PS Magazine - TB 43-PS-602
PS, The Preventative Maintenance Monthly
ISSUE 602
JANUARY 2003
M
ore than one eyebrow will hit the hairline if a spark occurs during a fuel-loading
or refueling operation.
Where does that spark come from? Static electricity.
This is the same kind of electricity you feel when you walk on a carpet and reach
for a metal object or touch another person.
Static electricity also comes from the friction of fuel flowing through a hose or
fuel falling through the air. As the static charge builds, it tries to jump across any
gap separating it from other parts of the system.
If there are fuel vapors in the gap when a spark flashes across—KA-BLAM—
that’s all she wrote!!
You can’t prevent static, but you can prevent it from arcing or sparking with bond-
ing and grounding.
Set a Bonding Path
Bonding is connecting
a wire from your tanker
to the vehicle you’re
going to refuel. It equal-
izes any static electricity
on the vehicles. You can
also bond vehicles by
grounding each to the
same ground point.
PS 602
JAN 03
4
Fuel Tankers…
Bond to
bare metal
on vehicles
to equalize
static and
prevent
sparks
I
knew
there
was something I
was forgetting…
Grounding is hooking up a vehi-
cle to a ground rod so that static will
flow into the earth. You can drive a
rod into the ground and connect a
ground strap from the vehicle to it,
or you can hook the strap onto a
water pipe or other grounded metal.
That should keep a spark from
turning into an explosion or fire.
For more on grounding, see your
vehicle operator’s TM and FM 10-
67-1,
Concepts and Equipment of
Petroleum Operations.
FMTVs…
W
ater, ice and snow play havoc with your FMTV’s back-up hydraulic pump. These
elements cause the pump’s cylinder rod to rust. Rust tears the pump’s seals, causing
‘em to leak. Enough rust and corrosion cause the pump to stay stuck—that’s not
good when you need to use it.
All FMTVs have the manually operated back-up hydraulic pump. If the powered
hydraulic system fails, this pump provides the hydraulic pressure needed to use the
cab tilt, suspension compression and spare tire lowering and raising mechanism.
So do the hydraulic pump a favor. Exercise it every month. Exercising the pump
keeps its seals lubricated.
Back-Up Hydraulic Pump
what
are you
doing?!
exercising
the pump! it
lubricates
the seals!
Ground tanker
Grounding
Grounding!
It’s bonding
and
grounding.
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