PS Magazine - TB 43-PS-583
PS, The Preventative Maintenance Monthly
ISSUE 583
JUNE 2001
PS 583
JUN 01
55
I
f your tough-talkin’ TA-312/PT telephone
set has wound up in your commo graveyard,
chances are good it was killed by moisture.
Operators, after a rain or when humidity is
high, remove the canvas cover, dry it out and
wipe the set dry. The most critical area to keep
dry is the battery compartment. Moisture will
corrode batteries and contacts faster than a
housefly will land on a chocolate cake.
Wipe out the battery compart-
ment with a clean cloth or dry it
with low-pressure air. If necessary
to handle dirt, use cleaning com-
pound, NSN 6850-00-597-9765.
Use a burnisher, NSN 5120-00-
255-4458, to clean the contacts.
If water has leaked inside your set, chances are good some of the case screws are
loose or missing. Tighten the loose ones and replace the missing ones with new
ones, NSN 5305-00-054-6670. Don’t forget to order the washer, NSN 5330-00-48-
1018, that goes with the screws and gives added moisture protection.
During rain, when possible, keep the set off the ground and covered with a pon-
cho or anything handy.
Always put a drip loop in the field
wire before connecting the wire to the
binding posts. This will keep dripping
water from running right onto the posts.
Rubber boots, NSN 5970-00-869-6263,
also help keep the binding posts dry.
The de-icing shield, NSN 4130-00-392-7628, that snaps on the mouthpiece of
your handset helps not only in freezing weather, but also to keep the mouthpiece dry
in high humidity.
Moisture is not the only reason a TA-312 is silenced. Operator carelessness—
treating it like it’s indestructible—has dealt a death blow many times. Here are a few
of the vulnerable areas:
A broken or lost genera-
tor handle probably means
an operator decided sudden
stops or cranking the handle
backwards was fun. Or
maybe they just forgot to
tuck the handle in when they
were done cranking.
The handset might seems like a convenient handle for carrying the TA-312. It
does until it slips from the cradle and you rip the cord off. Use the carrying strap or
lift the whole set.
While the spring isn’t meant to hold up
the phone, it should secure the hand set. To
test the retaining clip spring for proper ten-
sion, stand the phone on end. If the hand-
set stays in place, the tension’s good. If it
slips out, the spring is weak. Replace a
weak spring with NSN 5805-01-025-8891.
The spring was weakened by jerking the
handset straight out from the cradle. To
remove the handset, push forward and lift
up the transmitting end first.
A lot of folks like to doodle while they
talk on the phone. TA-312 operators have
their own form of doodling—scratching on
the designation plate. Some might even
think it’s creative. But a missing or unreadable designation plate is a repairable part
on the telephone and requires the cost and time to replace it.
For TA-312 security, order the security lamp for your TA-312 telephone with
NSN 5805-00-782-9210. This also brings a small security label.
You can also get a security warning label, NSN 7690-00-877-6864, that says,
Phone is not disconnected unless handset is seated properly.
Finally, a caution label, NSN 7690-00-877-6865, is also available. It says,
CAU-
TION do not strap push-to-talk switch.
PS 583
JUN 01
54
TA-312/PT Telephone Set…
(Editor’s note: PS first wrote about the TA-312/PT
31 years ago this month in Issue 211. We’ve covered
maintenance issues about it many times since. But
as long as it remains one of the workhorses of the
Army communications system, and as long as there
are “green” troops using it, we’ll still put out the
good preventive maintenance word.)
Remove wet cover
and let dry
Exposed handle
can be broken
Test retaining clip spring
Clean battery
compartment
and contacts
Use
rubber
caps on
binding
posts
583. 54-55 (C)
4/28/01
8:09 PM
Page 1
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