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Hi Brent. Thanks for the bedliner info. The more I read about it, the more
interesting it sounds. Have you tried to remove any of it yet? I'm wondering how
difficult it would be to replace and/or repair.
On the inside foam thing, it seems like a lot of work and expense for what
you get. Once that stuff is applied, it will be a real pain to take out should
it become needed for a repair or future modification. I can't imagine how hard
it will be to chip that stuff away while sitting inside a little tank, with all
the ribs and linkages etc.
I remember a thread quite a while ago where some one had to remove some
foam for a retro-fit and they were saying it was a huge mess. Was it on
"Aquarius" or some other hi-tech expensive sub? Can't remember just which one
but it sounded like a very expensive and difficult process.
As for moisture inside the sub, I don't think there's any way to avoid
that. For my sub, I'm just going to make it easy to remove the water once it
dribbles down to the lowest point, and make sure I can see all the corners and
nooks to monitor for corrosion.
With your plan of flooding the sub regularly as a training exercise, it
seems like reducing any chance of water hiding in tiny places would be a better
solution than trying to prevent condensation from forming.
All boats get wet on the inside, it's just how it is. Making it easy to
clean and dry out is the key to reducing corrosion. It might be possible to add
"blanketed" insulation at a reasonable cost that could be removed easily, aired
out, and dried between dives. That would add sound deadening and maybe help keep
you warm a bit.
As for smoothing the interior, could you make curved sections of foam that
fit between the ribs, coat them with the bedliner stuff, and make them removable
so cleaning would be easy. You could hose off the foam pieces, dry them off, and
just snap them back in after cleaning out the sub.
I know that a steel tank will flex and move as it goes through pressure
cycles, with temperature changes making it even more pronounced. If you have
that foam applied to the inside, I'd worry about separation and/or cracks where
water could hide and be very difficult to detect.
I like the idea of the bedliner stuff deadening sound when applied to the
outside. Pretty interesting stuff.
Frank D.
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