Old OTW pump controller issue?

[Thorbrandr]

I can not get the pump controller in my R-Class to respond to the receiver.

Either on channel 4 or 5. I have reseated the connectors. no joy. fresh charge, no joy.

This is after I had water in the front compartment after a weed encounter a few weeks back.

The run I did last weekend I started getting erratic response in the pump. It was not working reliably.

Thoughts?

I have contacted OTW....

Thanks!

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

How did you de-water and preserve the PCB?

One of my many 'Today's Work' posts covers this topic in significant detail. Look it up.

David

[redboat219]

Post # 60

https://forum.rc-sub.com/forum/builder-threads/168165-gwen-s-nautilus-design-as-described-by-jules-verne-discussion-everyone-welcome?p=168230#post168230

[Thorbrandr]

Only had a table spoon or so of water. Some in the plastic wrap on the controller. Opened the compartment, blew it out, and let wire dry.

[RCSubGuy]

Strip the plastic and scrub the board with alcohol and a toothbrush. Rinse and let dry. I've saved many an electronic gizmo via this method. If there is a small mineral bridge in there, all sorts of weirdness can happen.

[type7]

Why do they put a valuable, hard to replace board where they know it will get wet? I replaced mine with a waterproof speed controller.

[RCSubGuy]

Why do they put a valuable, hard to replace board where they know it will get wet? I replaced mine with a waterproof speed controller.

Last I checked, OTW dive controllers are installed in the dry area of the boat. Flooding of the area must be substantial in order to get the water level up to where the controller is installed. If the water rises to that level, there was a drastic oversight on behalf of the owner. Taking on that much water will affect trim to a massive extent. If the boat is run in that state and the unit fails, we are talking user issues, not hardware.

Replacement of those units with an ESC is certainly feasible, and I've done it numerous times, but you lose the auto shutoff from the probes.

So, enlighten me, what waterproof receiver are you now using? What waterproof remote switch? Of course, you also have waterproof servos installed, right?

[Subculture]

Not looked at these units at board level, but apart from the likelihood of a custom-coded microcontroller, there shouldn't be anything bespoke on that unit, meaning it should be able to be repaired if obtaining a replacement is unattractive.

So if you or someone you know understands a mosfet from a BJT, then it might only need a bit of work to get your controller functional. If the microcontroller is cooked, sadly that will mean replacement or an alternative device.

You can waterproof electronics like this by using a little RTV rubber to cap off the ends of the heatshrink covering, a bit of added protection for unplanned flooding.

Sadly the risk of flooding the dry compartment is a drawback of the OTW system (or indeed the earlier Craycraft/Burge modules they're partially based on) if your boat ends up at an extreme angle or the pump fails to shut-off.