Looking for info on Mayer Rieger piston tank controller

[Nathan]

Hello, Folks, does anyone have info on a Mayer Rieger piston tank controller? I am not having success finding anything online. Any info is great, but I am really hoping someone has a copy of the manual.



Thank you!

[Subculture]

That's a series one Markus Rieger board. I have instructions for that, they are easy to work with and far superior to the relay based switchers IMO.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1O2Yy2AXhJIAvh_B9bwAspwEpTkGk21ET/view?usp=drive_link

[Subculture]

Sorry the link was restricted, you should now be able to get to it without issues.

[Nathan]

I missed your post, thank you very much for the link!

[rwtdiver]

Here is the piston system that I fabricated.

https://youtu.be/ftbmbgRnpHI?si=_5E51l-k1RnUCnTv

The entire system was controlled manually using switches and servos and intern controlled with the transmitter



These photos show some of my preliminary fabrication.

Rob
"Firemen can stand the heat."

[Nathan]

That is clean! Is it proportional? I didn't see anything that looked like it was.

[rwtdiver]

That is clean! Is it proportional? I didn't see anything that looked like it was.

Thank you! And yes it is proportional. What you see in my YouTubes, is a power system I hooked up to a servo tester just for demonstrating how it works. If I were to install this system in a sub I would use a control knob on the transmitter for the piston operation. Which would be similar to the servo tester .

Testing Piston System (youtube.com)

Piston Dive System Design (youtube.com)

It works great, might be a little slow for some, but for my use it will be OK!

Rob
"Firemen can stand the heat."

[Subculture]

Proportional trim has some pros and cons with a single piston tank.

It does give repeatable adjustment of that last 1% of buoyancy, at the expense of having a c.g that is usually just a little bit off, assuming the tank is mounted lengthwise along the boats keel. If the tank is small enough that the tank can be mounted vertically then the c.g will remain locked in, some toy grade subs use a vertical piston tank, and some RC versions of Bushnells Turtle use the same, this works great, but most subs need a bigger tank.

A servo trimmable weight can be added allowing the c.g to be easily adjusted. Usually a pair of tanks are employed, but it does add complication and cost.

[rwtdiver]

Proportional trim has some pros and cons with a single piston tank.

It does give repeatable adjustment of that last 1% of buoyancy, at the expense of having a c.g that is usually just a little bit off, assuming the tank is mounted lengthwise along the boats keel. If the tank is small enough that the tank can be mounted vertically then the c.g will remain locked in, some toy grade subs use a vertical piston tank, and some RC versions of Bushnells Turtle use the same, this works great, but most subs need a bigger tank.

A servo trimmable weight can be added allowing the c.g to be easily adjusted. Usually a pair of tanks are employed, but it does add complication and cost.

Some good information.

I built my system an experiment. I had no submarine in mind to build or anything. I just wanted to see a geared motor design and the type of switch's that might be involved to make a piston system work. My design may not be to practical, but it was a possible starting point for me to learn on.

Rob
"Firemen can stand the heat."

[Nathan]

I hope my application doesn't suffer too much from the c.g. change, but I'll keep that in mind as a factor in my overall trimming, thank you!

[Subculture]

It's difficult to spot from the shore if a submerged boat is out of trim by a couple of degrees, even if the water is clear. Feedback from an accelerometer/leveller to shore via telemetry would be helpful.

Generally a pitch controller will compensate for a small amount of trim change, but it makes the whole system work harder.