Revell VIIc conversion

[kapleun val]

Hi, some of you might remember a fair while back i began the arduous event of converting the revell Viic to a static diving rc sub. well, im here to finally report both good and bad news - i finally finished my sub and took it to my local pond last week!

i completed all water tight testings and checked my electrical work several times as im known to solder things badly at times.
Convinced i had completed my wonder i took to my local pond, pretty murky water, about 12 meters deep 15meters by 24meters. i navigated on the surface for about five minutes and was convinced everything was working correctly, dived to periscope depth and was happy with it, so i took it a little deeper, disappearing about a meter under the water where i lost visibility. i didnt panic as i had faith in my system, once radio contact was lost the sub should have popped up, however this was to be the start of my problems, no sub popped up, then i noticed a little trail of airbubbles running from where i lost my sub.
It was time to get wet, so instead of that i payed a guy walking his dog to get in for me, hay it was a hot day and he didnt mind getting in a stinking pond for a tenner!
he brought it back up with reeds wrapped around the props and conningtower.
When i got my baby back home i opened her up and had an inspect, not only had i gotten caught on reeds but my wtc had leaked, it turns out i didnt put enough sealing around the props entry into the wtc! so im currently drying out my sub, still not sure why my failsafe failed to kick in though! im probably going ot take it to a friend of mine whos better with electronical gubbins next week to see if he can help!
Just thought id share my progress with you, as soon as i get her all fixed up il put up a couple of pics!

[stark]

Sounds like your failsafe worked

Sounds like your failsafe worked , that may have been the small trail of bubbels you saw. or they were coming from the seals , any way congrads , on running the boat and finding her ! and yes put up photos Val . BS

[slugejudge]

Well I had a scenario

Well I had a scenario similar to yours except I performed my own salvage work. I had picked up algae on the prop of my Permit, and it sank tail first. The fail-safe worked but because the sub was basicially vertical the gas was expelling out the bottom drain/flood ports of the ballast tank. This would not allow enough of the tank to fill with propel to raise the sub back up to the surface.

I am now leaning more toward using RCABS. I did place a piece of tape across the forward drain/flood port of my ballast tank too prevent this from happening again, hopefully. I have not seen any negative effects from this.

Richard

[kapleun val]

After checking my now dry

After checking my now dry sub, ive noticed a few things that need to be changed. Alot of my soldering is substandard (no pun) the wire connecting the failsafe device is so badly soldered into position, i also need to add a few new screws to keep the caps on my WTC as the seals actually push the caps off by about 2 mm on one side when under high pressure.
Im also considering changing from dry run batteries to wet running as ive heard they have much better durability.
Val

[fung pang]

check out this type VII.

http://www.rcmodel.com.hk/leobbs....&show=0

check out this type VII.

http://www.rcmodel.com.hk/leobbs....&show=0

[kapleun val]

Now that is clever! i

Now that is clever! i never though of accessing the WTC through the bottom of the sub! i based mine on Dave Welsch's WTC which inserts in two halves and conencts inside the sub. It meant no cutting as all i have to do is unscrew the deck to access my WTC.
I do like that idea on that sub! i may have to think about doing something like that with a future IIb idea i had in mind!

[kapleun val]

Ok i think ive sorted

Ok i think ive sorted everything, ive tested her in the bathtub and the WTC is holding perfectly, however shes now listing heavily to port, yet i havent changed any of the weighting!
Any ideas?

[kapleun val]

Long time since i was here

Hi,
Been a fair while since i started on this sub adventure.
Sadly my uboat was lost with all hands in December 06 when i took it into murky water which was MUCH deeper then i original thought. I can only presume that it got caught in the crud at the bottom, i spent several weekends there trawling through but was unable to find anything. Resigning myself to that loss i decided that it was an expensive hobby and that i should quit before i built and lost another sub. Well, the bugs caught me again and im thinking of progressing onto a new project, probably a kit rather then my own WTC as i simply don't have the confidence in my abilities since loosing my boat as well as the funds to replace such an endeavor.
However, its still a decision im yet to run past the other half and still something im not 100% sure on due to the lack of decent pools in central london.
Regards

[pier 72]

That is indeed tragic.
At least

That is indeed tragic.
At least if you'd lost your baby here in Australia, you could have just waited until further into the drought (of which is now over 5 years old) and simply walked out onto the dry bed of your lake. You may have even found someone elses "baby".

I hope you stick with the hobby and going for an R/C kit is definately the best way to go. After converting the Revel type VIIC/41 to dynamic diving I then graduated to the Robbe Type VII then onto the Engel Type IX sub (attached). I'm hooked and so will you..................

[kapleun val]

Thanks!
Here the lakes just get

Thanks!
Here the lakes just get dirtier and even more stagnant!

That's a nice looking sub you've got there! Im still undecided if im going to start again, since loosing my baby i started an interest in building an RC warbird which is a lot cheaper then a sub so it's going to be one or the other. My true passion lies with subs but the cost makes me want to go airborne until i can actually afford another sub without having to worry about not being able to afford any repairs/ replacements parts/ or even another disaster!
V