Preventative

1
Chapter 10

• Preventative
• Maintenance

2
Elements of Preventative Maintenance

• The main goal of any preventive maintenance
  program is to preempt problems before they
  happen. There are three questions that need to be
  addressed when developing a preventive
  maintenance program When? Why? and How?
• When is the best time to prevent problems from
  happening?
• Why is this maintenance being done now?
• How is this system to be maintained?

3
Tools and Equipment

• Every technician's toolbox should contain a few
  important pieces of equipment.
• These items include anti-static vacuum cleaners,
  canned air, various solvents, and lint free
  cloths.
• Anti-static vacuum cleaners should be used
  whenever vacuuming computer components since
  normal vacuum cleaners generate static.
• Canned air is one of the most useful tools
  besides lint-free cloths.

4
Environmental Guidelines

• As with other computing devices, a computer
  eventually comes to an end-of-life.
• Eventually, the question arises What to do with
  the old computers or parts? Can they simply be
  placed in the garbage bin so that they are hauled
  to the landfill and buried?
• Computers and peripherals contain some
  environmentally unfriendly materials. Most
  computer components are either hazardous or
  contain some level of hazardous substances.

5
Environmental Guidelines

• Computer printed circuit boards consist of
  plastics, precious metals, fiberglass, arsenic,
  silicon, gallium, and lead.
• CRTs (monitors) contain glass, metal, plastics,
  lead, barium, phosphors, and rare earth metals.
• Batteries from portable systems can contain lead,
  cadmium, lithium, alkaline manganese, and
  mercury.

6
Disposal of Batteries

• Batteries often contain rare earth metals that
  can be harmful to the environment. Typically,
  batteries from portable computer systems can
  contain lead, cadmium, lithium, alkaline
  manganese, and mercury. These metals do not decay
  and will persist in the environment for many
  years if not carefully disposed of.
• The desired method for the proper disposal of
  batteries is recycling, if possible.

7
Disposal of Monitors (CRT)

• CRTs that have come to an end-of-life must always
  be handled with care due to the potentially
  lethal voltage that is maintained even after
  being disconnected from power.
• According to the U.S. Environmental Protection
  Agency (EPA) CRT monitors contain four pounds of
  lead on average.
• Like the case of batteries, all or most of the
  components of end-of-life CRT monitors can be
  salvaged or recycled.

8
Material Safety and Data Sheet (MSDS)

• To determine if a material used in PC repairs or
  preventive maintenance is classified as
  hazardous, consult the Material Safety Data Sheet
  (MSDS).
• All hazardous materials are required to have
  Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) that accompany
  them when they change hands.

9
Material Safety and Data Sheet (MSDS)

• MSDS are a valuable source of information and
  typically contain the following information
• The name of the material
• Its physical properties
• Any hazardous ingredients it contains
• Reactivity data, including fire and explosion
  data
• Spill or leak procedures
• Any special precaution information
• Health hazard information
• Any special protection information

10
Creating a ESD-Free Environment

• In order to avoid ESD, it helps to know the
  conditions in which it is most likely to occur.
  When the humidity is low, the potential for ESD
  increases dramatically. Also, if the temperature
  is cool or if there is carpeting on the floor,
  the potential for static electricity is higher.
• A few key elements to a good working area should
  be anti-static tile on the floors, grounded
  workbenches with anti-static mats, and wrist
  straps.
• The area should be clean and well lit as well as
  have a climate control system that raises the
  relative humidity above 50. If all of these
  elements are in place, the risk of ESD will be
  significantly reduced.

11
Preventative Maintenance - Computer

• There are many things that can cause a computer
  system to fail physically. The most common are
  dust buildup, extreme temperatures, and rough
  handling.
• If a computer isn't regularly cleaned, dust can
  build up on the components inside the computer,
  such as on the fan bearings or on the printed
  circuit boards.
• In order to clean inside the computer case
  properly, unplug the unit and move it away from
  other equipment. Use a can of compressed air,
  making sure to follow the directions carefully,
  to blow out all of the dust within the case.
• This simple process should be done at least once
  a year in not very dusty areas and two or three
  times a year in very dusty areas.

12
Preventative Maintenance - Monitor

• When cleaning a display, some common sense should
  be used.
• Make sure the device is unplugged from the wall
  so as not to cause damage if water ends up
  inside.
• Using a damp cloth with a mild detergent, wipe
  down the entire display unit to remove any dust
  buildup. ?

13
Preventative Maintenance - File Issues

• There are several utilities that are included
  with DOS and Windows that help maintain system
  integrity. If run on a regular basis, these
  utilities can make the system run faster and more
  efficiently.
• Scandisk
• Defrag
• CHKDSK /f

14
Power Issues

• Blackouts, brownouts, noise, spikes, and surges
  are all examples of power interruptions that can
  cause system malfunctions or even complete system
  failure.
• Blackouts Are the complete loss of power.
• Brownouts/Sags Sags and brownouts are a drop
  in power. A sag is a brownout that lasts less
  than a second. These incidents occur when voltage
  on the power line falls below 80 percent of the
  normal voltage.
• Spikes Are sudden increases in voltage that
  are much higher than normal levels.
• Surges Are a brief increase in voltage
  usually caused by high demands on the power grid
  in a local area.

15
Power Suppressors UPS

• Three different devices can be used to protect
  sensitive computer equipment from the commonly
  occurring power events
• Surge suppressors Can make sure that the
  voltage going to a device stays below a certain
  level. However, they are useless during brownouts
  or blackouts.
• Standby Power Supplies (SPS) Are equipped with
  a backup battery to supply power when the
  incoming voltage drops below the normal level.
  When the voltage slips, the battery kicks in to
  provide DC power to a power inverter, which
  converts it to AC power for the computer.
• Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) Are
  comparable to standby power supplies however, a
  UPS runs off the battery power the entire time it
  is in use.