pressure and the torque will drop.
Remind your soldiers that the bolts
should be retorqued periodically until the rubber has set and the torque
does not drop appreciably. If leakage is noted at the fittings or if the
tank is subjected to hard usage, the bolts should be retightened. As the
final step in placing the SMFT on the trailer, have your soldiers attach the
pressure gauge to the filler/discharge valve and open the pressure gauge
valve.
2. Before soldiers start to fill the SMFT, they must purge any air that may
be in the tank and supply hose. First the soldiers purge air from the tank
by closing the 4-inch tank inlet valve to keep air from reentering. Next,
they start the supply pump to purge the air from the supply hose.
a. Instruct your team to bring the free ends of the hold-down belts
over the top of the SMFT and down the other side through the ratchet take-up
mechanisms attached to the trailer bed.
They slide the ends of the belt
through the slot in the ratchet assembly, folding the end of the belt back
and holding in place until one complete turn has been taken on the roll-up
spool.
b. At this time, have your soldiers attach the water supply hose from
the PWS/DS pump to the tank filler/discharge valve. Have one soldier on the
pump, one soldier controlling the filler/discharge valve of the tank, and
one soldier visually inspecting the tank. You signal to start the pump and
have the valves opened at the filler/discharge port on the tank.
c. No pressure shows on the pressure gauge until the tank is filled
approximately 2 feet high. From that point on, have the soldier at the hose
periodically check the exact pressure of the tank by closing the 4-inch
filler/discharge valve on the tank to obtain a precise pressure reading.
The supply pump is brought to idle while the soldier is making this reading.
d. The filling of the tank continues until the tank pressure reaches 3
psi.
At 3 psi, stop the filling of the tank so that the belts can be
tightened. Tighten the belts with the ratchet handle turned to the maximum
possible with one hand.
The second hand is used to steady the ratchet
assembly so that the belt will wind flat and true. If you notice that the
SMFT is not level with the floor of the trailer, have your soldiers level
the tank by releasing the ratchet on one side of the tank and then taking up
the slack by tightening the opposite ratchet. After you have tightened each
ratchet assembly, the ratchet handle drops securely into the locking
mechanism.
When all ratchet assemblies have been tighten uniformly, the
pressure in the tank may increase as much as 1/2 psi, which is normal.
QM4912
1-4
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