PS Magazine - TB 43-PS-576
PS, The Preventative Maintenance Monthly
ISSUE 576
NOVEMBER 2000
ables and wires need extra care when
the temperature drops below freezing.
Keep your commo on line with these
lucky seven cold-weather PM tips:
1.
The rubber insulation on cable
and wire gets brittle in the cold, so
store cable and wire inside a shel-
ter, if possible. If you do store your
wire and cable inside a shelter, you
must take care not to damage your
commo equipment. Stored wire and
cable can easily knock off knobs
and break connectors when it’s being
stored, removed or if the load shifts.
2.
If you can’t store your wire and
cable inside a shelter, try to warm it in
your shelter before you unroll it. Un-
rolling cable when it’s too cold cracks
the insulation. The inside wires could
break, too.
When you unroll your cable, watch
for kinks and crimps. Those are the
areas that will break. Gently straighten
Cable and Wire . . .
Don’t force
connectors
Coiled
cable
needs
careful
handling
5.
Leave a little slack when you lay
wire or cable. Metal and rubber shrink
in the cold. The wire or cable can break
if you pull it too tight.
6.
The cold affects cable connections,
too. Carefully connect and disconnect
them. Rough stuff can break connec-
tors and receptacles.
advantage of not letting wires and
cables freeze to the ground. That cre-
ates a pain when you recover them.
3.
Keep an eye on splices as you lay
your wire. Because of cold contrac-
tion, these areas can open and become
vulnerable to water intrusion and freez-
ing. Use cold-weather tape, NSN 5970-
00-240-0620, when you have to splice
or repair wire. It comes in a 30-ft roll.
4.
It’s best to keep cable and wire off
the ground and away from feet, ve-
hicles and cargo areas. In fact, string-
ing them overhead gives you the added
out the kinks and crimps, if you can. If
they won’t straighten easily, you should
warm the cable before you complete
the unrolling.
55
PS 576
54
NOV 00
hey,
not
so fast
! you're
crimping
the
cable!
whoa
!
uh-oh!
7.
Finally, there is no substitute for
patience in handling cable in the cold.
Slow and easy is the way when you
pay out, reel in or flex cable. Fast and
rough cracks insulation.
Run wires overhead
on lance poles.
..
...or use trees
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