I totally agree. I was suggesting a system in addition to some other manual release. That way, you can make the desicion to get out of town in a hurry, and if you are unable to make the desicion, the system can make it for you (eventually, based on the length of the timer). Perhaps the hydraulic being the main release and exploding bolts being the secondary/backup system in case you're incapcitated?
From: ShellyDalg@aol.com
Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:35:26 -0400
Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Drop Weight
To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
That's not a bad idea. I've long been a fan of fail-safe designs. It may get a little complicated though. Might be better to have a very simple and quick way to drop, like a big red button, rather than a timer and all the associated mechanisms. There are things called "explosive bolts" but of course they have their own set of problems. I'm expecting my drop weight mechanism to take several minutes to operate, and I can see how that might be a problem if a very quick release is needed. It operates by hydraulic pressure, and if that fails, has a manual way also. Redundancy is a good thing when your life may be at stake. Here's a sketch but it doesn't show the hydraulics, just the manual device. A small hydraulic cylinder to rotate the drop pin, one small thru-hull for the hydraulic line, and a hand or foot pump inside is all that's missing. Frank D.
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