PS Magazine - TB 43-PS-569
PS, The Preventative Maintenance Monthly
ISSUE 569
APRIL 2000
he shelf and service lives of collaps-
ible fabric fuel and water tanks have
been changed.
Fuel tanks from 3,000 to 210,000
gallons now have a dry, indoor shelf
life of 12 years. That’s up from 10
years. Fuel tanks not stored dry and
indoors have a 5-year shelf life from
date of receipt, or 12 years from the
manufacturing date, whichever comes
first.
Water tanks from 160 to 50,000
gallons no longer have any shelf or
service life restrictions. They’re used
until they are no longer repairable.
Once fuel is put in a tank for the
first time, the tank is good for 3 years,
max. Service life may be less than 3
years depending on where and how
many times the tank is used.
A visual inspection is the
only
way
to be sure that a fuel or water tank is
ready for deployment. Here are the cri-
teria as given in an interim mainte-
nance advisory message (MAM) dated
6 Mar 98 for the shelf and service life
of the tanks:
Dispose
of a tank if:
It has holes, tears or cuts through
the coated fabric greater than 6 inches
long.
It has seams that show signs of com-
ing apart.
It has severe discoloration (dark rust-
colored stains along seams of fuel tanks
or an entire panel is darker than a panel
right next to it).
Fuel, Water Tanks . . .
It has cracks in the exterior coating.
It has fungus growth.
Repair
a tank if:
It has holes, tears or cuts through
the coated fabric that are less than 6
inches long. Make temporary repairs
using the tank’s mechanical repair kit.
Permanent repairs can be made with
an adhesive repair kit, NSN 5430-01-
359-1078 (for both fuel and water
tanks) or NSN 5430-01-352-6073 (for
fuel tanks only).
It has abrasions that have exposed
the nylon fabric underneath the outer
coating. Re-coat with the adhesive re-
pair kits listed above.
It has blisters, areas where the coat-
ing appears to have lifted away from
the fabric or where fluid has leaked
between tank layers.
Fix this damage by puncturing and
cutting away the lifted coating. Tem-
porarily repair the defect with the me-
chanical repair kit. Make permament
repairs with the adhesive kits listed
above.
Once a tank’s service or shelf life is
used up, serviceable components
should be removed for reuse before
salvage of the tank.
These include berm liners, filter/dis-
charge hose assemblies, drain hoses and
control valves, gate valves and some
other vent and hose assemblies.
The complete scoop is in TACOM
MAM 99-007 (Jun 99) and the interim
MAM. Both MAMs are available at:
Just click on the AEPS Maintenance
icon and then on
Maintenance
Adviso-
ries.
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i'll
live
longer
, thanks
to you!
longer
service life
depends
on
your
repairs
.
PS 569
57
APR 00
PS 569
56
APR 00
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