Pre and post dive protocols

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  • redboat219
    Admiral
    • Dec 2008
    • 2735

    Pre and post dive protocols

    QuarterMaster (Ed) was kind enough to share his pre-dive preparation checklist (pdf)
    https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...3&d=1603824847. Hope to ask him for post dive procedures.

    Do you have your own personnal checklist/ procedures you can share with the group?
    Last edited by redboat219; 10-30-2020, 03:12 AM.
    Make it simple, make strong, make it work!
  • QuarterMaster
    Rear Admiral
    • Sep 2015
    • 1194

    #2
    In all fairness.....

    This is merely a humble derivative of an original idea by his Grand Exalted Poobah, King of the 7 Underwater Realms, Master Admiral of All Oceans..... (shall I go on?)

    "He Who Shall Not Be Named"


    FWIW, imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery!

    Ed
    v/r "Sub" Ed

    Silent Service "Cold War" Veteran (The good years!)
    NEVER underestimate the power of a Sailor who served aboard a submarine.
    USS ULYSSES S GRANT-USS SHARK-USS NAUTILUS-USS KEY WEST-USS BLUEBACK-USS PATRICK HENRY-K432-U25-SSRN SEAVIEW-PROTEUS-NAUTILUS

    Comment

    • He Who Shall Not Be Named
      Moderator
      • Aug 2008
      • 12253

      #3
      Originally posted by QuarterMaster
      In all fairness.....

      This is merely a humble derivative of an original idea by his Grand Exalted Poobah, King of the 7 Underwater Realms, Master Admiral of All Oceans..... (shall I go on?)

      "He Who Shall Not Be Named"


      FWIW, imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery!

      Ed
      Like this? A bit subject-specific, but gives you a good idea of the 'check-list' format I favor (derived from our equipment protocol in the Navy diving community).

      MAINTENANCE





      Proper maintenance of your SEAVIEW SD is the only way you can be assured of long-term successful operation of the system. I’ve defined three phases of maintenance. These are the procedures you have to perform before, during, and after playing with your r/c SEAVIEW model submarine: First, there’s the preparation of the SD and installation within the model SEAVIEW’s hull and integration of the two units control and propulsion elements, these are the pre-mission checks; maintenance performed periodically at lake or pool side as you operate the submarine are the mission checks; and the maintenance, repair and preservation tasks required to ready SD and SEAVIEW model for the next outing, these are the post- mission checks.



      PRE-MISSION

      Before taking your SEAVIEW to the lake or pool for an afternoon’s fun, you’ll have to get your SD up and running. The post-mission maintenance operation left the SD in the following condition: The motor bulkhead (and its attached devices) separated from the Lexan cylinder, the on-board bottles charge of propellant gas vented off, and the battery removed. Take the SD in hand and, with a clean lint-free cloth, wipe the inside edges of the cylinder, where the motor bulkhead O-ring will seat. Grease the motor bulkhead O-ring with silicon grease.





      Make up the fail-safe portion of the ADF device to the ballast system servo lead and carefully push the motor bulkhead into the cylinder and seat the motor bulkhead O-ring within the after end of the cylinder – as you do this rotate the cylinder in your hand, checking that you don’t get any wires caught between the O-ring and cylinder and that the O-ring did not squirt out of its grove.




      Position the motor bulkheads equalization valve (the tire-valve on the face of the motor bulkheads wet-side) next to your ear and depress the valve stem. You should hear a pronounced ‘whoosh’ of air escaping. That’s the air within the cylinder, initially compressed as you pushed the motor bulkhead into the cylinder. If you don’t hear that sound (five-minutes is the minimum time to wait after installing the motor bulkhead onto the end of the cylinder to perform this test), you have a leak somewhere and that has to be found and fixed before you go on with anything else.




      Caution: Open the equalization valve each and every time you either install the motor bulkhead or the forward bulkhead into the cylinder. If you don’t, the over-pressure caused by the bulkheads compression of the space, coupled with the later expansion of the air within caused by heating of the internal devices, might pop off one of the bulkheads with disastrous results. Very, very bad Ju-Ju if the model is in the water when that happens!!









      A drop of silicon oil is placed on all pushrod exit points. Don’t forget the ballast sub-system servo pushrod – you access that through the flood/drain hole in the bottom of the ballast tank. Don’t make a mess of things. Use those lint-free wipes!




      Remove the forward bulkhead, install and connect a charged battery (insure that the master switch is Off), and reinstall the forward bulkhead. Vent off the cylinder through the equalization valve. Turn on the transmitter, turn on the SD and let the ESC and ADF go through their respective start-up protocols. When things stabilize, check for proper operation of all servos and devices. Turn the SD and transmitter off and install the SD into the SEAVIEW hull and make up the linkages and intermediate drive shafts.




      The magnetic couplers that interconnect the SD and models pushrods should make up on their own as you sat the SD down on its saddle. Run out the external antenna atop the cylinder (under the Velcro straps) as high as you can manage. If installed, make up the external flexible hoses of the LPB ballast sub-system to the motor bulkhead.




      Tighten the Schrader valve within the charge fitting of the on-board bottle, and then charge the on-board system with liquid propellant. Here’s how you do that:




      Provided with the SD is a propellant charging adapter, used to transfer Propellant liquid from the Propellant can (that you purchase at the local hobby-shop – this stuff typically used as a gas source to operate small spray-brushes) to the SD’s on-board bottle. The objective is to transfer liquid, not gas, into the on-board bottle. Therefore you have to invert the propellant can as you make the transfer, which you are compelled to do owing to the propellant charging adapters design.




      When you press the propellant charging adapter down tight on the on-board bottle charging valve a small quantity of the liquid will be transferred, but not enough to be useful. To get more liquid into the on-board bottle, you remove the propellant charging adapter, and press the charging valve stem with a tool to vent off the little propellant you introduced in the first attempt. This cools the on-board bottle radically, lowering its energy. You quickly re-charge the on-board bottle – this time you get much more liquid transferred, enough maybe for 5-vent/blow cycles.




      Warning: Propellant gas is flammable and charging or use of the gas type ballast sub-system should only be done in a flame-free environment.









      Turn on your transmitter and SD and check that all SEAVIEW control surfaces and pump-jets respond correctly to transmitter commands. Check operation of the angle-keeper, fail-safe, motor, gas ballast sub-system and the LPB ballast sub-system if installed. Range check the r/c system in accordance with manufacturers instructions.




      Turn the SD’s master switch off, switch off the transmitter, box up the model, prepare your field-box, and load up the car … you’re ready to go play!




      Caution: Unless you are transiting straight to the boating site and will have the model in the water straight away, vent off the on-board bottle charge before loading the model into the car.



      MISSION

      At the lake or pool you will perform the mission checks. These include unshipping the model from its box, inspection of the model, turning on the transmitter and SD, a quick check of all r/c functions, cycling of the equalization valve, and immersion of the submarine in the water

      (If you vented off the Propellant from the on-board bottle after the pre-mission checks, recharge the on-board bottle before running the first set of mission checks).

      Initially, with the submarine only feet away from you, command a dive. Once the submarine has submerged check for correct operation of the fail-safe feature by turning off the transmitter and waiting for the model to surface. Turn the transmitter back on. That check successfully over, dive the boat again and maneuver out a bit. Bring the boat back, surface, retrieve it, and march it back to your workstation. Open the hull up and inspect the SD for any signs of flooding – a foggy dry space forward or aft or when you roll the model over and there are droplets of water appearing on the inside of the cylinder (discount the ballast tank). These are big warning signs … you have a leak somewhere!

      Every five-vent/blow cycles bring the model back to the workstation and recharge the on-board bottle with propellant. Monitor the condition of the battery and replace it with a fresh one when you get an indication from the battery protection circuit. Check the physical condition of the control surfaces. Cycle the equalization valve and put the SEAVIEW back into the water.

      Stay away from model ships and boats; especially racing boats and deep-keeled sailboats operating in your patrol area. You hardly know where you’re submerged r/c submarine is most of the time … it’s a sure bet the other model boaters don’t! They’ll run your ass over in a heartbeat! Like it or not, in any group of r/c boaters and submarines, the submarines out there are regarded by the target-drivers as little more than submerged speed-bumps. Act accordingly.










      When you’ve had you fill of r/c submarining (you’re tired, your boat broke, you’ve run through the batteries you brought, or your precious SEAVIEW got creamed by a Skimmer): Open up the hull and turn the master switch off; turn off the transmitter; and vent off the remaining propellant from the on-board bottle. When you can no longer hear the hiss of escaping gas from the on-board bottle, button up the model and pack it up for the trip back. Return all tools and consumables to the field-box; load up the car and head back to the shop.



      POST-MISSION

      With the model back on the shop bench, it is vital that you attend to the disassembly of the model, removal of the SD, and perform the preventive maintenance steps needed to insure the long and useful service life of both. Don’t wait till later… do it now!





      Turn on the transmitter, then turn the SD’s master switch on and make the model ready in all respects. However, don’t re-charge the on-board bottle. Check the transmitters trim settings – you likely cranked some into the control surfaces while you were running the boat today – time to take those trim levers on the transmitter and set them back to neutral, but only after adjusting the boats control surfaces to the new ‘neutral’ positions. Open up the model and adjust the position of the appropriate Kli-Con on its pushrod in the direction and amount needed to place the control surfaces in the same position they were when you had cranked in the trim offset. Turn off the master switch and transmitter, pull the SD battery and put it on charge. And charge up the discharged batteries in your field-box. Put the transmitter on charge.



      To get it from under foot, wind up and rubber band the antenna; if installed pull the LPB external induction and discharge flexible hoses off the motor bulkhead unions; pull the motor bulkhead far enough out of the cylinder so you can reach in and disconnect the ballast sub-system servo lead from the ADF. Pull the motor bulkhead and attached devices clear of the cylinder till you run out of power cable slack. Place a drop of silicon oil on the inboard and outboard sides of the pushrods where they enter the pushrod seals.

      Put your nose right up to the motor and other devices and sniff for indications of any burnt insulation or fried semi-conductors (acrid or burnt rubber smell), repair or replace defective or suspect devices.

      Examine the dry space within the cylinder, checking for water – if any is found, wipe it out with a lint-free cloth and find out why water got in there in the first place!

      Put a drop of oil on the rubber element of the vent valve. Store the cylinder and motor bulkhead assembly in a dry, room temperature, well ventilated, and dust free environment.





      Check over the SEAVIEW for damage or ware and take appropriate actions to make the model ready for the next outing. Put the model submarine back on display or secured within its transportation/stowage box.




      Inventory your field-box and replenish the consumables and replace missing or damaged tools as required.



      Who is John Galt?

      Comment

      • redboat219
        Admiral
        • Dec 2008
        • 2735

        #4
        Thanks David.

        How come I don't see any pictures?
        Make it simple, make strong, make it work!

        Comment

        • He Who Shall Not Be Named
          Moderator
          • Aug 2008
          • 12253

          #5
          Originally posted by redboat219
          Thanks David.

          How come I don't see any pictures?
          Because I could not transfer that file segment with pictures. The text was the issue, not the pretty pictures.

          You got questions about the SEAVIEW's I've assembled, just ask and I'll pull 'em up.

          David
          Who is John Galt?

          Comment

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