The National Academies Press

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From page 7... ... 7 C H A P T E R 3 Maintenance and care of AGL has been necessary since the first smudge pot was filled with kerosene and lit to assist pilots at night. The need to minimize maintenance and costs soon followed. Read the entire page →
From page 8... ... 8 LED Airfield Lighting System Operation and Maintenance • Photometric testing • System burnin Visual and Physical Inspection It is a good idea to visually and physically inspect all new AGL and guidance sign systems installed at an airport. Particular features to inspect are presented in the following subsections. Read the entire page →
From page 9... ... Maintenance Considerations 9 – Cable length – Conduit ends condition In addition, inspect the LED light fixture leads for nicks, cuts, or abrasions because water can penetrate the cable jacket and be wicked into the fixture by the heating and cooling process. This water can damage the circuit board and other electronic components if they are not properly sealed. Read the entire page →
From page 10... ... 10 LED Airfield Lighting System Operation and Maintenance In-Pavement Light Fixtures • In-Pavement Fixture Height. Often overlooked and highly dependent on the technician's workmanship, the improper installation of an inpavement light fixture can adversely affect the performance of a good fixture. Read the entire page →
From page 11... ... Maintenance Considerations 11 Figure 8. Height measurement of in-pavement light fixture (IPRF 1-G-002-03-1) Read the entire page →
From page 12... ... 12 LED Airfield Lighting System Operation and Maintenance fixture; therefore, the sealant should be removed and reinstalled. The research team recommends visually inspecting the exterior of all newly installed fixtures and recording notes on an inspection form. Read the entire page →
From page 13... ... Maintenance Considerations 13 AC 150/5340-30, Design and Installation Details for Airport Visual Aids, AC 150/5340-26, Maintenance of Airport Visual Aid Facilities, FAA Engineering Brief 83, In-pavement Light Fixtures Bolts, and AC 150/5345-42, Specification for Airport Light Base, Transformer Housings, Junction Boxes and Accessories. Bolt composition varies with the specific installation and materials used; two types of bolts are approved for use, an 188 Stainless Steel and an SAE J429 Grade 2 bolt with a ceramicfluoropolymer coating. Read the entire page →
From page 14... ... 14 LED Airfield Lighting System Operation and Maintenance Figure 12. Visual inspection inside light base. Read the entire page →
From page 15... ... Maintenance Considerations 15 more stringent value should be used. Regardless, it is important to obtain this startup value to establish a baseline and trend the data to ensure the health of the series lighting circuit. Read the entire page →
From page 16... ... 16 LED Airfield Lighting System Operation and Maintenance the survey data, the major source of LED light fixture failure is the electronic component. Although the survey data does not indicate the timeline of these failures, industry studies have identified infant mortality (IM) Read the entire page →
From page 17... ... Maintenance Considerations 17 The inpavement fixtures did not perform nearly as well as the elevated fixtures. Because of the number of failures and unreliability of these lights, the FAA implemented a 4year warranty requirement. Read the entire page →
From page 18... ... 18 LED Airfield Lighting System Operation and Maintenance warranty period. Some manufacturers also stated that they will begin the warranty start date approximately 6 months after ship date, but, in certain cases, there is flexibility to accommodate airport needs. Read the entire page →
From page 19... ... Maintenance Considerations 19 generation fixtures are no longer being supported by manufacturers and are considered obsolete. This presents challenges to airport maintenance departments maintaining early generations of LED fixtures. Read the entire page →
From page 20... ... 20 LED Airfield Lighting System Operation and Maintenance to the photometric and chromaticity requirements. For this method to work properly, the air port must maintain a meticulous asset management program to track fixture stock, including installed location and warranty periods. Read the entire page →
From page 21... ... Maintenance Considerations 21 determine a sufficient inventory: effect of downtime to operations, part availability, and component failure rate. Understanding LED Fixture Components An LED light fixture has various components. Read the entire page →
From page 22... ... 22 LED Airfield Lighting System Operation and Maintenance on how to test and replace the parts. It is important to become familiar with this information as it pertains to a particular light fixture. Read the entire page →
From page 23... ... Maintenance Considerations 23 In-pavement Elevated Signs Oring Stem Tether Prism Frangible coupling Frangible coupling Prism gasket Globe Seal, prism keeper Arctic kit heater Arctic kit heater Several manufacturers are moving toward standardizing parts among types of light fixtures and among the types of signs. Standardization will allow a single type of item to be used for various fixtures or signs, thus eliminating the need to carry redundant parts for all types of fixtures. Read the entire page →
From page 24... ... 24 LED Airfield Lighting System Operation and Maintenance Preventive Maintenance and Refurbishment/Repair Preventive maintenance is essential to maximizing the life expectancy of any AGL system. Preventive maintenance includes regular inspection and refurbishment of light fixtures to avoid failure. Read the entire page →
From page 25... ... Maintenance Considerations 25 an LED fixture needs to be wellmaintained to maximize life expectancy. From the data collected, it was evident that maintenance personnel believed that if a fixture illuminates, it needs no attention. Read the entire page →
From page 26... ... 26 LED Airfield Lighting System Operation and Maintenance periods (e.g., daily, weekly, monthly, semiannually, and annually) Read the entire page →
From page 27... ... Maintenance Considerations 27 the lamps burn out. At that time, usually a year or so, they get an overhaul. Read the entire page →
From page 28... ... 28 LED Airfield Lighting System Operation and Maintenance c. Document repairs and troubleshooting performed on each piece of equipment and the results of those actions, as well as the symptoms related to the malfunction. Read the entire page →
From page 29... ... Maintenance Considerations 29 In-pavement Fixtures • Rubber deposit on the lens is the main cause for poor photometric performance. • Jet fuel, deicing fluid, and other contaminants can collect on/in a fixture, thereby causing deteriorating light output. Read the entire page →
From page 30... ... 30 LED Airfield Lighting System Operation and Maintenance Key Takeaways • Preventive maintenance is regular inspection and refurbishment of light fixtures to avoid a failure. • AC 150/5340-26, Maintenance of Airport Visual Aid Facilities, describes the minimum maintenance requirements for AIP-funded airports. Read the entire page →
From page 31... ... Maintenance Considerations 31 Maintenance Practices During Pavement Repair Airfields undergo longterm construction improvement projects, such as rubber removal, striping, or full pavement rehabilitation. During such projects, fixtures may be affected. Read the entire page →
From page 32... ... 32 LED Airfield Lighting System Operation and Maintenance • Furnish and install a temporary mud plate on the fixture. Mud plates should be 1⁄8in.thick steel or 5⁄8in.thick plywood. Read the entire page →
From page 33... ... Maintenance Considerations 33 • After properly cleaning all debris from the light base, including the bolt holes, reinstall the extension onto light base. • Fill the gap between the extension and pavement with appropriate materials (e.g., P606 sealer, cement compound, or epoxy) Read the entire page →
From page 34... ... 34 LED Airfield Lighting System Operation and Maintenance In 2008, TRB released ACRP Synthesis 11, Impact of Airport Rubber Removal Techniques on Runways. The document briefly discussed some of the effects rubber removal has on the lights. Read the entire page →
From page 35... ... Maintenance Considerations 35 manufacturers have worked closely with the airports to resolve issues and then took the neces sary steps to prevent the failure from occurring in future fixtures. Vibration Vibration is typically associated with the airfield operating environment due to moving air craft and the forces they generate. Read the entire page →
From page 36... ... 36 LED Airfield Lighting System Operation and Maintenance installed their fixtures at a Naval Air Facility to subject them to a more severe environment than on a typical airfield. After many landings and tailhook strikes, no fixture failures due to vibration were reported. Read the entire page →
From page 37... ... Maintenance Considerations 37 Moisture In-Pavement Light Fixtures The responses to the surveys and case study questionnaires indicated that moisture is a common issue and area of concern that airports are experiencing with LED fixtures and that the presence of moisture may result in the failure of the fixture. Moisture is not unique to LED fixtures; in fact, incandescent equivalents experience similar water infiltration. Read the entire page →
From page 38... ... 38 LED Airfield Lighting System Operation and Maintenance the fixture was removed, the research team could see the damage done to the fixture assembly and primary cabling. LED fixtures cannot be sustained in this environment. Read the entire page →
From page 39... ... Maintenance Considerations 39 to achieve because the procedure would take weeks, if not months, to complete when considering allowable runway and taxiway closures. Although moisture is an ongoing issue, maintenance personnel had success with fixture life when they thoroughly inspected a failed light. Read the entire page →
From page 40... ... 40 LED Airfield Lighting System Operation and Maintenance As with the LEDtype AGL, the LED lighted signs offer extended lamp life, which significantly reduces relamping maintenance compared with nonLED signs. The survey data indicated the most common issue faced by the LED signs is exposure of the electronic power supply inside the sign structure to environmental conditions. Read the entire page →
From page 41... ... Maintenance Considerations 41 Although this data seems to be an overwhelming endorsement for the performance of LED systems, the reality is that decades of using incandescent fixtures were being compared to a relatively new product. Although this may skew the perception in favor of LEDs, early reports on these fixtures indicate no inherent flaw with the use of this equipment that would restrict its use in any region or climate. Read the entire page →

From page 7...

... 7 C H A P T E R 3 Maintenance and care of AGL has been necessary since the first smudge pot was filled with kerosene and lit to assist pilots at night. The need to minimize maintenance and costs soon followed.