Resurrecting a D&E WTC 3 skipjack after 13 years

[llangston1]

I want to resurrect the old Skipjack sub with the Merriman WTC 3 that I bought my son back in '96. It was used a few years and then put up in a closet. I don't think it has seen water since '98. Beside new batteries what steps should I take to try and get the boat working again. Anything special I should do to the seals and engine bulkhead pass throughs to keep them watertight? What about the ballast tank hoses and and seals on the propel tank? My grand kids are now old enough to enjoy this so it's worth a shot to see if I can get the boat working again.

Any suggestions, recommendations?

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

When will you people learn -- Merriman's a hack, his wife dresses him funny, his breath stinks, he tortures small animals, and his WTC's are poorly thought out mechanical nightmares.

We suggest that you get a replacement WTC from Big Dave. Make sure it's RCABS.

(now that I've killed Mike off via stroke, we can proceed). Let's breath life into that old antique of yours:

If you had the old Sub-Tech angle-Keeper, it's likely the liquid-type angle-keeper which, over time, has lost its ginger. But test it to be sure. If needed, I recommend the ADF2.

As to the seals: oil 'em up, make up some flexible hose to the equalization valve body (after removing the core-valve), pressurize, and dunk the entire WTC in the water to check for leaks. We sell seals if any need replacement.

Charge the on-board bottle and leak-check the plumbing. I can fix you up with flexible tube and such for any crap needed not in the catalog.

Read the down-loads in the Forum ... there will be a test.

The updated version of that WTC is this: http://www.sub-driver.com/sub-driver...model-kit.html

M
(formerly, D&E Miniatures, now an indentured surf to the Great Caswell Empire)

[llangston1]

Thx, I'll try all that this weekend and let you know the prognosis. I found a replacement ni metal hydride battery pack and charger at the local Fry's so I'll charger that up to power the WTC. I am sure a lot has changed over the years. My R/C TX seems to hold a charge so hopefully it still works.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Thx, I'll try all that this weekend and let you know the prognosis. I found a replacement ni metal hydride battery pack and charger at the local Fry's so I'll charger that up to power the WTC. I am sure a lot has changed over the years. My R/C TX seems to hold a charge so hopefully it still works.

Your transmitter pack is likely Ni-Cad, and they store forever, so that's OK.

All joking aside -- you need help breathing life into Frankenstein, I'll do what I can to help from this end.

M

[llangston1]

Kudos to HWSNBN for quality engineering. I fired up the WTC last night and everything seemed to work fine. All the servos functioned, even the angle keeper. The motor ran fine. I haven't messed with the ballast system or put it in the water to see if it leaks or not but so far so good. It does appear that the small hose in the ballast tank area is about to have an aneurism.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

Kudos to HWSNBN for quality engineering. I fired up the WTC last night and everything seemed to work fine. All the servos functioned, even the angle keeper. The motor ran fine. I haven't messed with the ballast system or put it in the water to see if it leaks or not but so far so good. It does appear that the small hose in the ballast tank area is about to have an aneurism.

So far the kudos go to Futaba, SubTech, Traxxas, and Graupner. I'll take a bow after you fire up the ballast sub-system, and dunk this antique into the drink without having it flood out. Keep us informed.

M

[llangston1]

Well the WTC is watertight and the vent and blow valves seem to operate as well as the
Sub safe blow servo. However the propel tank will not hold gas. Not sure where the leak is. But is is a large one. So how do I disassemble the ballast tank to diagnose further?

[trout]

Llangston, can you see where the gas is escaping from underwater? Or do you hear a hissing sound? If it is coming from the valve you fill or from the valve that is used to blow the ballast tank, those schrader valves have a stem in them (the pin in the center that gets pushed in to let air in or out). Your auto parts store should sell a tool to remove that. It might only need to be tightened or replaced (also available at auto store).
I would highly doubt a solder weld would be the culprit, so there are just a couple of things to check, hose and valves.

[llangston1]

No the leak is definitely inside the WTC tank area and not the input schrader valve. I could not see where it was due to the cloud of vapor from the propel. I am using that pepper smelling air brush propellants that i bought back in the 90s. I still have 1 can left. is there an adjustment on the release valve in the ballast tank. I'll have to try again with the WTC underwater to see if I can see it better.

[Scott T]

Put it under the water and give the gas tank some pressure from a tire pump to see where it is leaking from.
Or some variation of that test.

Scott T

[Anuci]

Its not uncommon for the pressure hose leading to and from the fill bottle and the blow valve to dry rot or the like over time.
Once gas is applied this hose may stretch and eventually leak or rupture all together. This may be why you are unable to hold any of the propel added and not see exactly where the leak is coming from due to the excessive discharge of gas within the ballast portion of your wtc, which I'm sure you have realized.
Try see if you can examine the nylon hose more closely. I've found the need to replace them on more than one occasion over time. Hope this info. helps, and you determine the source of the leak. It usually leads to this process of elimination.

[llangston1]

The hose is my first suspect since my hose already has a small balloon aneurism in it close to where it fits on the servo valve. Can that hose be replaced without taking the ballast tank area apart? I might need some long very thin needle nose pliers or those surgical scissor like clips. I can really see the blow valve seal so I can't tell if its dried out and leaking.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

It's the hose. Send me your address and I'll send you some along with some other goodies you might need to make that lump of Lexan work.

Hemostat ... it's called a HEMOSTAT.

You people!

dmeriman@aol.com

M

[llangston1]

Hemostat, right! I was having a senior moment there. Anyway here are some pics of my WTC ballast tank area. There are some weird gray growths on the solder areas of the pressure tank. you can also see the ballooned area of the hose. The plastic tank itself has some whitish deposits on the inside and I can see some minor crazing/cracking. Here is a pic of my prop shaft. it appears to be a 3/8th" aluminum tube that has some wear rings at each end where it must have been rubbing on the rear plane linkages. Not sure if its a rudder or a dive plane interference. I will have to check that out.

[llangston1]

Here are some pics of the rear compartment with the prop shaft and rear plane linkages. the prop shaft interference has to be from the rudder linkage since that is the only one that comes near the shaft as it travels. I'll have to readjust that linkage. I might also have to resolder the linkages since they look cracked but that might just be cosmetic or poor picture lighting. The pictures are actually upside down. The rudder linkage show on the left is really on the right side of the boat when looking aft.