Maintenance Handbooks

Abstract

The main objective of a maintenance manual is to provide all the information required to carry out each maintenance task without reference to the base workshop, design authority or any other source of information. It may, therefore, include the following:

• Specification of system performance and functions.

• Theory of operation and usage limitations.

• Method of operation.

• Range of operating conditions.

• Supply requirements.

• Corrective and preventive maintenance routines.

• Permitted modifications.

• Description of spares and alternatives.

• List of test equipment and its check procedure.

• Disposal instructions for hazardous materials.

The manual may range from a simple card, which could hang on a wall, to a small library of information comprising many handbooks for different applications and users. Field reliability and maintainability depend, to a large degree, on the maintenance instructions. The design team, or the maintainability engineer, has to supply information to the handbook writer and to collaborate with him if the instructions are to be effective.