Observe these safety guidelines:

• Keep the area clear and dust-free before, during, and after installation.

• Keep tools away from walkways, where you and others might trip over them.

• Do not wear loose clothing or jewelry, such as earrings, bracelets, or chains that could get caught in the chassis.

• Wear safety glasses if you are working under any conditions that might be hazardous to your eyes.

• Do not perform any action that creates a potential hazard to people or makes the equipment unsafe.

• Never attempt to lift an object that is too heavy for one person.

Warning

Before working on a chassis, be sure the power cord is unplugged.

Follow these guidelines when working on equipment powered by electricity:

• Before beginning procedures that require access to the interior of the chassis, locate the emergency power-off switch for the room in which you are working. Then, if an electrical accident occurs, you can act quickly to turn off the power.

• Do not work alone if potentially hazardous conditions exist anywhere in your work space.

• Never assume that power is disconnected; always check.

• Look carefully for possible hazards in your work area, such as moist floors, ungrounded power extension cables, frayed power cords, and missing safety grounds.

• Use the chassis within its marked electrical ratings and product usage instructions.

• The ASA 5508-X and the ASA 5516-X are equipped with an AC-input power supply, which is shipped with a three-wire electrical cord with a grounding-type plug that fits into a grounding-type power outlet only. Do not circumvent this safety feature. Equipment grounding should comply with local and national electrical codes.

ESD occurs when electronic components are improperly handled, and it can damage equipment and impair electrical circuitry, resulting in intermittent or complete failure.

Always follow ESD-prevention procedures when removing and replacing components. Ensure that the chassis is electrically connected to an earth ground. Wear an ESD-preventive wrist strap, ensuring that it makes good skin contact. Connect the grounding clip to an unpainted surface of the chassis frame to safely ground ESD voltages. To properly guard against ESD damage and shocks, the wrist strap and cord must operate effectively. If no wrist strap is available, ground yourself by touching the metal part of the chassis.

For safety, periodically check the resistance value of the antistatic strap, which should be between one and 10 megohms.

You can place the chassis on a desktop or in a rack. The location of the chassis and the layout of the equipment rack or wiring room are extremely important for proper system operation. Placing equipment too close together with inadequate ventilation and inaccessible panels can cause system malfunctions and shutdowns. Improper placement can also make it difficult for you to access the chassis for maintenance.

See Hardware Specifications for information about physical specifications.

When planning the site layout and equipment locations, consider the information in the next section to help avoid equipment failures and reduce the possibility of environmentally caused shutdowns. If you are currently experiencing shutdowns or unusually high error rates with your existing equipment, these considerations may help you isolate the cause of failures and prevent future problems.

Considering the following helps you plan an acceptable operating environment for the chassis, and avoid environmentally caused equipment failures.

• Electrical equipment generates heat. Ambient air temperature might not be adequate to cool equipment to acceptable operating temperatures without adequate circulation. Ensure that the room in which you operate your system has adequate air circulation.

• Ensure that the chassis cover is secure. The chassis is designed to allow cooling air to flow effectively within it. An open chassis allows air leaks, which may interrupt and redirect the flow of cooling air from the internal components.

• Always follow the ESD-prevention procedures described previously to avoid damage to equipment. Damage from static discharge can cause immediate or intermittent equipment failure.

When installing the chassis, consider the following:

• Check the power at the site before installing the chassis to ensure that it is “clean” (free of spikes and noise). Install a power conditioner, if necessary, to ensure proper voltages and power levels in the appliance input voltage.

• Install proper grounding for the site to avoid damage from lightning and power surges.

• The chassis does not have a user-selectable operating range. Refer to the label on the chassis for the correct appliance input-power requirement.

• Install an uninterruptible power source for your site, if possible.

Consider the following when planning an equipment-rack configuration:

• If you are mounting a chassis in an open rack, make sure that the rack frame does not block the intake or exhaust ports.

• The rack-mounting posts need to be 2 to 3.5 mm thick to work with the slide rail rack mounting.

• Front and rear doors—If your rack includes closing front and rear doors, the doors must have 65 percent open perforated area evenly distributed from top to bottom to permit adequate airflow.

• Be sure enclosed racks have adequate ventilation. Make sure that the rack is not overly congested as each chassis generates heat. An enclosed rack should have louvered sides and a fan to provide cooling air.

• In an enclosed rack with a ventilation fan in the top, heat generated by equipment near the bottom of the rack can be drawn upward and into the intake ports of the equipment above it in the rack. Ensure that you provide adequate ventilation for equipment at the bottom of the rack.

• Baffles can help to isolate exhaust air from intake air, which also helps to draw cooling air through the chassis. The best placement of the baffles depends on the airflow patterns in the rack. Experiment with different arrangements to position the baffles effectively.