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Hi Cory and welcome aboard! I'm fairly new to the group also but have
received lots of good ideas and support. I have just started building mine so
I'll be interested in the responses you get. Lots of good info in this group.
Several of the members have lots of experience, and also have their own
subs.
As to your questions, I'm no expert, but the subs I've seen have 4 or eight
batteries. The voltage of the motors and how long you plan to stay down
determines how many. Typically a psub has a separate battery for electronics,
etc.
As for air, you need bottled air for blowing ballast, and reserve air if
you get stuck, as a minimum. Remember that blowing ballast requires more air
than just the cubic feet in the tanks. When you are at depth, the air in the
ballast tanks is at the same pressure as the surrounding water, and a cubic foot
of air at the surface is MUCH smaller when you blow it into a ballast tank. Some
guys use scuba tanks and others use larger tanks like the oxygen tanks used in
flame cutting. An oxygen tank is also a good thing to have if you plan to stay
down longer than an hour. You won't need a big tank for that as you probably
will bleed it into the sub slowly while a CO2 scrubber removes the "bad air
"
You will also need to monitor cabin pressure and have some means of venting
the sub's extra air when you add any to the cabin. Otherwise you might blow the
windows out when you get near the surface. Sounds scary but it's not too
complicated.
Several monitors are needed like oxygen content and CO2, and several
subs monitor water temp, depth, direction, power usage, reserve power and air
etc. ( lots of dials ! )
One big thing is redundancy. If a system fails and you don't have a back-up
system, you could be in big trouble.
My thought in this adventure is to keep it simple, have back-up for the
more important systems, and never go in water deeper than you can swim to the
surface in.
If you can, go see some of the subs and talk to the guys. There's a lot to
be learned and everyone I've met is very helpful. Good luck in your project and
remember to HAVE FUN !
Frank D. (408)353-6645 Santa Cruz,
CA
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