IT VET 2006 Cohort

Maintain Equipment
& Consumables
Tutorial and Activities
 What do you need to know?
• maintain equipment and consumables is
intended to develop the knowledge and skills
required to maintain the operation of basic
hardware and the replacement of consumables.
• This includes:
• hardware maintenance (routine and non routine)
• maintenance scheduling
• maintenance logs
• hardware specifications
 Specific Knowledge of
• Consumables
• System Maintenance
• Maintenance Schedules (log)
• Keyboards
• Monitor
• Mouse
• Floppy Drives
• CD/DVD Drive
• Printers
• System Unit
• Hard Drive Maintenance
 Consumables
• Consumables are any product which needs to
be replaced on a regular basis. Examples of
consumables are:
• printer cartridges
• CD/ DVDs
• pens
• paper for printers
• cleaning kits (floppy drives, CD/ DVD drives)
• floppys
 Ordering Consumables
• in a work place someone will have the
responsibility for ordering consumable items.
Each business or workplace will have their own
set procedures which employees need to
familiarise themselves with. Many items can be
ordered online while other companies may still
require a paper order form. Most workplaces will
expect the following to occur:
• a projected cost of consumables over a financial
year is made
 Ordering Consumables
• when consumables are required a number
of quotes will be expected. Normally at
least 3 with the cheapest quote being used
• An order will be placed. The order may
have to go through a separate section for
approval. Once the order is approved then
it will be entered online or faxed.
 Ordering Consumables
• Once the goods arrive the goods will be checked
against the invoice the ensure all goods that the
invoice lists are there. The invoice must then be
checked against the actual order. If there is a
discrepancy then the company needs to be
contacted and a request is made for the
remainder of the goods.
• A copy of the invoice will be stored for auditing
purposes.
 Evidence Task
• Using Word, design a form that could be
used to order consumables. It must use a
company logo and be very professional in
appearance.
 System Maintenance
• These are SIMPLE statements that you
can use in your exam!
• System maintenance is required to ensure
the reliable operation of any mechanical
system in a workplace. 
• If a computer system is not maintained
properly it is more likely to fail. 
• System failures prevent workplaces from
operating and cost money.
 System Maintenance
• An adequate system maintenance
schedule will help to prevent many of the
problems from occuring.
• Routine maintenance is preventative and
designed to avoid unnecessary problems.
• Remedial, non-routine, maintenance will
try to fix things that are already broken.
 Evidence Task
• 1. Why is it important to keep manuals and
leaflets about installed hardware? How can they
help with maintenance? (think of both routine as
well as remedial)
• 2. What type of information do manuals give the
technician? Examine a few and make a list.
• 3. Create a database to keep a list of manuals.
The database should contain a professional
looking form to make accessing and entry of
data easy. The form should contain a logo.
Maintenance Schedules (Logs)
• A maintenance log is used to document
components which need maintenance,
frequency, times, methods etc...
• A schedule plans for when the
maintenance will take place where a log
will describes what has been done.
• On the schedule there should be
allowance to note when the last
maintenance was carried out.
Maintenance Schedules (Logs)

• A maintenance schedule/ log is a table

which can be manual, Word, Excel.
• The advantage of electronic format is that
it is easily updateable and clients can also
look to see when the next maintenance is
due.
 Evidence Activity
• Below are some online examples. Look at each example and note
any advantages and disadvantages of each style:
• Preventive Maintenance Schedule and Summary Something that
can help is to create a preventive maintenance schedule. ... For
this reason, I recommend that you set up a preventive maintenance
schedule. ...
www.pcguide.com/care/pmSchedule-c.html
• Information Technology - Monthly Maintenance Schedule - The ...
The Official University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center web
site.
www.ouhsc.edu/it/enterprise/maintenanceinfo/
• Business Portal maintenance schedule A calendar of expected
unavailability of the Business Portal due to scheduled
maintenance.
www.ato.gov.au/content/50846.htm
 Keyboards
•  A grotty look is just one reason to clean your
computer keyboard.
• If dust gets stuck underneath the keys, they
might not work properly. 
• While a drink which has been spilled may be
your keyboard's death knell if not taken care of.
• There is another reason to clean a keyboard and
that is germs. They say that keyboards and
public phones have more germs than a toilet
bowl.
 The process for cleaning
• STEP 1: Ensure that you have the supplies that you
need: compressed air (in an aerosol can); a soft rag, any
nonabrasive household cleaning fluid suitable for
cleaning plastic; and a dust mask if you're allergic to
dust.
• STEP 2: Check the manual. If the manufacturer has
provided specific instructions, follow them. Generally
speaking cleaning keyboards is reasonably straight
forwards so this should not be an issue.
• STEP 3: Shut down the computer.
• STEP 4: Disconnect the keyboard.
• STEP 5: Use compressed air to clean between the keys.
Spray at an angle to dislodge dust and grime.
 The process for cleaning
• STEP 6: Shake loose dust gently out of the keyboard.
• STEP 7: If using aerosol cleaning fluid, follow the manufacturer's
instructions. Otherwise, spray a small amount of fluid onto a rag.
• OPTIONAL: If they keyboard is not working right the keys can be
gently prised off and excessive amounts of dust or dried sticky liquid
has probably dried and formed a residue which is preventing the
keyboard from working properly. Clean the keyboard with a damp
cloth and detergent and let it dry before reconnecting. (may take up
to 72 hours)
• STEP 8: Wipe the keys and chassis. The keys can be cleaned with
a damp cloth and detergent. A small brush can be used to dust
between the keys.
• STEP 9: Wait until the keyboard is dry before reconnecting it to the
computer.
• STEP 10: Reconnect the keyboard and restart the computer.
 Keyboards at Risk
• In high-dust environments, use a plastic
keyboard cover to protect the keyboard.
• If liquid is spilled on the keyboard, turn it upside
down after you disconnect it to let the liquid drain
out.
• If there's a lot of liquid, or if the liquid is sticky,
wash out the spill with running water.
• (Do not immerse the keyboard.)
• Let the keyboard drain for 72 hours.
 Monitor
• It is difficult trying to use a monitor which is
covered by dust, fingerprints and
accumulated grime.
• The good news is that this is all easily
fixed. Monitors are easy to clean!
 Monitor
• STEP 1: Ensure that you have the supplies that you need: non
streaking window cleaner, soft clot, duster and a dust mask if you're
allergic to dust.
• STEP 2: Check the manual. If the manufacturer has provided
specific instructions, follow them.
• STEP 3: Shut down the computer and ensure the power is off at the
wall. 
• STEP 4: Use the duster to dust around the outside of the monitor at
the back and the sides. 
• STEP 5: Spray the window cleaner onto the cloth and wipe over the
monitor. This is alright to do with LCD screens too. 
• STEP 6: make sure the screen is wiped dry afterwards.
• STEP 7: turn power back on.
 Monitor
• STEP 1: Ensure that you have the supplies that you need: non
streaking window cleaner, soft clot, duster and a dust mask if you're
allergic to dust.
• STEP 2: Check the manual. If the manufacturer has provided
specific instructions, follow them.
• STEP 3: Shut down the computer and ensure the power is off at the
wall. 
• STEP 4: Use the duster to dust around the outside of the monitor at
the back and the sides. 
• STEP 5: Spray the window cleaner onto the cloth and wipe over the
monitor. This is alright to do with LCD screens too. 
• STEP 6: make sure the screen is wiped dry afterwards.
• STEP 7: turn power back on.
 Mouse
• It is very frustrating when a mouse doesn't
work properly.
• On the old ball style mouse the most
common cause for this is dirt on the
rollers.
• With the new laser mouse it might be a
rough surface where you will need to use
a mouse pad or just give the bottom of the
mouse a clean with a glass cleaner.
 Mouse Cleaning (Ball type)
• STEP 1: Shut down the computer. 
• STEP 2: Check the manual. If the manufacturer has provided specific instructions,
follow them.
• STEP 3: Disconnect the mouse.
• STEP 4: Turn the mouse upside down and remove ball-cover ring by turning it in the
direction shown which is generally counterclockwise. If it does not have a cover you
can generally remove a screw and open the mouse up.
• STEP 6: Remove the ball.
• STEP 7: Rinse the ball with warm water.
• STEP 8: Use a cotton bud covered with isopropyl alcohol to remove dust.
• STEP 9: Carefully scrape the three rollers with a a small hard object such as a small
jewellers screw driver, tweezer or even a paper clip to remove gunk. Some say to use
a toothpick but the trouble is they break and can leave debris which may interfere
with the operation of the mouse. 
• STEP 10: Clean rollers with a swab dipped in alcohol.
• STEP 11: Reassemble mouse when all the parts are dry.
• STEP 12: Reconnect the mouse to your computer.
 Floppy Drives
• Floppy drives are cleaned using a special disk
soaked with a solvent.
• The disk is placed into the drive.
• The drive will try to access the cleaning disk and
will eventually give an error message.
• You will need to do this 3 times.
• Allow the drive to stand a while for any solvent to
dry before using it.
• This will require probably another 10 minutes or
so. make sure you read and follow the
instructions that will come with the cleaning disk.
 CD/DVD Drive
• Same as per floppy but using a CD.
• To clean a CD or DVD you will require a
lint free cloth and solution. You will need to
gently wipe from the centre out.
 System Box (or Unit)
• Dust interferes with the safe and efficient
running of a computer.
• Many fires have been caused by a build
up of dust in a computer.
• The dust can be cleaned off the case with
a lint free cloth and from the inside with
compressed gas.
 System Box (or Unit)
• A small specially designed PC vacuum
cleaner may also be used.
• A household vacuum cleaner should not
be used because they build up static and
can cause problems. Static discarge may
damage components of the system box.
 Hard Drive Maintenance
• hard drives slow down enormously over
time as the drive heads look for
contiguous areas of free memory for files.
• When large enough areas are not found
files can become fragmented (split) over
several sectors of a disk and this will slow
down access time for those files.
• The more files that are fragmented the
slower the access time.
 Hard Drive Maintenance
• To help make your hard drive more
efficient the drive must be maintained by:
• defragmenting the drive on a regular basis
• run disk cleanup to remove any
unnecessary temporary files.
 Evidence Activity
• Answer the following
• What is disk fragmentation and how does
it happen?
• Perform a screen dump and crop it to
show the Disk Defragmenter window.
Insert the image into your Word document.
Using the “Draw” toolbar label the parts of
the disk cleanup window .
 Evidence Activity
– The Disk Defragmenter has a key with 4 colours.
Describe the information these colours give and
explain how they are used.
– What is the main colour to watch that indicates the
degree of fragmentation?
– Click on the “Analyze” button. The program will now
work out the degree of fragmentation of the hard
drive.
– What information is given in the analysis report and
how do you view this report? Do a screen dump and
explain it.