Engel Lafayette Progress for John M & All

[lobo]

John,
I am having fun communicating via E-Mail on our Lafayette progress to date.
I wanted to post in the forum so others can chime in with their opinions/thoughts/suggestions on our respective buildups. Lots of great talent here, that's why I joined (new member # 3042)!

Please have patience with this thread while I practice downloading appropriate photos from Photobucket, I may make a mistake or two!

Uh Oh, trouble already, PhotoBucket not accepted here

Pardon me all while I work this out! Be back ASAP

Steve C. NYC

[lobo]

John,
I will start with the

John,
I will start with the wiring shots you requested.
I drew out the harness & Battery assembly in Visio then made it up
as you see in below photos.

This is the Aft Tech Rack Module. I disassembled it from the Fore & Ballast Pump sections so I could route all wiring in a "modular" way, so I can quickly disconnect any of the 3 major sections (if needed to service any of their components) & leave its wiring intact.
As you can see from this photo & photo #3, the BTS gear is not sitting in the speed controller compt. aft. of the motor. It is relocated to the receiver compt. in the Module Forward section. Master Craftsman Frank Ryan gave me this tip. Frank was my first Guru breaking into this hobby..I miss him!



Below is a pic of same module...top view with battery doors open ready to drop in battery packs & connect to harness leads shown in photo



This is a sideshot showing harness assembly & battery packs I made up. The pack you see resting against the Rack is installed from the top just as you see it. You can see how the battery leads along the bottom mate up to the Rack Harness. I included a second battery pack, this one also lying atop my wife's dearly cherished, irreplacable Dining Room tablecloth.
You can see how I constructed the cell pack from the photos. They fit into the Tech Rack very snuggly...no clearance to shrink wrap assembly. Bus Bars & silicone hold each pack together...I am surprised they stay together so well.


More to come....
Steve C. NYC

[w1cdo]

Steve,
Great info and pictures. Thanks.

Steve,
Great info and pictures. Thanks. I especially like the file size that allows close inspection and study of details. I do not see the big picture on that area yet. I am also a little "lost in space" trying to see how all the electronics ties together because there is not a wiring diagrasm - I'm an electronics type. Wiring diagrams, not pictures ae how I see things. I guess once I mount the various pieces, what goes to where will begin to take shape in my mind.
Should I begin an accompanying thread with my meager beginnings?
John
Seattle

[lobo]

Steve,
Should I begin an accompanying

Steve,
Should I begin an accompanying thread with my meager beginnings?
John
Seattle

John,
Please post pics to this thread indeed! I was hoping we can both use this topic & post to it as we progress.

I am including the wiring schematics I made up, a simple view (no connectors) & the final one showing connectors.

As you can see, this main harness integrates the 4 batery cells, feeds the ESC & a bus bar placed forward in the tech Rack.
The bus bar then feeds the rest of the electronics!






I hope you can find a way to print these 2 pages...if not, I can mail them or fax.

You will have to set up printer to Landscape...I could not get the images to post vertically (portrait)!

Regards
Steve
NYC

[w1cdo]

Steve,

Great - thank you. I'll

Steve,

Great - thank you. I'll print out your total info late today.

Joh
Settle

[w1cdo]

I began work on my

I began work on my sub about the same time as the previous messages, took pictures as I went along but have been out of town more than at home. Each time I take photos I tell myself I need to get them posted, but it just hasn't happened. I'm also thinking this is somewhat redundant, but I'll begin posting until it is suggested that this project is too ordinary. I must say that it is very special to me - breaking into a new technology. I am also very impressed with Gregor Engel's atention to customer details. Here are some photos of what I found in the box.

[w1cdo]

By the way, I do

By the way, I do know how to spell attention ! For some reason letters sometimes get dropped as I type into the message box and I have to continually recheck for spelling errors.

Here is the radio I purchased. It is on the 6 meter ham band. Some of you mentioned that receiver size is an issue, so I looked at the radio Engel sells for this, researched it's receiver and compared sizes with units I thought I was interested in. The receiver size in this 9C is a good approximation of what Engel uses.

Battery size has been mentioned to me to be an issue so I recently received an order from Engel with their own battery packs. I have been unable to find a domestic source for 1 hour epoxy - do any of you have a source? I had Engel include that with my batteries along with all the metric size drills and the diamond files I have seen admired here on the forum.

[w1cdo]

The suggested water leak test

The suggested water leak test along with suggested cure for pin hole leaks. The hull joint was so tight that I felt the need to make some room with my grinder for some thick CA.

[w1cdo]

Putty and paint make the

Putty and paint make the devil a saint . . . the last photo is of a perfectly filled and primed hull.

[w1cdo]

Priming the under side of

Priming the under side of the missle deck prior to attachment.

[w1cdo]

Cutting tech rack components. As

Cutting tech rack components. As suggested, I found some of the circular bulkheads are a little too large to pass through the metal hull rings. I have only resized a couple of them so far.

[w1cdo]

Getting to use some of

Getting to use some of my new metric drills. More holes yet to follow here.

[w1cdo]

I got the rings in

I got the rings in place just before leaving home - again - so I haven't had time for putty & paint yet.

[w1cdo]

The stainless steel tube is

The stainless steel tube is thick walled - at this point I think it weighs more than the submarine. I really like the stand

[w1cdo]

Initial work on the top

Initial work on the top of the sail