Preventive Maintenance
Domain 2 tests the preventive maintenance (PM) program that keeps an aerial reliable: what the operator services, what is referred to the shop, and how intervals and records are controlled.
Program rules
- NFPA 1915 describes a documented fire apparatus PM program; intervals are set by the manufacturer, the standard, and your department, and the documented interval is what counts.
- Operator-level PM is daily and weekly; annual inspection and load-test work belongs to qualified technicians under NFPA 1911.
What the operator handles
- Hydraulic oil: level and condition - milky means water, dark or varnished means overheating; sample rather than guess.
- Lubrication: chassis points, turntable bearing, and boom wear pads per the lubrication chart, using the specified product.
- Wire rope: cleaned and lubricated with a compatible product; never painted or greased with whatever is on the shelf.
- Air system: static leak check, low-pressure warning, spring-brake application, moisture drain.
- Tires, belts, hoses, batteries, lights, waterway: drain the waterway and protect it from freezing before cold weather.
- Records: every service, every discrepancy, every corrective action.
Worked example. The sight glass shows oil at the full mark but the oil is milky. Topping it up is wrong - water is already in the system and will damage the pump and valves. The correct action is to tag the apparatus, document the observation, and have the shop sample, flush, and find the water source (condensation, cooler leak, or wash water).
Traps. Mixing hydraulic oils or using “universal” fluid; topping off instead of finding a leak; over-greasing and blowing seals; skipping hydraulic warm-up in cold weather and then hammering the system; treating PM as paperwork that can be back-dated.