Moebius (Revell) Skipjack Build

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Something I heard towards the end of the run was a ticking/growling sound that was in sync with the speed of the prop speed. Since she is in dry-docks, I tried to turn the prop by hand and as it turned it would catch or bind. Opened up the end cap showed me this:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]24189[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]24190[/ATTACH]
Yes, I bent a tooth in the gear.

I'll slip a new spur-gear in your CARE package, Tom. No sweat. Looks like FOD damage -- something got between the pinion and spur and took out that tooth. Look around within the gear cavity ... is there an errant washer or set-screw floating around in there? Any shiny spots on the brass pinion-gear?

As Mark suggested -- this sort of thing is my ****-up. I likely buttoned this unit up with something still sitting loose in the gear cavity of the motor-bulkhead. I'm the bad-guy here.

M

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Something I heard towards the end of the run was a ticking/growling sound that was in sync with the speed of the prop speed. Since she is in dry-docks, I tried to turn the prop by hand and as it turned it would catch or bind. Opened up the end cap showed me this:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]24189[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]24190[/ATTACH]
Yes, I bent a tooth in the gear.

I'll slip a new spur-gear in your CARE package, Tom. No sweat. Looks like FOD damage -- something got between the pinion and spur and took out that tooth. Look around within the gear cavity ... is there an errant washer or set-screw floating around in there? Any shiny spots on the brass pinion-gear?

As Mark suggested -- this sort of thing is my ****-up. I likely buttoned this unit up with something still sitting loose in the gear cavity of the motor-bulkhead. I'm the bad-guy here.

M

[trout]

Mark, thank you. Yeah that must be it, factory defect. Couldn't be me, the town idiot, that was driving it. Actually I it probably was me. During the last pool test, I either became lax or cocky because there were a few times I had to throw the drive train in reverse. There is a pause I put between going forward to reverse, some of the reverses were full throttle. I bet I could figure it out because the way it is leaning in relation to the direction of the prop travel. Anyways, David was gracious to help me.

[trout]

Does FOD stand for Fool On Deck?

[trout]

That is service! I received the replacement pieces.
Not much to show, to remove one of the screws that hold the bulkhead together I needed to remove the SAS float valve and reattach it. The gear went back with no problems.
Unfortunately the only pictures I took was after the fact.
A couple of rubber bands hold the vinyl hose down until the silicon dries.

While there was downtime, I moved the sail pushrod to the innermost hole on the servo horn. This will reduce travel of the pushrod. The other modification is the leveler pushrod was moved to the outermost hole. Not because I needed more travel, but in my head I think I would get quicker response since the farther away from the center the faster the travel is.

Later I will install the new o-rings.

[trout]

I was able to sneak a few minutes in today to get the o-rings changed.
Pinching along the edge and moving your fingers to the top will bring the o-ring off the channel. I used a toothpick to clean out the old teflon tape out of the grooves. Put down a film of silicon grease and then wrapped tape around about 7 times in each channel. Greased up each new o-ring and inspected for any damage. Once each o-ring was in place, tested the seal.

The amount of squish on the o-ring looked good and the seal was complete all the way around, but..........

One small section at the bottom was a lot less indicated by the thinner line on the innermost 0-ring. That is were the water was coming in last time. If this does not work, I will use a different way to build up the channel which was suggested to me, but I have never tried before.

Trimmed the extra tape off with an x-acto blade. Now we are ready to test again. Maybe after Thanksgiving dinner.

[Scott T]

Happy Thanksgiving Trout and all the Subdriver members!!

[trout]

Thank you Scott, I pray your day was filled with family and peace.
happy Thanksgiving to all!

[Subculture]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]24326[/ATTACH]

Looking at the picture I'd say you have rather too much squish on the o-ring nearest the edge of the cap. This tends to put a strain on the seal, as it increases abrasion, and makes it more difficult to remove the caps.

[trout]

Great eye! Yes it was very tight to get on, but once I trimmed the excess teflon tape, it goes on with just the right amount of pressure. I believe the tape was giving resistance to the o-ring, preventing it from setting all the way down in the channel. I will post more later, got to fight the crowds and get some Melamine board to make the hull cutting rig (Type XXIII).

[trout]

Tested the sub-driver again. This time the battery compartment was bone dry! Now to the front.

I could not see with suction where the water was coming in from. But it was getting in somehow.

Switched to blowing air in through the vinyl tube. Holding on to the end caps to make sure they do not pop off and blowing in air, I found a stream of bubbles coming out of the leveling pushrod seal. That will be replaced, David included a pushrod seal in the care package - pretty smart, me thinks.
You can see how much water was in the engine room in the photo. After that we will retest.

[HvyCGN9]

Have you sorted your leak out mate?

I finally have started my sub ...cutting out bottom holes and drilling top holes. Found that my hull sections have very little of the warping seen by others and they test fit together nicely.

Cheers N Beers N Merry Xmas to all,

Bruce

[trout]

Bruce,
Been on a sprint assembling the Type XXIII, so I shelved the Skipjack momentarily (Thinking it is a minor fix).
I identified a pushrod seal that leaks, but now that you mention it, need to take care of that (with guests coming over building has stopped today and tomorrow - but I will see what I can do to finish that!).
Is you kit the Revell version? I am wondering if warping is an issue with their production.
Cheers and Merry Christmas to you.

[HvyCGN9]

yes mine is the Revell version ( a different hobby store had the Moebius version for about $20 more!) I was thinking it could be due to excess heat during part extraction in the molding process.....
I was shown a fellow TF72 members assembled Moebius hull and his had some bowing upward of the upper hull section giving a gap along the side joins. I suggested Dave's heat gun solution (strap it down on flat surface gently heat the leave to cool) which I think would solve his hull problem.

I am having a quiet Christmas this year (due to unexpected work van repairs) ....might go fishing after lunch!! Or take USS Long Beach for a run...

Merry Beermas from Oz!

Bruce

[trout]

Bruce,
Sorry about the van being down, hope it is not a long or expensive fix.
Fishing or running USS Long Beach sounds like a great way to have a relaxing day whichever you choose enjoy. Today will be a crazy day until 4pm for me. Then it will quiet down and I might be able to break out the Type XXIII and get her ready for trimming and maybe squeeze in a seal repair on the Scamp.
If you get a chance post a few pictures. Would love to see your Skipjack.
Peace,
Tom