Ah, the bane of Submariners, a noisy driveshaft. HMS Venturer detected and sank U-864 in the closing days of WWII due to a noisy driveshaft. The only successful sub on sub underwater engagement of WWII, I believe. Ok, I digress. On to business.
I have the prebuilt Sub-driver for the Trumpeter Seawolf and it turns out my driveshaft is a bit out of true. When I spin up the motor, I can feel the shaft “tingle” against my finger. Put one end of the dog-bone coupler on the shaft and its vibrating hard enough to confuse the ADF, even at low throttle. I imagine if I put it in the water the seals would leak from the shaking.
I pulled out the battery tray and disconnected the servo arms for a peak inside. First, the good news: The drive shaft which exits the WTC has a much larger diameter than that of the motor. There has to be a coupler/sleeve in there, and I would say it is very likely that my problem lies right where the shaft from the motor mates with this larger shaft. Should be no big deal, if I could just get at it. Anyway, the bad news is that a clever way to get at it to diagnose and repair eludes me at the moment. Hard to tell, but the electric motor looks to be pressed into place and also held in with silicone or maybe epoxy or some other adhesive. Any thoughts on how should I proceed?
Thank you,
Dwight Eyrick
I have the prebuilt Sub-driver for the Trumpeter Seawolf and it turns out my driveshaft is a bit out of true. When I spin up the motor, I can feel the shaft “tingle” against my finger. Put one end of the dog-bone coupler on the shaft and its vibrating hard enough to confuse the ADF, even at low throttle. I imagine if I put it in the water the seals would leak from the shaking.
I pulled out the battery tray and disconnected the servo arms for a peak inside. First, the good news: The drive shaft which exits the WTC has a much larger diameter than that of the motor. There has to be a coupler/sleeve in there, and I would say it is very likely that my problem lies right where the shaft from the motor mates with this larger shaft. Should be no big deal, if I could just get at it. Anyway, the bad news is that a clever way to get at it to diagnose and repair eludes me at the moment. Hard to tell, but the electric motor looks to be pressed into place and also held in with silicone or maybe epoxy or some other adhesive. Any thoughts on how should I proceed?
Thank you,
Dwight Eyrick
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