Hi Hugh. The outboards I've used had a cable system where the cable is
wrapped around the steering column and runs to the back of the boat where it
pulls the motor left and right. How does the hydraulics tie into this?
My thought was to use pedals ( like brake pedals from a car)
pushing master cylinders and the fluid transfer would go to the slave
cylinders located out side the sub. The two pedals and corresponding
cylinders will need to be tied together so that when one is pushed to
extend, the other would retract.
The orifices would need to be drilled out to allow faster fluid
transfer, but the pressure needed to push the cylinders would be much less
than required to apply the brakes on a car. It won't take that much "push"
to move the rudders or dive planes. The orifice size will determine how fast
the cylinders extend. I don't think a standard master/slave cylinder set up
from a car will have enough fluid capacity to do the job so I was thinking
along the lines of using off-the-shelf hydraulic cylinders as master
cylinders with about a pint or so of fluid capacity. The exterior/slave
cylinders would be much smaller, maybe with a capacity of a few
ounces. With the right linkage at the pedal, a 4 inch travel of the
master cylinder should move the slave cylinder 4 inches as well,
thereby turning the rudders or tilting the dive planes.
The tie-in between the two systems could be a pressurized
reservoir tank filled with fluid, with a check valve to prevent oil from
flowing back into the tank.
By pushing a pedal, you are transferring fluid from one part
of the system ( master ) to the other ( slave ), but not pushing
against the internal pressure of the system, just against the opposing
cylinder and what ever resistance the rudder or dive plane adds. The
reservoir pressure would be supplied by a scuba tank to keep the
water from entering the system at the slave cylinders, and to keep the
system filled with oil should some leak out at the seals.
All the thru-hulls would need valves so if a leak develops, shut off
that line and motor up to the surface.
What do you think ? Could it work ? Anyway, I'm going to play with it
and see what happens. I should be able to make a simple system on-the-bench
to test what kind of pressure it takes to push the pedals and move the slave
cylinders against a spring or counter weight. For a bench test, I could use
just plastic tubing and jury rigged auto parts ( free is good ! ) to see if
it's even viable. I'll keep the guys posted on what I find out. Frank
D.
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