ITX-P-3800/Best Practices
v1.0
www.winsystems.com
Page 47
Contact Points
Some manufacturers use connectors with gold finish contacts. Gold finish contacts are
used exclusively on high-speed connections. Power and lower speed peripheral
connectors may use a tin finish as an alternative contact surface. It is critical that the
contact material in the mating connectors is matched properly (gold to gold and tin to
tin). Contact areas made with dissimilar metals can cause oxidation/corrosion, resulting
in unreliable connections.
Pin Contacts
Often the pin contacts used in cabling are not given enough attention. The ideal choice
for a pin contact would include a design similar to Molex or Trifurcon designs, which
provide three distinct points to maximize the contact area and improve connection
integrity in high shock and vibration applications.
Power Down
Make sure that power has been removed from the system before making or breaking
any connections.
I/O Connections OFF
—Turn off all I/O connections before connecting them to the
embedded computer modules or any I/O cards. Connecting hot signals can cause
damage whether the embedded system is powered or not.
Mounting and Protecting the I/O Module
Placing the
ITX-P-3800
on mounting standoffs
—Be careful when placing the ITX-P-
3800 on the mounting standoffs. Sliding the board around until the standoffs are visible
from the top can cause component damage on the bottom of the board.
Do not bend or flex the
ITX-P-3800
—Bending or flexing can cause irreparable damage.
Embedded computer modules are especially sensitive to flexing or bending around ball
grid array (BGA) devices. BGA devices are extremely rigid by design, and flexing or
bending the embedded computer module can cause the BGA to tear away from the
printed circuit board.
Mounting holes
—The mounting holes are plated on the top, bottom, and through the
barrel of the hole, and are connected to the embedded computer module’s ground
plane. Traces are often routed in the inner layers right below, above, or around the
mounting holes.
•
Never use a drill or any other tool in an attempt to make the holes larger.
P
ower Supply OFF
—Always turn off the power supply before connecting to the I/O Module.
Do not hot-plug the ITX-P-3800 on a host platform that is already powered.
