My Rescue Barge

[Ralph --- SSBN 598]

March 30th ================================================

Got the white paint yesterday.
This morning the touch painting got done on the back of the deck house.
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Moved on to another project.
The last couple of days has said summer is coming, soon.
So it is time to get my cooler ready.

But for the last few years it has been patch this, patch that.
Today, I pulled the three pad grills off and the frame all but came down on it's own.

There is no floor pan left to work with.

The fix is to go out back and find the old commercial cooler frame I have.
It is not built like home coolers.
The metal is 2 or 3 time thicker and galvanized heavily.

Found it and hauled it to the outside work bench with my heavy duty hand truck.

The out going air opening is not the same size as the other cooler.
Went and removed the motor and other parts from the older cooler. (most came from the commercial cooler a few years back)

I took the frame off the wall so I could measure the hole in the house wall.
Using those numbers, I modified the commercial cooler air outlet to fit.
Remove a little duct pieces.
Cut the hole wider buy 1" on each side.
Cut a sheet metal flat piece to slide in where the dust piece was.
Make sure it fits and measure the 13.25" opening and mark.
Clean with sand paper and then apply engine silicone glue.
Slide the sheet metal plate in and clamp it in place on the marks.

Next I will have to measure and lower the old brackets that hold the cooler on the house wall.
The commercial cooler is about 6" taller.
The opening is the same at the top so I have to lower the brackets to get the holes to line up.

I need to remove one bolt to see how big they are.
I may have some in the stool shed.

Once the bracket is moved, I will lift the commercial frame up on the brackets and secure the unit to the wall.
Just two turn buckles.
Put the motor back in it.
Put the water pump back in and connect.
Hook up the water hoses.
Hook up the electrical.

While I have the 3 pad grills out, I can measure them to get new pads. (there are none now)

If I keep after this, I should have it running tomorrow afternoon or Thursday.

Evaporator coolers are not hard to repair or maintain for the season.
OR course it is a little more when replacing the compete unit.

Only issue I may have is lifting the frame up to the brackets.
I might have to catch the neighbor for a couple of minutes help.


It may be more than I can lift, even stripped down to the bare frame.

[Ralph --- SSBN 598]

March 30th ================================================

Got the white paint yesterday.
This morning the touch painting got done on the back of the deck house.
Only thing not in the photo is I put the number 74 center of the pilot house under the center window. (Why 74? It is the frequency the barge is on)

.

.

[Ralph --- SSBN 598]

April 3rd ================================================

I have been doing other stuff and Thursday/Friday I was sick with food poisoning.
It lasted about 17 hours.
All is very good now.

I want to clean off the work bench to get the Gato back in play.
I needed to return to the water trimming of the barge.
It sits about 1/2" high at the bow.
Last time in the water, I put a steel weight which goes in my ALMA schooner and it did the trick.
But the schooner wants it's ballast block back.
It's a matched set of 6 blocks.

Okay, I have several different size lead blocks I cut to put in sub hulls.
There is one close in weight to the steel block.
Fill the test tank half way and put the barge in the water.
Put the lead block about where I thought it should be.
I was 3/4" too far back from the bow.
slide it forward and the bow dropped.
Dropped past the level line.
No a problem.
Just start sliding it back until I get level.
The weight was just sitting on the deck so moving it was just a matter of pushing this way or that.

Barge is level, take a measurement from the bow edge.
Could not have been easier.
2" exactly.

In to the shop.
Remove the deck house, deck and the flotation foam block.
Turn the block over and cut a slot in the foam for the ballast weight.

Silicone glue at 4 spots on the bottom of the block.
Put the foam block back in the hull and place the ballast block in the cut in the foam before setting all the way down.

I put a 1/4" strip of soft packing foam on top of the flotation foam over the weight to hold down pressure.
(When I charge the batteries again, I will removed the soft foam)

Put the deck on and the deck house.

Oh, I got the tow lines glued on the deck.
No worrying about them falling over the side.

Now I can move the barge off the work bench.

[Ralph --- SSBN 598]

April 10th ================================================

Off to the lake.
Rescue Barge out for it's first run in the pond.
Skipjack out after 18 months out of the water.

Arrived at the pond at 7:10am.
Took about 10 minutes to unload and move to the park bench at water's edge.

Panorama
Looking West.


Looking South.


Looking South East.


Removed the deck house and turned on the power. (Tx is on)
In the water it went.
Noticed that launching at an angle has water over the hull rail and could put water in the hull.
Took it out of the water and turned the barge on it's side.
No water came out.
All good.

Back in to the water making sure not to tip the barge on edge.

I tested every thing.
Forward, reverse, pusher bars down and tilted.
Then speed tests.
I have the Tx set to 30% on speed.
It looks like it will do nicely.
Not fast but it will get there quick enough.

Brought the barge up close so I could see what is going on while testing the new 90 degree plus steering.
I tested with motor in forward and in reverse.
Oh boy! It does exactly what I was working for.

The following is the video of the testing.

Barge at the lake test video

http://www.cliffhangershideout.com/barge/vid-04.mp4

At .06 minutes the new 90 degree rudder with motor running forward.
Both directions.
Turning in place.
A little forward drive to test steering.
It is very sensitive.

At 1:10 minutes the barge is again turning in place.
But the difference is the motor is running in reverse.

At 2:00 minutes I tested the pusher bars.

At 2:14 minutes I ran the barge in reverse.

Total run time on the barge was about 20 minutes.

After retrieving the barge, I took the deck house off and turned the barge up side down.
I had about a table spoon of water come out of the rudder post and pod.

I need to work on the pod and get it sealed completely.
========================================
Now the Skipjack.

Turned on the power and closed up the hull.
Once in the water , the stern was high.
It took 3 dives to shake the bubbles loose.

Then a couple rounds on the surface then work down to periscope depth.
Here is a pass with the masts exposed.
Ran this way at will.


Now for a run at periscope depth.
This was a bit touchy as I had only about 3/8" of the periscope above the water.
When I took the photo, the periscope was not above the water but it was making a wake. (center of the photo)
A little up on the fair water planes and there was the tip of the scope.


It is not easy running the boat and taking photos.
I can see the boat without glasses but have to put glasses on to see the cameras.

After about an hour running the Skipjack, I started having issues with trim.
As long as I had forward motion the boat was trimmed perfectly.
When I cut power the stern would come up and broach the surface.
When I powered up, the stern would drop and then recover as speed got the stern planes working.

I know this issue.
There is a little water in the cylinder and it is sloshing back and forth.

Brought the boat in and opened it up.
Turned off the power and then lifted teh cylinder out to look at the bottom.
There was the water.
Not much but enough to call it a day.
I removed the front end cap. There is nothing attached to the front end cap so it comes out with no problems.
Drained the water.
Put the cylinder back in the hull without the end cap.
Closed up the hull and made ready to transport home.

I will look over the Skipjack for leaks and I think I will find a crack in one of the rubber control rod boots.
I find it the boots sit they crack and need replacing.

Now for the summary.
Barge tested great.
Small leak in pod.
I will find it.

Skipjack ran like it was suppose to until it got water.
This has happened before.
Can be fixes n 10 minutes if I find the crack.

All in all a good day at the lake.
I feel much better now.

[greg w]

The barge looked good out on the water. Mine handles very much the same as yours. I always take mine out with me and the best days are when in never needs to get wet. Hopefully I will find some run time this summer with the rest of the 8 balls but life and work are crazy busy right now. again you did a very nice job on the barge and your documentation was excellent. Greg

[Ralph --- SSBN 598]

Greg, the barge ran just as expected.
It took a few missteps to get the servo to turn 180 degrees but it was worth it.
I likes the look on the bench and I like the look on the water.

This is a rescue barge and it will go to the lake every time and will spend more time not in the water.
Unless I want to run it for running sake.

It is not big but it has so much power it amazes me.
And turning on the pusher bars was something to see.
Thank you so much for your help.
R_____

[Ralph --- SSBN 598]

This post about today at the lake should have been in the SubRonLA section.
I copied it over there.

[Ralph --- SSBN 598]

April 13th ================================================

I did not work on any boats since Saturday.
About 20 minutes ago, I went out to the shop and removed the motor pod on the barge.
After a 20 minutes run there was about a spoon full of water in the pod.
Not a problem but I rather there be no water.

After removing the pod, I did some work on the wiring.
I have soldered and un soldered these 3 wires so many times, I had to come up with something a little easier.
I cut 3 short brass tubes that just slip over the bare wires.
I am going to solder the tube between the connecting wires
The tubes are a bout 1/4" long.

Now when I solder the wires together, I just have to heat one end of the tube and slip the wire in.
Slip the covering shrink tube over the joint to protect.

Now to find the pod leak.
Took it in to the house.
Filled a small deep bowl.
Put the pod in the water and blew steadily in to the rudder post.
A few bubbles coming up.
I looked all over the pod and only found bubbles at the front of the pod.

This is an easy fix.
The front of the pod is a slip in fit with silicone sealant.
I must not have gotten enough sealant to fill any small gaps.
With an Exacto knife, I cut around the front piece.
Then with a flat screw drive, I separate the front from the pod.
Clean the pieces with the knife and a small file.
This takes about 5 minutes. (lots of practice during building)

Letting it dry completely from the water bowl test.
I will reseal in about an hour.

Will water test in the morning before reassembling on the barge.