Preparing to Service the System 65
Electrostatic Discharge Safety Measures
This topic includes the following:
■“Handling Electronic Components” on page65
■“Antistatic Wrist Strap” on page65
■“Antistatic Mat” on page 65

Handling Electronic Components

Electrostatic discharge (ESD) sensitive devices, such as the motherboard, PCI cards,
hard drives, and memory modules require special handling.
Caution – Circuit boards and hard drives contain electronic components that are
extremely sensitive to static electricity. Ordinary amounts of static electricity from
clothing or the work environment can destroy the components located on these
boards. Do not touch the components along their connector edges.
Caution – You must disconnect both power supplies before servicing any of the
components documented in this chapter.

Antistatic Wrist Strap

Wear an antistatic wrist strap and use an antistatic mat when handling components
such as hard drive assemblies, circuit boards, or PCI cards. When servicing or
removing server components, attach an antistatic strap to your wrist and then to a
metal area on the chassis. Following this practice equalizes the electrical potentials
between you and the server.
Note – An antistatic wrist strap is no longer included in the server accessory kit.
However, antistatic wrist straps are still included with options.

Antistatic Mat

Place ESD-sensitive components such as motherboards, memory, and other PCBs on
an antistatic mat.