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Vance, There is a side tangle guard attachment pad aft of the thruster that you can't really see from the previous pictures I provided. That is just like the ones for the upper guard attachment pad weldments. http://www.frappr.com/?a=viewphoto&id=2628470&pid=10114927 Also there is no knee bracing like I see on the later model K-350's made in Maine. But of course the Captain was always refining his designs. It sounds like Dr. LeSchack spent a fair bit of time at the factory, so who knows what all he learned while there. I'm currently away from home and my notes I saved about your sub, so I forgot some details about your sub. Do you have any original pictures of your sub before your refit? I'll be interested in seeing what your pneumatic mushroom vents look like. I think I like your idea of using the 6000 series aluminum, so I'll have to see what thicknesses and extrusion shapes I can acquire. The only thing that I have reservations about using aluminum (especially in very cold water) is it is a lot more brittle then chromoly. I used to race BMX bikes and those that did a lot of stunt jumping wanted the chromoly because it had a lot more give to it before it broke. The aluminum bikes I used were made of 6061. Of course the aluminum is lighter, so for strictly racing we used that. Reversible speed controllers sound like a very good plan. All the wiring was pretty much rotten and I don't plan to use the original plans wiring. I removed most all the wiring a year ago. As you can see in this picture. http://www.frappr.com/?a=viewphoto&id=2628470&pid=6231212 I plan on using modern life support, electrical, electronics, and digital gages, as well as standard backup gages. I was planning on using all sealed Optimal Blue Top deep cycle batteries. Unless I missed some thing, they shouldn't leak or off gas during use or charging unless they break. How ever I'll still have the hatch open and use a fan during charging. I've wondered for some time if I needed to space this type of battery, and if so how far apart? I've also been thinking about different battery casing option for pilot safety. Also if I need to space the batteries for heat issues then I would need to install fans in the battery casing(s). Regards,
Brent Hartwig To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Full Bore Boogy Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2008 09:59:00 -0400 From: vbra676539@aol.com Brent, The guard rail looks like Maine to me, but from the looks of the pads for the dome guard, I'd suspect that to be an add-on. Instead of steel, I'd be tempted to build something in 6000-series aluminum, which, when welded closed with end caps, will be very nearly neutrally buoyant in sea water. Mount it with delrin or nylon spacers or something to stop the worst corrosion and it ought to be pretty trouble free. As for the rebuild on my sub (it's a 250, upgraded at the factory to a 350, by the way), I'm modernizing it pretty thoroughly, with bottoms on the MBTs, pneumatic mushroom vents to speed up the submergance process, better lighting and a life support system. I've also moved the main air outside, using 1st stage regulators to keep my working pressure even at any depth. Let's see, what else? My side thrusters will be reversible and, if all goes well, mounted forward of the pressure hull on a common shaft, and the aft unit (3hp) will get a new, reversible speed controller as well. The electrical system itself is all new--cast fuses in the pods to breakers in the electrical distribution box inside the hull, then bus bars and fused switches for each individual function. Also, if my buddy at the machine shop gets his way, I'll drive the thruster pivots with hydraulic rack and pinion units, and have solenoids left over for a manipulator. The cool thing about all that is that I can steer and dive, start and stop and read-out amp draw and volts, all on a small pilot's control consolette, which means I won't have to hold onto all those handles all the time. The consolette will be on a cable, so I can do whatever I want with it. The manipulator will have a similar control box, hanging on a hook somewhere, so by the time it's all done, the thing ought to be a lot more intuitive to operate. We'll see. Thinking about it, I'll remind you that George's wiring was pretty rough sometimes, so you might want to consider an upgrade there. Your batteries are under your butt, so you can probably do something about separating them (an airtight box, or hydro-caps) the run them to a distribution box of some sort. You'll have to decide how true-blue you want to be to the original. There's nothing wrong with Model-Ts, Kittredge built 40-odd of them, and we're living proof that you can keep them running forever. Welcome to the club. I'll figure a way to post some photos here shortly. At the moment, I'm four weeks out on a knee replacement--doing well, but hobbling, so I am not getting just a whole lot done right now. Vance -----Original Message----- From: Brent Hartwig <brenthartwig@hotmail.com> To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org Sent: Tue, 1 Jul 2008 4:19 pm Subject: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Full Bore Boogy
Thank you Vance,
What can I trade you for a picture of your K-500? I had a number of different ideas for restoring this K-250, but once I discovered that it was one of the original K-250's I decided I wanted to do a mostly classic restoration, so the sub will look pretty close to the same way it does now, including the color. I'll be needing to make a new tangle guard since it is rotten from not being sealed at the ends, and make a new hatch dome protector like the one that was on the sub when used for Trident Exploration LTD. But instead of A36 mild steel square tubing I'll see if I can find some chromoly square tubing. I'm interested to know if the Captain and his crew installed the tangle guard and dome protector on my sub, or if it was done later. The tangle guard looks very much like the ones on the K-350's and K-600 the Captain built. Regards,
Brent Hartwig To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] I dropped the drop weight on a K-250 Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2008 09:48:21 -0400 From: vbra676539@aol.com ALL RIGHT!!! Way to go, Brent. Vance -----Original Message----- From: Brent Hartwig <brenthartwig@hotmail.com> To: PSUBSorg <personal_submersibles@psubs.org> Sent: Tue, 1 Jul 2008 3:32 am Subject: [PSUBS-MAILIST] I dropped the drop weight on a K-250
It took a bit of tapping with a hammer, but I got the lever to move to release the drop weight on my very own K-250.
= That's right my fellow SMMO's, I just finalized the deal to purchase the Kittredge K-250 #105, that was built after the Brook's K-250. My K-250 is the one build for Dr. LeShack, that is talked about in the Captain's book on pages 260 and 261. Now you all know some of what I've been up to of late. ;)' I have loads of new data to tell you guys about this sub. Alec I'll be needing to take you up on your offer for tech help. Jon if you could forward this email to the Captain and ask him if he has any more data on the Dr. LeSchack K-250 #105, like pictures, a Bill of Sale to know the date sold, as well as any other data would be wonderful. From what I can gather the sub and it's trailer were built in 1977. I was also able to get the trailer at the last minute. The last owners modified the trailer a bit by adding six feet to the front bed, so they could use it for another application. I'll have to cut it back again or beef it up to handle the subs weight better. I'm guessing that the #105 means that my sub was the fifth K-205 model George and his crew built. Jon you can tell George that that the wooden plugs are gone, the Sea Co electrical thru hulls didn't hold up well, and that Dr. Leonard A. LeSchack has a doctorate in Geology. I'm a bit jazzed as you might imagine. ;)' http://www.frappr.com/?a=viewphoto&id=2628470&pid=10107229 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp2RN4j9-00 Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. - Henry Ford "Write a wise saying and your name will live forever." ~ Anonymous Cheers, Brent Hartwig = |