Repair center kit

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These are the tools that it is recommended that a Repair shop for the XO laptop have available.

Essential

A Work surface - A clean, white, wide surface (to allow for individuals to see any parts that have fallen off, and to spread out the XO's components) or anti-static mat/wrist strap set. Watch repair people have aprons that attach to their workbenches, so tiny parts won't fall onto their laps.

Tools

• A #1 Phillips head screwdriver Ideally, you want a screwdriver (a few of them) made specifically to fit these screws. You probably want these to be magnetized.
• A #0 Phillips head screwdriver For replacing the backlight.
• A small flat screwdriver for opening connectors
• Headphones A known good set of headphones for testing audio problems.
• Microphone A known good mono microphone for testing audio problems.
• Screw holders/sorters Six transparent containers, bowls, test tubes on a rack, or cheap seven-day pill boxes have been used.

Spare Components

• Extra screws. Note that spare screws are available in the handle of each XO.
• A known good Display
• A known good Battery
• A known good Keyboard Controller
• A known good Power Adapter
• RTC button batteries - Panasonic/Maxell ML1220 or equivalent

Optional

Tools & Test Equipment

• A digital multimeter is good to have.
• Side cutters For cutting and stripping wire
• Needle-nose pliers For handling small pieces
• Tweezers Some of the screws are in tight places and tend to get wedged under stuff once you've loosened them. Jeweler's or assembly tweezers are far better than cosmetic tweezers.
• Soldering equipment A good soldering station, which has a grounded tip, a couple of tips, and a tip cleaner are a good start.
• Solder While the XOs use lead-free solder, and we do recommend its use, there is no problem (other than the environmental one at the end-of-life) making repairs with solder containing lead. When removing components for repair, we recommend "poisoning" the lead-free solder with leaded solder to lower the melting point and ease removal.
• A buddy (or recorder) A non-text way of recording commentary if another individual is not present (tape recorder or laptop). Better: work in pairs, and have the second person document. If you have a digital camera, inside a laptop or cell phone, try it out. Although the XO is relatively straightforward and not confusing to reassemble, watch repair people, when working on complicated watches, lay out the parts as they are removed in a line on the bench or inserted into foam. They used to use pith.
• Component storage. A rack of non-metallic bins/drawers to store components. If possible, try to use anti-static bins; some common plastics (such as polystyrene) are awful for developing and holding strong static charges (10s of kilovolts, sometimes!)
• USB/TTL-Serial Adapter
• Hot Glue
• Loupe (magnifying glass)

Shipping Material

• Antistatic bags and Printable shipping labels for shipping parts.
• Packing tape
• Cushioning packing material -- Even crushed newspapers are better than nothing. Antistatic bubble pack and closed-cell polyethylene foam is good. The laptops do not need antistatic treatment, although placing them in a bag to minimize exposure to moisture is a good idea.