Toshiba Equium 5160D Series Preliminary Maintenance Manual page 56

Protecting the System from Electrostatic Discharge (ESD)
Electrostatic discharges can cause serious damage to computer components and circuitry.
Static electricity can be generated in many, seemingly innocent, ways such as walking across a
vinyl floor or rubbing your hand on a carpeted area. With this in mind, it is important to
protect the computer from the dangers of static electricity while you perform the removal and
replacement procedures in this manual. The following information addresses effective
grounding techniques and protecting components and drives from ESD.
Protecting Components from ESD
Perform the following precautions when working with computer components:
Protect all components by placing them in anti-static packaging.
Keep components in their protective packaging until you are ready to install them.
Place components on a grounded, static-free surface.
Place reusable components in protective packaging before storing them.
Ensure you are grounded before handling components.
When handling a card or board, place the anti-static packaging behind the card or
board.
Avoid unnecessary handling and moving of components.
Touch the metal chassis before touching components. Keep part of your body in
contact with the chassis to dissipate the static charge while handling components.
Do not slide boards over any surface.
Protecting Drives from ESD
Perform the following precautions when working with computer drives:
Only handle drives if you are properly grounded.
Store drives in the original shipping packages.
Keep drives in their protective packaging until you are ready to install them.
Only set drives on surfaces that have at minimum 1-inch of foam.
Place a drive's Printed Circuit Board (PCB) assembly side down on foam.
Grounding Methods to Protect the System from ESD
Perform the following precautions when preparing to work on a computer:
Use anti-static mats, wrist or heel straps, and other anti-static materials.
Avoid touching connector pins, leads, and PCB circuitry.
Equium™ Series Maintenance Manual --------------------------------------------------------- 4-12