As more and more boats are being made for use in swimming pools, the use of gas for emergency use becomes less of a necessity. Even the Great Wiz told me this weekend that he runs all his boats these days using Snort and leaving his gas tanks empty.
Which brings us to the age old argument of RCABS (Really Crummy Awful Bladder System) :biggrin:and alternatives.
So lets look at Snort. One pump, one vent valve. No compartments under pressure or vacuum, no pipes or bladders to leak.
Whereas RCABS has pipes and valves, with potential leak problems.
The other part about Snort I really like is that you ballast the boat with a full ballast tank, it is at periscope depth. Want to go deeper, then you dive using planes and motor to go deeper. Stop engines, and you'll reach periscope depth. It just makes so much sense to His Eminence and myself.
Snort is SO simple and foolproof, I wonder why anyone operating in a pool would want anything else. Particularly when one looks at the price. For Snort, we're talking about a $60 pump and controller. The vent valve is operated by a cheap micro servo. That's IT!
With all this in mind, it means we can dispense with a gas tank and the valves/ arms installed to operate it, but that leave the vent valve as a problem.
I've often felt that valve could be incorporated into the aft ballast bulkhead, and yesterday I tinkered with the idea on paper.
Here is my idea for modifying an aft ballast tank bulkhead to engage a Snort only vent valve.
A 3/8" diam hole is drilled right through the bulkhead, And then approx half of it is drilled out again to say 1/2" diam
A 3/8" x 1/8" Push-rod seal is glued into place.
A custom made mount for the linear servo is screwed onto the dry-space side of the bulkhead to line up the 1/8" push-rod, which is threaded to take a knurled nut. On the bottom of the nut is glued on a half round rubber pad/seal. This is designed to sit onto the flange inside the hole when the valve is in the closed position.
Finally a 1/8" diam hole is drilled on the wet side of the bulkhead, from the top down into the seal chamber, which allows the air to escape. A hole must be drilled through the Sub-driver casing.
We need the following specially made
An alumilite bracket mounting for the linear servo
A rubber half round (dome shaped seal to go on the knurled nut.
The push-rod with a threaded end to take the nut.
I can get the linear servos made with extra long leads to enable the tray to be removed etc.
OK! Tear it apart please guys!
Which brings us to the age old argument of RCABS (Really Crummy Awful Bladder System) :biggrin:and alternatives.
So lets look at Snort. One pump, one vent valve. No compartments under pressure or vacuum, no pipes or bladders to leak.
Whereas RCABS has pipes and valves, with potential leak problems.
The other part about Snort I really like is that you ballast the boat with a full ballast tank, it is at periscope depth. Want to go deeper, then you dive using planes and motor to go deeper. Stop engines, and you'll reach periscope depth. It just makes so much sense to His Eminence and myself.
Snort is SO simple and foolproof, I wonder why anyone operating in a pool would want anything else. Particularly when one looks at the price. For Snort, we're talking about a $60 pump and controller. The vent valve is operated by a cheap micro servo. That's IT!
With all this in mind, it means we can dispense with a gas tank and the valves/ arms installed to operate it, but that leave the vent valve as a problem.
I've often felt that valve could be incorporated into the aft ballast bulkhead, and yesterday I tinkered with the idea on paper.
Here is my idea for modifying an aft ballast tank bulkhead to engage a Snort only vent valve.
A 3/8" diam hole is drilled right through the bulkhead, And then approx half of it is drilled out again to say 1/2" diam
A 3/8" x 1/8" Push-rod seal is glued into place.
A custom made mount for the linear servo is screwed onto the dry-space side of the bulkhead to line up the 1/8" push-rod, which is threaded to take a knurled nut. On the bottom of the nut is glued on a half round rubber pad/seal. This is designed to sit onto the flange inside the hole when the valve is in the closed position.
Finally a 1/8" diam hole is drilled on the wet side of the bulkhead, from the top down into the seal chamber, which allows the air to escape. A hole must be drilled through the Sub-driver casing.
We need the following specially made
An alumilite bracket mounting for the linear servo
A rubber half round (dome shaped seal to go on the knurled nut.
The push-rod with a threaded end to take the nut.
I can get the linear servos made with extra long leads to enable the tray to be removed etc.
OK! Tear it apart please guys!
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