User's Guide

ThingMagic M3e User Guide
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Identifying ESD as the Cause of Damaged Readers
The following are some suggested methods to determine if ESD has caused reader failures, i.e., ESD
diagnostics. Some of these suggestions have the negative result experiment issue.
• Return failed units for analysis.
Analysis should determine if it is the power amplifier that has failed but won’t be able to definitively
identify that the cause is ESD. However, ESD is one of the more common causes of PA failure.
• Measure ambient static levels with static meter, for example, AlphaLabs SVM2. High static doesn’t mean
discharges but should be considered cause for further investigation. High levels that keep changing are
highly indicative of discharges.
• Touch some things around the antenna and operating area.
If you feel static discharges, that is an indication of what is in front of the antenna. What gets to the
ThingMagic M3e is also strongly influenced by the antenna installation, cabling, and grounding
discussed above.
• Use the mean operating time statistic before and after one or more of the changes listed below to
quantitatively determine if the change has resulted in an improvement. Be sure to restart your statistics
after the change.
Common Installation Best Practices
The following are common installation best practices to ensure the reader isn’t being unnecessarily
exposed to ESD, in even low risk environments. These should be applied to all installations, full power or
partial power, ESD or not:
• Ensure that ThingMagic M3e, reader housing, and antenna ground connection are all grounded to a
common low impedance ground.
• Verify antenna connections.
• Minimize ground loops in connections to antennas.