Engel Subs

[clive]

Forgive my ignorence but while looking at th Engel subs at Westbourne Models one or two were described as being either TAES or TAE based system. Please what does TAES and TAE mean.

Clive

[bigdave]

Hi Clive,
I believe that

Hi Clive,
I believe that referrers to the type of ballast system controller. If you go to the Engel web site it will explain the differences. I do not remember off hand. BD.

[Guest]

I think it's an acronym

I think it's an acronym which describes the function of the piston ballast tanks- I'm not sure what the acronym directly translates to- something in German no doubt.

However the systems work out thus-

The most basic system, TAE, I think, utilises a basic switching system for the tanks, with a limit switch (microswitch) at each end of the piston tanks. It is left to the operator to decide where neutral buoyancy is by watching the boat as the tank is flooded or emptied.

The TAES refines this system further by introducing a third limit switch. This is mounted at about 80-85% of the tanks volume, and is supposed to be the point at which the boat reaches neutral buoyancy.

There is also a third system, called TMAX, which has recently been introduced by Engel. This introduces proportional control of the piston tank over the last 15-20% of volume allowing very fine control of the critical stages of adjusting neutral buoyancy.

The latter is the best system, but unsurprisingly, it is also the most expensive to fit.

Andy

[JWLaRue]

...and for a fully proportional

...and for a fully proportional control system for Engel pistons, Nils Canditt (nils.canditt@htp-tel.de) offers an electronic module that is far less complex to operate. I use this in my Seehund with a single proportional channel, unlike the Engel TMAX system that requires three channels.

-Jeff

[Wheelerdealer]

From the Engel site





The Tmax

From the Engel site

[quote]
[/quThere are 3 types of Piston tanks]


The Tmax need 2 channels to work proportionally. If you have two tanks and want to manually trim between the two than you'll need the 3rd channel. I have TMax on my Engel Typhoon, the fine buoyancy trim works well enough. But as the tanks are situated pretty close together and you only have 15%vol to play with, the for-aft trim had next to no effect in my boat.

[helderluiss]

I herd good things about

I herd good things about the Canditt electronics. Does he has any online catalog or he must be contacted by email.

[JWLaRue]

As far as I know,

As far as I know, Nils can (only) be reached via e-mail. For me, one important difference between the Engel electronics and Nils' is that his (Nils) are fully proportional from empty-to-full.

-Jeff

[tsenecal]

Jeff,

I have the new servo

Jeff,

I have the new servo style ballast tank switch from engel (SBTS) in my Alvin. The SBTS has a sliding (linear) POT that gives you proportional control over the last 1.25" or so of piston travel.

My question is, how does Nils system work... what mechanism does it use to allow for proportional control of the entire travel of the piston?


Tim

[JWLaRue]

Hi Tim,

The electronic module from

Hi Tim,

The electronic module from Nils allows full, proportional control over the entire range of Engel piston movement. I happen to use a rotary knob with detents, but a slider can be just as easily used as well. (the detents on the knob allows me to easily return to the exact same piston position)

-Jeff

[Guest]

The Canditt boards use a

The Canditt boards use a magnetic encoder to count the revolutions of the spindle.

There are about three people making boards of this type now, that I know of, all in Germany.

Markus Rieger, Christian Feldmann and Nils canditt. I have some boards by Markus, and they're excellent. Very small as Markus uses SMD components, and the hardware is bang up to the minute, no relays etc.

His boards uses two small magnets which are glued onto the gearwheel that attaches to the spindle. A hall effect sensor detects the magnets as they sweep past counting half revolutions. Limit microswitches at each end prevent the tank from overdriving.

The controller can be configured to measure 100% piston travel, which is desirable for a trim tank, or 20% for boats where the main ballast tank and trim tank are combined i.e. Engel boats.

As the boards use an encoder, instead of potentiometer, they can be programmed to work with any size of tank (within limits of course). Set-up is very straightforward, and is done solely with miniature switches on the control board.



Andy