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That sounds very good Alec. I'll check the pics. I remember seeing an
add-on type of exterior seal a couple of years ago that looked like it may be
useful to us. Very simply, it was a collar with a rubber washer that slipped
over the shaft on the exterior of the sub, at the penetrator. It wouldn't
provide a good seal, but could slow the amount of water entering at the through
hull. It was a long time ago, and I don't recall where I saw it, but it was
mounted on a propeller shaft inside a mixing tank, and the shaft penetrated
the bottom of the tank.
Not much pressure involved, so it probably worked fine in that application.
Anyway, it just looked so simple that I thought I'd mention it. It looked almost
like the female end of a garden hose, with the washer inside.
Those numbers sound great at 2800 psi. That will give you plenty of time to
ascend should a problem develop.
I had another idea a while back that I put up here on the mail board, so
I'll give a quick repeat.
Could a psubber have a quick coupler on the main prop shaft, just inside
the hull. The coupler would be INSIDE a ball valve, so that as a last resort,
the pilot could pull the shaft back ( maybe have a splined shaft ) and
close the ball valve. Now I know this would make for a pretty complicated
through-hull assembly, what with the extra bearing needed at the penetrator, but
it would insure a leak proof option in case of a failure at the shaft
through-hull.
Glad to hear you're making progress on the boat. Good luck, Frank
D.
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