesforlowerpower
requirementsandincreaseddensity,ESDprotectionisanincreasingconcern.
DuetotheincreaseddensityofsemiconductorsusedinrecentDellproductsthesensitivitytostaticdamageisnowhigherthaninpreviousDellproducts,forthisreasonsome
previouslyapprovedmethodsofhandlingpartsarenolongerapplicable.
WARNING:
DonotuseanESDgroundingstrapwhenworkingontheinternalpartsofamonitor,liketheCRT,becausethestoredvoltageisextremelyharmful.
TherearetworecognizedtypesofESDdamage,"catastrophic"and"Intermittent"failures.
CatastrophicThedamagecausesanimmediateandcompletelossofdevicefunctionality.AnexampleofcatastrophicfailureisamemoryDIMwhichhasreceiveda
staticshockandimmediatelygeneratesa"NoPOST/NoVideo"symptomwithabeepcodeemittedforamissingornonfunctionalmemory.
NOTE:
Catastrophicfailuresonlyrepresentroughly20%ofESDrelatedfailures.
IntermittentTheDIMMreceivesastaticshock,butthetracingismerelyweakenedanddoesnotimmediatelyproduceoutwardsymptomsrelatedtothedamage.The
weakenedtracemighttakeweeksormonthstomelt,andinthemeantimemaycausedegradationofmemoryintegrity,intermittentmemoryerrors,etc.
NOTE:
Intermittentfailuresrepresentalmost80%ofESDrelatedfailures.Thismeansthatthemajorityofthetimewhenthedamageoccurs,itisnotimmediately
recognizable.
Ofthesetwotypes,themoredifficulttorecognizeandtroubleshootisthe"Intermittent"(alsocalledLatentor"walkingwounded")failure.Theimagebelowisanexampleofan
"Intermittent"damagetoamemoryDIMMtrace.Asyoucansee,thedamageisdonealthoughthesymptomsmaynotbecomeanissueorcausepermanentfailuresymptoms
forsometimeafterthedamageoccurs.
Intermittent(Latent)damagetoawiringtrace
Topreventstaticdamage,dothefollowing:
UseaWired(notwireless)ESDwriststrapthatisproperlygrounded.Theuseofwirelessantistaticstrapsinnolongerallowed,astheydonotgiveadequate
protection.