Sent: Monday, October 31, 2005 12:38
AM
Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Hard / soft
ballast tanks.
Hi Myles.
You wouldn't necessarily have to install the
piping at the BOTTOM of the ballast tank. You could install it at the top of
the tank too.
Whether you put air into the ballast tank from
its bottom or its top wouldn't make any difference, the air would seek the top
of the tank
and push the water out the bottom since as
the air collects in the top the water volume has to lower presumably out the
bottom. I
would install the piping so there were no pipes
or valves sticking out on the bottom of the ballast tank that might be hit by
the ocean
bottom if you have no guards of any kind below
the ballast tank. You could use an electrically operated valve
and route the wiring
to the tower to work the valves. But in case
the circuit failed, you would want a redundant mechanical
backup located in the sub hull if not in the tower
and just use the primary electrical wired valve
most of the time in the tower unless you had a malfunction.
The water will only seek its own
level (level of ocean for instance) and that
means unless it is under pressure it should not travel up the
ballast tank pipe to the tower on it own.
It would only travel up from the ballast tank
until it hit the same level the ocean water was at for
example and wouldn't make it to the tower. Simply
because your ballast tank is under water and that puts a little pressure on
the ballast
tank pipe for the water to travel upward, as soon
as that water reaches the level of the water your sub is in, it will stop
rising because it has
reached the surrounding water's level. It's like
a siphon hose. As long as you keep the hose down the water will flow out, as
soon as you raise
the hose to the level of the water you are
siphoning it will stop flowing. You can gain control of the valve to let the
water in either by a emergency manual
valve routed to the hull interior or by your
primary electrically wired valve located in the tower. Hopefully you will
never have to use the manual valve
but it would be there if you needed it, located
in the hull via a hull penetration close to the ballast tank.
I'm not totally sure I am understanding
what you were asking according to the way
I was reading it, but I discerned what I thought you were asking
as
best I could. I hope this may have helped
you.
But check out what I say with others.
I sometimes miss things and I don't have any proper credentials.
Lol.
Bill Akins. (As suggested, the below has been
included by my name. At least this once. Lol.
Psubs superior officer credibility and
credentials review for Akins, wetsub mechanic, wannabe pilot.
Psubs CREDENTIALS FOR CREDIBILITY.... Currently
rebuilding/modifying a former working movie wetsub. Certified Diver,
former aircraft pilot,
ex marine, inventor, patent holder in the firearms field U.S. patent #
6,101,918
Psubs credentials and credibility rating (Should
we listen to this guy at all?) Rated perhaps a 5 out of possible
10.
Psubs current ranking.....Enlisted man.
Diver/Mechanic. Training towards wetsub pilot
officer rating.
Wetsub mechanic Akins, age 52, shows good
morale and a willingness to learn. Sometimes makes mistakes, but does
have
a good general knowledge of subs from his own self taught readings and his
father's (Harold L. Akins)
teachings who was a distinguished WW2
submariner on the Rasher SS269 during WW2
http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08269.htm
Also see...( Sasgen, Peter T. RED SCORPION USNI 1995
The War Patrols
of USS Rasher. Rasher SS-269 was one of the top submarines of World War
II.
Among the 190 subs in the Pacific that saw combat, she ranked second in
tonnage (99,901) and ninth in the
number of ships sunk (18). Maps, app.,
366 pages. 1st F/F $25 )
Evident that Akins comes from a good
submarine family and his superior officers are hopeful he will someday build
something more significant than his current Ford Pinto (so to speak, as
opposed to a REAL sub) of a wetsub project. He is
possessed of an
inventive mind and is a candidate for promotion from mechanic to sub
cadet pilot with credentials as soon as he
shows us pictures or video of
his wetsub operating in water successfully. Akins was a U.S. Marine trained in
water survival and is currently a practicing diver and has some knowledge
and credibility in underwater
operations. He has sometimes been
criticized by a few of his crewmen for his interest in civil war submarines
and has been called "a candlewaster" (one who reads but learns nothing),
and also called a "Hunley bunnley" but gets along
very well with most of his other shipmates. He is
always willing to help to a fault. I recommend perhaps one day he will be
eligible for
promotion to the elite psubs officer ranks with a
commisson and credentials and credibility rating. However, until such
time as Akins
shows us his completed and successful wetsub
(barely a submarine according to some officers) or any other sub project he
may complete,
I recommend his comments and suggestions
should be suspect and checked out and confirmed
with superior officers before being acted upon.
Overall his performance is satisfactory but could
use some improvement. No promotion recommended at this time.
SMILE. No Offense. Just makin a point and
fun'n.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, October 30, 2005 1:53
PM
Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Hard /
soft ballast tanks.
Bill,
I'm glad my brain is on the right
page here. I guess my next question would be, can those valves and
piping function the same as the compressed air system ? What I mean
is, do I install my piping at the bottom of the ballast tank, route the pipe
up to the conning tower, install my valve, and then route the piping back to
the bottom of the ballast tank so that the valve to control the
inlet of water is in a reasonable and convenient location (in the
tower). Will the water flow in this circuit of going up to the tower,
and back down to the tank ? I'm assuming it will since it will be
under a bit of pressure and increasingly so as the sub takes on water and
decends. I'm not sure how you would gain control of the valve letting
in water otherwise.
Myles.