RC Sub Electronics - Advice Tips

[chuck chesney]

Hi Nick,
Glad that you were

Hi Nick,
Glad that you were able to contact Engels regarding the manuals that you need. Regarding the tubing that you will use...relax, it's just garden variety vinyl tubing. Just be sure that it doesn't kink on you. I inserted stainless steel coiled springs about the same size as the ID on the tube to make sure that kinking was not going to happen.
One of the problems with the piston tank ballast system is that every time you suck water into the tanks, you are also importing EVERYTHING that is in the water through the plumbing and into the tanks...grit, weeds and junk in the water can be a problem, particularly if it gets clogged in the tubing.
An advantage with the piston system is that you can trim the boat for neutral boyancy much more easily than any other type of ballast system that I know of. It becomes a matter of personal taste if that is important to you. I have never thought it too important to be able to make my boats hover, submerged. What you end up with is a submerged boat, that you can't see, doing nothing and going nowhere. Rocks in the pond do that already.
Having a couple of decades of experience with the piston system, and a year or so with the RECABS system, I'll take the RECABS every time. The whole WTC isn't very much bigger than a single piston tank with its motor/reduction gears, uses about three quarters of an amp @5volts to blow ballast, taking about 15 seconds, does not use outside air or water, does not require a slab of steel ballast and can be moved from hull to hull with ease.
I'll put together a couple of websites about model subs, and post them or send them directly to you.

[Guest]

Chuck,
Thanks for the nice comments

Chuck,
Thanks for the nice comments about the ballast system. It is "RCABS", not ReCabs, in case anyone wants to look it up on the internet, or elsewhere.
I got an interesting call from an applications engineer from Smart Products, the manufacturer of the air pump I have been recommending for the RCABS. I told him he wouldn't believe what we were using the pump for, but he was surprised and quite interested in our unusal use for the pumps in model submarines. It's nice to finally order these little air pumps from an American manufacturer.

[chuck chesney]

Hi Art,
As you can tell,

Hi Art,
As you can tell, I have become a real advocate for the RCABS method of ballasting model subs. The system is compact, reliable, safe and inexpensive to build and operate.
In my case, it made a day of model boating a real joy, rather than a pleasurable ordeal.
The air pump from Smart Products is a beauty, built right in the heart of Silicon Valley, and less than the cost of a couple of tickets to the cinima.
It turned my Engels Patrick Henry hull from a beast to a beauty, and the same WTC pulls right out of the Engels hull and into my Los Angeles hull in about fifteen minutes.

[Guest]

I purchased a couple of

I purchased a couple of boards from Markus Rieger recently.



They allow proportional control of piston ballast tanks, and can be used with the engel tanks.

They cost about 75 euro each, so not terribly cheap, but they work well and are beautifully made.

Much more advanced than the Engel boards

Andy