NOTE: To avoid electrostatic discharge, ground yourself by using a wrist grounding strap or by periodically touchingan unpainted metal surface simultaneously as touching a connector on the back of the tablet.7. Remove any installed ExpressCards or Smart Cards from the appropriate slots.Safety precautionsThe safety precautions chapter details the primary steps to be taken before performing any disassembly instructions.Observe the following safety precautions before you perform any installation or break/fix procedures involving disassembly or reassembly:• Turn off the tablet and all attached peripherals.• Disconnect the tablet and all attached peripherals from AC power.• Disconnect all network cables, telephone, and telecommunications lines from the system.• Use an ESD field service kit when working inside any tablet to avoid electrostatic discharge (ESD) damage.• After removing any system component, carefully place the removed component on an antistatic mat.• Wear shoes with nonconductive rubber soles to reduce the chance of getting electrocuted.BondingBonding is a method for connecting two or more grounding conductors to the same electrical potential. This is done by using a fieldservice electrostatic discharge (ESD) kit. When connecting a bonding wire, ensure that it is connected to bare metal and never to apainted or nonmetal surface. The wrist strap should be secure and in full contact with your skin, and ensure that you remove all jewelrysuch as watches, bracelets, or rings prior to bonding yourself and the equipment.Electrostatic discharge—ESD protectionESD is a major concern when you handle electronic components, especially sensitive components such as expansion cards, processors,memory DIMMs, and system boards. Very slight charges can damage circuits in ways that may not be obvious, such as intermittentproblems or a shortened product life span. As the industry pushes for lower power requirements and increased density, ESD protection isan increasing concern.Due to the increased density of semiconductors used in recent Dell products, the sensitivity to static damage is now higher than inprevious Dell products. For this reason, some previously approved methods of handling parts are no longer applicable.Two recognized types of ESD damage are catastrophic and intermittent failures.• Catastrophic – Catastrophic failures represent approximately 20 percent of ESD-related failures. The damage causes an immediateand complete loss of device functionality. An example of catastrophic failure is a memory DIMM that has received a static shock andimmediately generates a "No POST/No Video" symptom with a beep code emitted for missing or nonfunctional memory.• Intermittent – Intermittent failures represent approximately 80 percent of ESD-related failures. The high rate of intermittent failuresmeans that most of the time when damage occurs, it is not immediately recognizable. The DIMM receives a static shock, but thetracing is merely weakened and does not immediately produce outward symptoms related to the damage. The weakened trace maytake weeks or months to melt, and in the meantime may cause degradation of memory integrity, intermittent memory errors, etc.The more difficult type of damage to recognize and troubleshoot is the intermittent (also called latent or "walking wounded") failure.Perform the following steps to prevent ESD damage:• Use a wired ESD wrist strap that is properly grounded. The use of wireless anti-static straps is no longer allowed; they do not provideadequate protection. Touching the chassis before handling parts does not ensure adequate ESD protection on parts with increasedsensitivity to ESD damage.• Handle all static-sensitive components in a static-safe area. If possible, use anti-static floor pads and workbench pads.• When unpacking a static-sensitive component from its shipping carton, do not remove the component from the anti-static packingmaterial until you are ready to install the component. Before unwrapping the anti-static packaging, ensure that you discharge staticelectricity from your body.• Before transporting a static-sensitive component, place it in an anti-static container or packaging.Working on your tablet 7