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Show NOTES ON INSTALLATION AND MAINTENANCE Instruction Manuals Most of the more complex instruments are furnished with instruction manuals by the manufacturer. These manuals give details about installation, operation and maintenance. While it may seem to belabor the obvious to insist that these manuals be read and heeded, experience has too often taught that the instructions manuals are immediately discarded or lost following acquisition of an instrument, so that maintenance and operation thereafter proceed on an improvised basis. This problem becomes especially acute for equipment like a quality recorder whose operational life may reasonably be expected to run for 20 years or more. Changing personnel, shifting files and modified installations sooner or later lead to an observer confronted with an instrument about which he knows nothing and for which the manuals have vanished. When this happens, the remedy is to write the manufacturer and request another manual for the instrument in question, furnishing serial number and date of purchase if known. But a properly organized observation station will not lose the manuals in the first place. When a new instrument is received, immediately copy the instruction manual by Xerox or similar process, or else write the manufacturer for a second copy. File the original manual in a safe, permanent file where it will survive periodic discards or campaigns to " clean out the paperwork". Attach the copy to the instrument, or place it in the nearest convenient file where it is accessible to the observer using the instrument. When this copy vanishes, as it eventually will, make another copy from the carefully preserved original. Instruction manuals contain the benefit of the manufacturer's hard- earned experience with his product. Much grief can be saved by following the instructions meticulously. Use only the specified types of accessories, such as charts, inks and lubricants. In a few instances this present Snow Safety Guide suggests procedures which may differ from the instruction manuals, but these are necessary modifications to conform to unusually rigorous environments. Otherwise, follow the manuals. Whenever special installations have been made or standard instruments modified for some reason, these changes should be noted in the instruction manual. Any special instruments which are built instead of purchased should have their own instruction manual prepared by the builder. Wiring diagrams for wind systems or temperature telemeters should be drawn up at time of installation and prominently filed where they can later be found. 3h |
