Starting up another type VIIC/41

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  • MFR1964
    Detail Nut of the First Order
    • Sep 2010
    • 1290

    Starting up another type VIIC/41

    OK, guys
    Lately i came in contact with the daughter of my passed mentor and good friend, she did not managed to get her father's sub into a museum, it was this or leaving it inside a dusty storage room, she had a offer received for the boat and contacted me for my opinion.
    I frankly told her i had my doubts if that guy could revive the boat, mostly it's end of story, because they take the boat apart without the knowlegde of building her up, and they call me for help because i have the same type VII.
    Her second question was, if i would take care of the boat, so it could be revived as a tribute to her father, i agreed, this way more people can still enjoy his work, last Saturday i collected the boat, batteries where down, but the mechanics seemed to be intact, she told me nobody had entered her father's cave since his death a year ago, took with the boat piles of spare parts to keep it running.
    After researching the overall state, i started with charging the batteries, lord and behold !!!!, they still keep their charge, he had stored her away with fully charged batteries, next step was to see what would work or not, it still functioned good, have some issue's with the extra gizmo's, but that can be solved, i suspect one of the main power relais is down.
    I can drive her as well at the surface as underwater, the air actived scopes still work as the snorkeldevice, i made some vids to show the overall state, they will be uploaded soon, be patient.

    Manfred.
    I went underground
  • MFR1964
    Detail Nut of the First Order
    • Sep 2010
    • 1290

    #2
    As promised the vid, more will follow, enjoy



    Manfred.
    I went underground

    Comment

    • He Who Shall Not Be Named
      Moderator
      • Aug 2008
      • 12255

      #3
      Now your Mentor lives... through you. Our only real chance of immortality -- through our deeds and artifacts.

      David
      Who is John Galt?

      Comment

      • MFR1964
        Detail Nut of the First Order
        • Sep 2010
        • 1290

        #4
        Thanks David,

        Getting her running will be a challence, luckely my own type VII has the same general layout, after all, he teached me how to build one, first i have to play with the transmittor, a old first generation PCM Robbe transmittor with some extensions for multiple models, pretty much a fore-runner like the Wyfly we now use, i suspect it's in default mode, after a small peek i discovered there is no setting present in the software.
        If that's the chase, this reviving will be a piece of cake, have some manual reading to do, and play around with the servo-channels.
        Also uploaded a new vid about the gizmo boxes, enjoy



        Manfred.
        I went underground

        Comment

        • bwi 971
          Captain
          • Jan 2015
          • 896

          #5
          Great stuff Manfred.....great Craftsmanship too, keep it alive,

          grtz,
          Bart
          Practical wisdom is only to be learned in the school of experience.
          "Samuel Smiles"

          Comment

          • MFR1964
            Detail Nut of the First Order
            • Sep 2010
            • 1290

            #6
            Thanks Bart, I will keep it alive, for now the gutts are open, tracking down the used servo connections, have to know how they are connected before i can start programming the transmittor for the right servo-channels
            I went underground

            Comment

            • MFR1964
              Detail Nut of the First Order
              • Sep 2010
              • 1290

              #7
              OK, Guys she's up and running.
              Had to reprogram the transmitter, made notes while doing that, handy for the future, for now i only have to look at some minor things, there has to be a switch to shut down the torpedosystem, wether this is manually or done by the transmitter i have to find out.
              Torpedotubes have to be serviced by adjusting the settings and the mechanics, when i got the boat everything was dead because of empty batteries, i think he recently has changed all packs, they look brand new, and all packs keep their charge.
              Mechanicly she was in good shape, have to lubricate some parts, but that's noted down on the to do list, also made a vid about the progress sofar, i only can say, that man was a masterbuilder, each time i discover new features which where not noted before, glad to have this boat inside my fleet.



              As for the Bibers, they are both down, i suspect he was in the proces of refurbishing them, they both have brandnew batteries inside, only have to order some more nano-servo's, i do have some in the spare draw, so it will be possible to get at least one running.

              Manfred.
              I went underground

              Comment

              • MFR1964
                Detail Nut of the First Order
                • Sep 2010
                • 1290

                #8
                Good news from the Cave, i managed to get one of the Bibers alive, used the parts from both and the spare parts draw, i still have to make the working one watertight, after that i can start testing her in the tub, i think she has to be balanced again, he used them as a dynamic runner,so i will keep the waterline just below the little conningtower.
                Enjoy the vid,



                I did mention about a switch controlling the torpedosystem, guess what, i found the gremlin which was the problem, he used a electronic switch at channel 9, one pulse on, one puls off, it only pulsed once, never stayed into the desired position, he used a springloaded switch at channel 9, replaced it for a steady switch and the problem was solved, now i can activate the system at my desire.

                Manfred.
                Last edited by MFR1964; 07-31-2016, 04:09 PM.
                I went underground

                Comment

                • Albion
                  Captain
                  • Dec 2008
                  • 651

                  #9
                  Man those Bibers are cute, but that looks pretty small scale
                  Next time someone points out it takes 42 muscles to frown, point out it will only take 4 muscles to b1tch slap them if they tell you how mnay muscles you need to smile:pop

                  Comment

                  • MFR1964
                    Detail Nut of the First Order
                    • Sep 2010
                    • 1290

                    #10
                    Thanks, they are scale 1:35, just like the Type VII, you can place them on the deck, drive your boat around, diving it will release both Bibers, and off they go to their own mission, both can be controlled at the same time by the transmitter.
                    I went underground

                    Comment

                    • MFR1964
                      Detail Nut of the First Order
                      • Sep 2010
                      • 1290

                      #11
                      Despite the silence from me, things are happening inside the Cave,

                      The second Biber will be soon ready to prowl the murky waters of Holland,



                      Second project is, improving the mechanism for opening the torpedo hatches, the module my friend used has problems with lower voltage of it's seperate battery-pack, when the voltage turns lower, the action of opening the hatches is smaller, there is a way to counteract it, by using the mini-pot meter of the module you can adjust this, each time before you drive the boat this has to be done during the pre-check.
                      Inside my own type VII it works different, by using servo-tester prints i always have de same amount of motion on my servo's which control the hatches, only pre-check for me is testing if all tubes will fire their torpedo.
                      I have to replace the module by a different one, add the servo-testers with some mini-relais for controlling the servo's, also the transmittor has to get a new module, i guess it will take me a week or two to finish this issue, on a boat like this it has to be perfect.

                      Manfred.
                      I went underground

                      Comment

                      • MFR1964
                        Detail Nut of the First Order
                        • Sep 2010
                        • 1290

                        #12
                        The last stage in fixing the second type VII is finished, had to figure out how to rebuild the torpedosystem to my own design, it's now in working order, it took me all in all three months to get this baby running, those tiny Bibers also setted me back,made a vid to show the endresult.




                        Manfred.
                        I went underground

                        Comment

                        • SteveNeill
                          Commander
                          • Apr 2020
                          • 315

                          #13
                          Incredible work!

                          Comment

                          • MFR1964
                            Detail Nut of the First Order
                            • Sep 2010
                            • 1290

                            #14
                            Thanks, but it was worth it, this way i could keep the legacy of my mentor alive.
                            Ran her again last summer with great succes, she is easy to drive due to the automation inside, seeing her running at the surface is a pleasure.



                            Manfred.
                            I went underground

                            Comment

                            • MFR1964
                              Detail Nut of the First Order
                              • Sep 2010
                              • 1290

                              #15
                              The V80 is done, just replacing the valve of the ballasttank, so taking the VII apart is the next job, had to check-up the battery packs of both the compressor and receiver, due to the fact i didn't build this boat, i try to do this step by step and taking loads of pictures how things went out, pictures

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                              The panel with the loadingplugs and battery display, it was fastened with a single screw, by carefully tilting it could be removed.

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                              To give me more room i had to take out the balance cart, complete with speedcontroller, everything is modular and with plugs, noted down the colours of the cables and the position of the plugs.

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                              Once this room was cleared i could take out the compressorpack and receiverpack, unplugged it from it's connections.
                              The receiverpack was pretty straight forward, it took some more effort to get the compressorpack out.

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                              I was allready warned by the amount of plugs on the pack, peeled off the insulation and documented the web of cables, crawling ahead no hurry needed.

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                              Receiverpack had no nasty surprices other that the Amperage was higher as estimated, have to order some new batteries to replace them.

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                              Re-inserted the compressorpack after cleaning up the connections, the only thing i noted was, he has splitted up the pack into two parts, have to search and document where the rest is placed inside the boat.

                              I always Tip-Toe through this boat, my mentor made a spiderweb of all cables and connections, neatly ordered but stil not completely mapped out by me, batteries are ordered and awaiting delivering, i keep you guys updated for my next steps.

                              Manfred.
                              I went underground

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