Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Korwin's first float

["Dan H." <jmachine@adelphia.net>]

Congratulations on your test!
Isn't it a great feeling to have it actually float after sitting stable on
your shop floor for so long?

You ran into some of the same findings with your first test as I did with
mine.

I barrowed a high range amp meter to monitor my thruster amperage while
testing.  I found my amperage was also too high at first test.  I machined
off some of the diameter and ground off some of each blade of my props.  On
my bronze main thruster prop, I also bent each blade in a jig to flatten it
out some.  Basically, I reduced the bite of them and brought the amperage in
line with the max the motors were rated for.  Be careful when removing
material so you don't unbalance your prop to much.

Instead of the straps to get your tailor in deeper water,  I used a
telescoping pipe that extended to 19 feet with a ball on one end and a
trailer hitch on the other.  It allows me to nudge the trailer backward if I
get hung up as I go back and also holds the trailer stable where I want it.

I have a fifth wheel/tire on my trailer.  It's also the spare tire if I ever
get a flat on the road.  It's not steerable though.  Steerable would be
helpful at times but not a must.   Just line up good on the ramp to start as
you now do and it's fine.

The biggest pain is having to rig to launch, then break it down to park in a
lot, then return to the ramp and rig to recover, then break down to travel
over the road again.  I haven't found a solution for that yet.

Be sure to post your next launch.
Waiting to hear more,
Dan H.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <atozed@juno.com>
To: <personal_submersibles@psubs.org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 2004 10:22 PM
Subject: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Korwin's first float


>
> Launch: backing down the ramp with two straps giving about 10' between
> the truck and sub trailer. The sub floated off easily because about
> 1300lbs of lead weight needed to submerge was not on it. When launching
> to dive, the straps will have to be longer.
>
> Maneuvering: the boat being light, the bow thruster was above the
> waterline and unusable. The steerable main prop worked fine to reverse
> away from the trailer and motor away. After a few minutes, testing the
> front floodlights (short circuit pun) resulted in a loss of all power,
> dead in the water. Being close enough to the dock to throw a rope, there
> was no risk of needing to swim. A look at the batteries revealed a broken
> terminal.
> Probably it had been cracked and was then overheated. A prop in the water
> takes a lot more power than one in the air, see lesson 1. A quick wiring
> change from 24/36 volts to 12 volts gave the sub a "limp home mode".
>
> Recovery: much easier than anticipated. With the sub unmanned, three
> people on the dock pulled it onto the trailer. The trailer did come up
> the ramp a little as the sub was being pulled on, a remote controlled
> parking brake would be good. Perhaps it could be on a  (steerable?) 5th
> tire near the hitch coupler.
>
> Lessons: 1. Testing in the workshop is not the same as in the water. 2.
> Ability to reconfigure is at least as important as redundancy.
>
> Thanks to all at psubs, especially Gary Boucher for his Convention
> presentation, for helping me get this far. Now I expect I'll be diving
> more and working less.
>
>
>
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