Type 212

[MFR1964]

Tom, you are right, for me there are no secrets for other people which want to start and enjoy building subs, no matter how your sub will look, it's the product of your hands, we all enjoy building subs in our own way, let's keep it that way.

Red,
Placing the safetyvalve instead of the gas bottle was my initial thought, and then the volume issue appeared, had to find a way to give me more volume.
Testing the SD will reveal if this was the right move, only drawback is, the left room for the launchers, first i want to have a working SD equipped with SAS, from that piont i'll see if tubes are possible.

Greetings Manfred.

[MFR1964]

Builded up the floatingvalve, and placed it onto the tube, ran to the bathroom and plunged the SD into the water, yeah sure, i did place the floatingvalve and did a primary test to see if the valve works ok, due to used transparant tube i could observe if water would enter the safetyfloat.
Only during rising it did, but that was something i expected.

Today it's Queensday in the Netherlands, so the wife yanked me out of the shop and dragged me all day around the city looking for stuff to buy, so no durationtest yet.
I always conduct a leak test by putting the boat underwater for one hour, before i will conduct the test i start with pressurizing it, just to see if it will reveal leaks, have to do that tomorrow.



The main components of the float valve, reinforced the parts which will hold the styrodure block.



The float itself, inserted a threaded rod and glued a base plate on it.



I made a slit into the lever, this way i can choose the needed height by sliding the floating block depending how high the water will stand inside the sub on waterline.
Used a piece of soft open cell rubber as a seal.



Placed onto the breathing tube, by bending the lower part i can determen the needed opening for ventilating on surface.



Lifted up the float to show how the seal will work, you only need a light pressure, it's also a check to see if the seal will cover the entire tube opening.



This is the concept i'm after, by poking the breathingtube inside the tower there's no worry the floatingbody will get stuck, tried to get the tube as high as possible without obstructing the inlet.



With some poking of the rod through the venthole i could see if the float has free movement, only tested it inside the tub without the upperpart, futher tests will be conducted.


Greetings Manfred.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

This project has given you a bad case of, 'builder's fever', Manfred. No doubt about it! Loving this thread.

David

[redboat219]

That's great Manfred. And you still have space for the periscope/antenna raising mechanism inside the sail.

[MFR1964]

Building fever ?, have no idea, unless you mean, locking yourself up inside the shop, just enough room under the door for the wive sliding pizza's into the shop, drinking water from the condensed windows, and do your needs in the trashcan so you can continue your quest without being disturbed with lesser important things, and don't ever forget to use chopsticks to keep your eyes open.
Hmmmmmm, in a way this sounds familiar, have to clear my mind.

Red,
Before i placed the breathing tube i measured it up and placed it in such way that i still have room for the liftmechanism, by placing the floatingdevice in the direction of the nose it won't give any troubles for placing the liftmechanism.


And there is some news from the testingfacility, pressured it up and watched, well what shall i say, herr kapitain wir haben ein wassereinbruch !!!!!!, wir sollen sofort das schiff verlassen!!!!.
In plane english, i do have a small leak at the rod controlling the valve of the tank, i must say that i've overpressured it pretty much, wanted to see where the soft spots are, don't forget, if you will take away this one, the next will appear with that kind of pressure, the chain will always brake at it weakest point, just to be sure i took out a spare from the Kilo SD and glued it in, the glue has to cure, did the SAS work ?, yes it did, ignored the earlier leak and did some testing, flooded the tank and broached the surface with the air from the SD only, a nice woeshh i could hear when the SD was sucking up the outer air through the breathingtube.
Balanced her with some stydorure foam and repeated the test, again no problems bringing her up, the woeshh was less because you don't have to lift the total dead weight of the SD, it's supported by the foam, this will be the real situation inside the model.
So tomorrow again back to the testingground, with some more convidence that the SAS won't be a problem, when the leak is solved i can play around with the weight/volume issue, have to do some testing to see what will happen.

Talking about issue's, i'm designing the safetyfloat mechanism that i always use on my subs, this way searching for your sub butt naked is history, you will see the float and winch it in by it attached cable.



Greetings Manfred.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

That is great news, Manfred.

Now, as to that leak. If I read you right, you're talking about the seal between the ballast sub-system servo and wet-side of the after ballast bulkhead? A tip: sometimes it's not air-bubbles you see escaping from between the pushrod and the seal (an embedded rubber O-ring within the cast resin body), but rather air getting by some gaps in the adhesive used to mount the seal body within the bore that passes through the face of the ballast bulkhead.

If it is the rubber seal leaking, then yes, replacement is the way to go. Or, you can tin the pushrod with some solder to thicken it up, making it a tighter fit to the O-ring.

I'll throw some more seals in on that package I'm sending your way. I make those like anyone else makes pop-corn.

Yes, you have the fever bad!

Your poor Wife! I'm sure Ellie and her could exchange horror stories endlessly.

David

[MFR1964]

Yep that's the one, i blew some high pressured air inside the SD and bubbles appeared only at that rod, so i made a replacement ripped from the Kilo SD, will submit another test tomorrow, spare popcorn is always welcome.

About the fever, it started in 1984 and never has let me go, did try to go cold turkey, no result, besides shaking limbs and the need for looking vids from submarines.

I bet Ellie and my wive have the same nightmares, on the other hand she joins me at the submeets and feeds me, so i must have something good inside.


Greetings Manfred.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Yep that's the one, i blew some high pressured air inside the SD and bubbles appeared only at that rod, so i made a replacement ripped from the Kilo SD, will submit another test tomorrow, spare popcorn is always welcome.

About the fever, it started in 1984 and never has let me go, did try to go cold turkey, no result, besides shaking limps and the need for looking vids from submarines.

I bet Ellie and my wive have the same nightmares, on the other hand she joins me at the submeets and feeds me, so i must have something good inside.


Greetings Manfred.

OK, you'll have some replacement seals soon.

I got the bug in the mid-80's too. Yeah ... same symptoms. Beats bar-hoping, I guess. Just as well, I'm a mean-drunk.

And ditto here with the Wife. She travels to the meets with me and keeps me fed and out of trouble.

As they say: behind every good man, there's a good woman. Too true!

David,

[jim h]

Mean drunk ,you ? Just mean . Ellie keeping you out of trouble is a full time job for her. HAHAHAHA


Jim

[redboat219]

Manfred,
In your previous post you mentioned that you're using a self made pack of 6 AA Nimhs, may I know why. Surely a flat Lipo pack can delivery the same amount or more of voltage without taking up space.

[MFR1964]

Using the AA cells makes things easier for me, all my boats have that kind of cells mostly bigger, don't own a lipo charcher, just the normal one, these cells also give me a greater capacity, the one's i'm using now give me 2,5 Ah, voltage stays the same 7,2 Volt, and i don't need to use a liposaver to protect the cells.
Hoping to get a driving time for about two hours, that would be nice instead swapping every hour a battery pack, all my boats have high capacity batteries, for instance the V80 can drive easely 2,5 hours on full power, the type VIIC even a wopping 6 hours full speed, it goes back to the old days when facilities where not present at the shore.


And some news from the testfacilities, she is leak free, didn't observe any bubbles, drove up the pressure untill the front endcap blew off, don't worry, no batteries onboard, next step will be the 1 hour duration test, if all goes well i can do my final test's this weekend.
Hope to figure out how much foam and lead i have to use to get me a nice balance underwater as well above, did noticed the rocking of Chris his boat, want to figure out if i can bring down the CG at it's lowest point.

Greetings Manfred.

[MFR1964]

Before i wanted to start the testtrails i had to add one more item, the safety bouy, i have them on each of my models, just a measure against searching underwater for your lost boat.
Made a small example and use the design of the V80 to keep things simple,



First i took the challenge to cut open the upperstructure, by using a X acto blade i managed to cut it open, this way the seems stay small.



Glued a piece of foam underneath the hatch and place a little ring and magnet inside the foam.



By modifing a magnet coupler i made a removable connection, this way i can lift up the upperpart, the magnet will release and with it the safety floater.



When the connection is made it should look like this, the connection made by a pair of magnet couplers.



The coupler with the hole inside will fit inside the tube, it's secured by using the U shaped rod.



Builded it up with the bouy on top, this way it will be placed onto the SD.



Making the connection to the SD was a bit tricky, it had to be sturdy but also removable due to the nature of the SD, i made a kind of slit which can hold the connection, by using two screws i can secure or release the mechanism if needed.
Used the third servo with a connection to the failsave modus of Kevins leveler, still amazed that i've got all those option on such a tiny leveler.



The total construction of the safety float onboard the SD, normally the float will stay at the upperpart which also holds the winch with the safety line.

And to please you guys even more i made a vid to show how this all is working in action,

Greetings Manfred.

[redboat219]

Can't the bouy slip freely in and out of the deck cutout when you lift off the upper hull? If so there's no need for the retaining magnets.

[MFR1964]

Unlike the V80 which upperpart can be lowered vertically on to the hull, so the float can stay where it is, i need to slide and push the 212 upperpart on to the hull, using the magnetic couplers as a connection to the float solves the problem for me.
Due to the strong magnets it stays where it is, done some testing before to see if this concept would work.

Greetings Manfred.

[bassplayer1]

Great job Manfred!!! Can't wait to see it perfoming!!!