RE: Welcome Vance

["Karl S. Luttrell" <SDECO@prodigy.net>]

Nylon and water can mix in strange ways indeed!  I headed up a team of 
divers who used semi-cleanroom techniques to support a Dept. of Energy 
research project 2000 ft. below ground in a working salt mine.  Our 
research tank was 63 feet deep and filled with continuously filtered RO 
(essentially distilled) water.  After a year or so, the nylon nuts and 
bolts on the electronics arrays swelled and locked together so tightly that 
they always broke instead of unscrewing.  The nylon cable ties which held 
the miles of ribbon cables together and to the arrays, after a few years 
exposure to RO water turned brittle and would fall apart at the slightest 
provocation.  We began replacing the nylon cable ties with PVC cable ties 
and usually went to stainless nuts and bolts for things which we thought 
would have to be accessed.

That RO water was very aggressive.  It would hold it's nose and chew 
through chrome on lost socket wrenches to get at the tasty iron underneath! 
 The HDPE tank liner wasn't affected very much, except where the water 
pressure stretched it beyond its elastic limit.  But that's a whole 'nother 
story.

Scidiver
SDECO@prodigy.net

-----Original Message-----
From:	Marsee Skidmore [SMTP:heyred@email.msn.com]
Sent:	Sunday, April 18, 1999 5:54 PM
To:	personal_submersibles@psubs.org
Subject:	Re: Welcome Vance

The first place I start shopping for generic industrial hardware is
www.thomasregister.com. They'll link you straight to web sites and
literature by fax, where available.

Welcome to the bulletin board, Vance. I think I recall doing volunteer work
on your first Kittredge, when I was a baby Engineer doing an internship at
HBOI. I spent a lot of head scratching time to come up with the same prop
diameter as Admiral K.

You might want to tell Dom to ask some pointed questions about the water
absorption properties of Nylon. Certain flavors of Nylon turn to poop with
extended immersion.

:-o Joe
-----Original Message-----
From: VBra676539@aol.com <VBra676539@aol.com>
To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org <personal_submersibles@psubs.org>
Date: Thursday, April 15, 1999 5:30 PM


Speaking of pistons, any idea on resources for 1/4" shaft short
>stroke (3 to 6 inch) single and double acting hyd. pistons.  Not the
pressed
>together units, but the brass rebuildables.
>Regards,
>Vance
>