Hi all,
Haven't designed my drop weight mechanism yet,
but are toying with the
idea of using electromagnets.
Was looking at some gate holding magnets that
had a holding force of 1200 lb &
a draw of only 500mA off 12V. They were a tad
expensive so will look for an alternative.
The positives I see are that the system
would be easy to put together, (possibly with
multiple
magnets for making the
weights more manageable), & you could drop your
weights very quickly. The negatives are you would not want to turn the power
off before
you were on land & you would need a
system of locking the weights in place for transport
or alternatively remove them.
Is this system used elsewhere, any
thoughts??
Alan