Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Bilge pump thrusters

In a message dated 12/13/2004 8:52:00 AM Eastern Standard Time, jmachine@adelphia.net writes:

Vance,

Thanks for the HEADS UP concerning salt water before I END UP with HAIR UP or WORSE!

Water is a conductor and salt water is a much better conductor, of course, but so far the only time I had any in the sub was once when I surfaced to find it raining. By the time we got it loaded on the trailer it was a bit wet inside but not much. Rain, and or condensation, has been the limit of my experience with water inside, so far.

You do make a good point. I should have something sealed in plastic and dry to pull the plugs with just in case I end up in an emergency situation with some sea water in the sub. My disconnects are in the upper third of the hull but they could get splashed.

It must be a real shocking experience, and I mean it literally, to have a flood of sea water sloshing around inside a stranded sub. I wonder if a good precaution before ever trying to exit a sub in an emergency wouldn't be to first run the batteries down, if they aren't already. Vance, is this part of any emergency plan you've encountered?

On the K-350 electrical print I have, the captain shows the fuses in the battery pods. That's where I have mine also. I realize if a pod has hydrogen in it, the blowing of a fuse will be the igniter but I thought that would be better then the any smoke or fumes in the air I need to breath until I can get out. If a pod blows it will blow off the end cap and shake things up a little. The captain told me he had one blow but I don't know the reason. He surfaced replaced the batteries and cap, and lived to dive again. The first defense is keep the sea water and hydrogen out of the sub.

When I started my sub I really didn't know much about marine wiring. I was more familiar with house hold and automotive wiring and also more concerned with quick access to things rather then making then water tight. As always, I see things that I'd do different the second time around, but I'd still keep the disconnects.

Thanks, Dan H.

The internal pod fuses will protect you by isolating the batteries from the Dan-can if they flood out and short. They will also blow if a dead short INSIDE the sub overdraws them, which is a handy way to avoid melting your penetrators. I've got the internal pod fuses AND the breakers. 36v port and starboard, 12v port and starboard and supply power to the main motor. The 36v system is only used for propulsion, so power-in runs to common leads which then distribute through the reversing relays to the motor control (for the main) and to the primary leads through fuses and switches (for the side thrusters). 12v distribution is through a pair of copper bar buses drilled and tapped for multiple leads and insulated from each other and everything else with nylon bolts, sleeves and washers. Power to anything from there goes through a fuse and switch on the panel (with nifty lights, he he). Internal lights and anything else using case ground is rewired and insulated for two-wire service and fused at the panel. It works very nicely, is compact and out of the weather. Not to mention away from that pesky 100-gallon slop the guys have been talking about (never had a 100 OUNCE slop, never mind gallon, but hey, you never know, right?).