PS Magazine - TB 43-PS-684
PS, The Preventative Maintenance Monthly
ISSUE 684
NOVEMBER 2009
46
PS 684
NOV 09
t
hese red hot tips for taking care of your M56 smoke generator will lead to some
mighty good smoking. So sit back and Fre up on this PM:
Visual pump cable:
Don’t pile stuff around
this cable. The cable
will be damaged and
you won’t be smoking.
Check that the cable is
tight
during
BEFORE
PMCS. A loose cable
prevents smoking, too.
Wait for the light:
You can’t rush things during startup and shutdown. If you don’t
wait for the ENG TEMP READY to come on (it may take 3-5 minutes) before turning the
fog oil control knob, the engine won’t have time to become hot enough for smoking. At
shutdown, wait until the ENG TEMP IDLE light comes on before turning off the power. If
you don’t, unburned fog oil is left in the system, which makes for dif±cult starting next
time.
Washing:
It’s best not to use a power
washer on any part of your M56. But be
especially careful to keep water away from
the turbine exhaust. Water can go through
the cone straight into the turbine enclosure
and cause all sorts of corrosion and electrical
problems. You can get a cover for the turbine
exhaust with NSN 5340-01-424-3403 and for
the ejector with NSN 5340-01-500-2463.
Safety:
Always stay at least 50 feet
away from the rear of the M56 while
it’s operating and until it cools off for
at least 20 minutes after shutdown.
Fire can shoot out and barbecue you in
an instant.
IR hopper not for storage:
It’s tough getting everything
stored in the M56. But one
place you don’t want to use
for storage is the IR hopper. If
the hopper is turned on with
anything in it but graphite, not
only will what’s in the hopper
be mangled, but so will the
hopper assembly.
Weapons storage case:
The
cases often don’t do a good
job of sealing out water. So if it
has rained quite a bit since you
last smoked, you could open
up the case and ±nd it ±lled
with water and everything
that’s stored in it ruined.
Anytime it has rained, open up the
case and check for water. Mop up any you
±nd. A time-saver is to leave a big sponge
in the case and use it for mopping.
If it rains a lot in your area, you might
want to have support drill two drain
holes in the case no larger than 3/16 inch
and about 1/4 inch from the bottom and
front side edges at each end. Touch up the
areas with paint to prevent corrosion.
red hot
tips for
good
smoking
M56 Smoke Generator…
RED HOT
TIPS FOR
GOOD
SMOKING
say, these
smoking tips
are
red hot!
I’m ready for
some serious
smoking now.
how about
you?
Drill drain
hole here
IR hopper not for storage
Check
weapons
storage case
weekly for
standing
water
Don’t pile
equipment
around visual
pump cable
At startup, wait for
ENG TEMP READY
light to come on
At shutdown, wait
for ENG TEMP IDLE
light to come on
Keep water away from turbine exhaust
see why you
shouldn’t stand
behind
me.
684.46-47.indd
1-2
9/30/09
12:31:28 PM
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