PS Magazine - TB 43-PS-575
PS, The Preventative Maintenance Monthly
ISSUE 575
OCTOBER 2000
3.
Check terminal posts, clamps,
cables, battery hold-downs and the bat-
tery box for dirt or corrosion. Corro-
sion eats up metal parts on and around
batteries. Dirt and corrosion on the tips
of the batteries
can hold
moisture that
can close the
circuit between
the positive and
negative
terminals and
discharge your
battery.
Wipe off light dirt and corrosion with
a cloth. To fight heavy corrosion, take
out the battery and any metal parts that
can be removed. Scrub the battery with
water and baking soda.
After cleaning, rinse with lots of
clean water and dry well. Protect bare
metal with bituminous coating com-
pound, NSN 8030-00-290-5141. Shine
up battery posts and clamps with bat-
tery terminal brush, NSN 5120-00-926-
5175.
4.
Make sure a light coat of GAA
grease is
applied
and covers all
posts and
terminals after
clamping down
the battery.
Keep grease
from between
posts and
terminals.
5.
Check for
cracks or bulges in the battery and any
signs of leaking electrolyte. If you see
any of these signs, get your support on
the job.
MSE operator/maintainers, pulling
PM on your shelter’s two lead-acid
backup batteries is your job. And from
the looks of some of those batteries,
more than a few of you should be fired!
Here are five things you should al-
ways do:
1.
Make sure battery plates are cov-
ered with electrolyte by adding dis-
tilled water when needed. It must be
Mobile Subscriber Equipment . . .
Leakage?
1
/
2
inch above the top of the plates.
Some batteries have lips inside or in-
dicators to show where the electrolyte
level should be. If yours don’t, you’ll
have to eyeball them.
The chemical action between the
electrolyte and the cell plates produces
electricity. Without it, batteries dis-
charge and die.
But remember, more is not better.
Too much water—like filling cells to
the top—is just as bad as too little.
When the cell is too full, electrolyte is
flushed out during charging. Since the
battery can’t recharge itself, it dies.
You can get six 1-gal bottles of dis-
tilled water with NSN 6810-00-682-
6867. Get one 5-gal bottle with NSN
50
Electrolyte level OK?
hey, i've
got a
pa in
in my
batteries
!
how
about a
pm pill
?
Posts and terminals greased?
Corrosion?
In a pinch—to save the battery—
rainwater, air conditioner condensation
or even tap water will do. But, filter it
through a clean cloth before using it.
2.
Always make sure the vent holes
in vent caps are open to let gases es-
cape. Also, make sure the caps are
screwed down tight. If you have
clogged caps that can’t be cleaned, or
missing caps, replace them with NSN
Vent holes clear?
PS 575
51
OCT 00
PS 575
OCT 00
Back to Top Back to Top
