PS Magazine - TB 43-PS-565
PS, The Preventative Maintenance Monthly
ISSUE 565
DECEMBER 1999
PS 565
53
DEC 99
PS 565
52
DEC 99
Tents . . .
Apply sealant
only to seams
darn
leaking
tent!
lack of
tent pm
can
really get you
into
trouble
.
i-i-i-i'll say!
4984. You’ll also need a 1-in wide paint
brush to apply the sealant, rags and
some small disposable containers with
lids.
Seal the tent seams like so:
q
Spread the clean, dry tent on a flat
surface in a well-ventilated area, pref-
erably outdoors.
q
Put the seam sealant into the small
containers and keep the lids on the ones
not in use. This keeps the sealant from
thickening as you work.
q
Brush a light coat of sealant onto
the stitched areas of the seams, flaps
and webbing.
q
Use a 1-in brush turned sideways.
The sealant should only go on the
thread and holes left by the stitching
needles. Try not to let it slop over be-
yond the width of the seam on to the
fabric.
q
Let the tent dry about 30 minutes.
q
Apply a second light coat. Dry thor-
oughly. Two light coats work better
than one thick one.
The sealant isn’t flame retardant, so
keep it off the polyester fabric. Apply
it
only
to the tent’s seams.
It increases
the fabric gloss and makes it more
likely to crack. If it cracks, your leaks
are worse than ever.
ents used to be made out of
cotton duck, usually called canvas.
New tents are a coated polyester fab-
ric. No matter—they all leak.
You want to stay dry, you pull some
PM. But first, you gotta know what
kind of tent you have—canvas or poly-
ester. There are differences in the two
kinds—how they look, feel and smell.
Cotton duck is olive drab and has a
coarse, rough feel. It develops a musty
smell.
Coated polyester is bright green, and
feels slick. It has a vinyl smell.
Treating Canvas
Procedures for fixing leaky canvas
are spelled out in FM 10-16,
General
Fabric Repair
. All tents start out re-
pelling water, but the repellency wears
off after awhile. Once they’ve been put
up, taken down and cleaned a few
times, it’s time to renew that water
protection.
q
To re-treat canvas, you’ll need can-
vas preservative paste, NSN 8030-00-
281-2346.
q
Make sure the canvas is dry. Brush
off any loose soil.
q
Stir the canvas preservative paste
thoroughly. Then dilute it with an equal
amount of dry cleaning solvent, add-
ing the solvent a little at a time. Stir
the mixture continuously until all the
solvent is blended into the preserva-
tive paste. Stir it again before you start.
q
Apply the coating mixture with a
brush or spray gun. Be sure you have
lots of ventilation. If you use a spray
gun, wear protective clothing, a respi-
rator, and a helmet liner.
q
Put the coating on thicker over
patched areas and places that have pre-
viously been repaired.
q
Let the canvas dry until it loses its
tacky feel.
Polyester Tents
If your tent is made of polyester fab-
ric, it doesn’t need re-treatment. Just
the seams need to be re-sealed.
Use seam sealant NSN 8030-01-350-
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