I've just joined and saying hi to everyone

[dai]

Hi,
Just joined and only today was my first outing with my sub..I have an OTW Type 7 with the double wintergarten gun decks..A little gutted today as the sub didn't want to work in the water.Everything was ok out but when in it was dead..I had to get another model boat to push my back in...Any suggestions please help..
Dai

[JWLaRue]

Re: I've just joined and saying hi to everyone

Dai,

Welcome to a very interesting hobby!

We'd love to see some photos of your sub...and for me especially since I'm a Type VII fan.

Please feel free to ask any questions that you may have. There are a lot of good people here that will be very willing to help.

-Jeff

[thor]

Re: I've just joined and saying hi to everyone

Welcome aboard, Dai! You have definitely come to the right place.

Exactly what happened when your boat went dead? A little more information would help us out greatly. Some photos, internal and external would be a help, as well.

Matt

[dai]

Re: I've just joined and saying hi to everyone

Which area do I post pics under....

[thor]

Re: I've just joined and saying hi to everyone

Right here in this post is perfect to post your photos.

[dai]

Re: I've just joined and saying hi to everyone

[thor]

Re: I've just joined and saying hi to everyone

Dai-A very nice boat. Well done! Can you provide some photos of the interior?

What was going on prior to the boat going dead?

[dai]

Re: I've just joined and saying hi to everyone

We'r having a boat weekend at Margam Park this weekend so I intend to strip the deck off and see what the problem is...It was working great out of the water but 5 metres into the water it all died...Reasons could be 1 I didn't have the antenna up on the transmitter and 2 I don't know where the subs ariel is routed..I bought this kit 4 weeks ago and now is the first time in the water....Apparently the antenna should loop all around the top just inside the decking..As I said hopefully I'll be able to sort this out..A number of people want pics of the inside so I'll do them over the weekend..

[dai]

Re: I've just joined and saying hi to everyone

Some more pics....

[Guest]

Re: I've just joined and saying hi to everyone

So from the pictures it looks like you have the OTW module inside the boat with the water pump ballast system. I'm assuming you purchased this boat secondhand, and that is was put together by someone else. If so one of the snags with a secondhand purchase is that you don't always know the history of the model. Has it had a flood for instance- this tends to have implications for the long term health of the electronics inside.

There are so many things that could have caused your problems, it's impossible to accurately diagnose the source of the problem on a forum. All we can do is gives you a few things to look at and try.

Usually the receiver aerial is routed inside the tube of the module. This generally gives adequate reception, although some modellers like to route the aerial outside the module in the free flood area.

I'm assuming you sail in fresh water, if you sail in salty or brackish water, then that is likely to be your problem, as the radio waves can't penetrate through.

You should always fully extend the TX aerial before putting your boat in the pond. The radio signal is severely attenuated in model submarines, and running with the aerial down is bad for the signal and the TX's RF section if you do so for a long time.

Other things it could be- defective transmitter, defective receiver, defective ESC(s), bad batteries, duff cabling. As you see quite a few things it 'could' be. I would start with checking the cables and batteries, that is easy and inexpensive.

You may also want to try a range test in air, about 50 yards away with the aerial down, and you should still get reliable transmission. If it's bad transmission it could be a problem with the RX, TX, crystals etc. If you get a good reception, it's unlikely this is the cause of your problems, and you can tick that off the list.

[JWLaRue]

Re: I've just joined and saying hi to everyone

Some additional questions...

• - when the boat stopped working in the water, was it surfaced or submerged?
  - after you got the boat back on shore, did it start working again?
  - if it did start working again, how long was it after taking it out of the water?
  - since your antenna is in the wet space, is the end of the antenna sealed or exposed to water?
  - are you able to determine what kind of charge was in the battery?
  - do you have a second battery that can be used (in case it's a battery problem)?
  - besides the two, large red and black wires, which I assume are for the battery, can you tell us what the twisted pair white wires are for?
  - same question for the smaller red & brown(?) wires?

-Jeff

[dai]

Re: I've just joined and saying hi to everyone

Tried it again on Saturday...It sails ok but dosnt sink...I had a go at dynamic diving and it worked ok..I can hear the pump working but it isn't pumping water in..Plus its now stuck in a fully port turn....

[JWLaRue]

Re: I've just joined and saying hi to everyone

Dai,

Have you examined the orifice on the front of the dive module to see if it may be obstructed by somethnig?

Alternatively, the solenoid check valve may not be operating properly. It's the device that is between the pump and the ballast tank. Can you determine whether or not it is still wired to the ballast control system?

Is that are water in the ballast tank at all? Can you get the pump to draw the water back out?

Lastly, looking at one of your photos...it appears that you have (or have had) moisture or even water in the forward dry space. Do you know if the dry spaces have ever gotten wet?

-Jeff

[dai]

Re: I've just joined and saying hi to everyone

Its going to my mate who knows subs inside out....I'm hoping to watch him work on it as I cant see how to get the internal workings out of such a confined space..

[sam reichart]

Re: I've just joined and saying hi to everyone

Just saw this post.
Welcome, first off...

Second, that's a beautiful model. Nice version of Bob's Type VII with the later conning tower/deck/schnorkel...

Have you asked the person from whom you purchased the model for any direction/help? (Who built this one; does anyone know?)

Did your friend get the bugs worked out?

I was wondering what the access hatch and valve were for... does this have working torpedos as well?