Neptune mod, or late to the party.

[bigdave]

Re: Neptune mod, or late to the party.

Shhhhhh!

[bigdave]

Re: Neptune mod, or late to the party.

I am getting the Neptune ready for its next outing in April.
I have taken 4" out of the landing gear and made it easier to remove to adjust the weights.

[bigdave]

Re: Neptune mod, or late to the party.

Here is the sub with the body on. BD.

[ober freak]

Re: Neptune mod, or late to the party.

Weired helo, looks like it needs a main rotor shaft as periscopes.

Marco

[salmon]

Re: Neptune mod, or late to the party.

Ran the Neptune last night the 10 amp lasted 5 minutes. I am in SoCal in training, but wanted to relax and they had a pool, so a little r and r . Fortunately I brought along 15 amp fuses.
The sub ran great except the pool either used salt or had a lot of chlorine. A couple of feet down my little sub would have a seizure and hover in the water with its dive planes locked in the surface position. Slowly it would rise and we were off again. This little sub ran like a ballerina. Turns and dives quickly (and if not for the water treatment - continuously). I have no idea how long it ran maybe 20 -30 minutes before it stopped at the surface. The rudder and planes responded, so the fuse did not die, but no response from forward or reverse. Took the sub out and set it on the little tables by the pool to check it out. Everything ran fine. Do you think I overheated the ESC?

[bigdave]

Re: Neptune mod, or late to the party.

Sounds like you kicked in the low battery protection circuit.
Under load the voltage would have tripped it.
But out of the water the load would be less so the voltage would be higher than the trip point so it would run on the bench.
BD.

[salmon]

Re: Neptune mod, or late to the party.

Thanks Big Dave! I will put it on the charger!

[salmon]

Re: Neptune mod, or late to the party.

Put everything on the charger and went to a pond on my way home, to play around. Well the prop barely would turn. It dove, raised up, and responded to rudder and dive planes. It would not get the prop running with any conviction. I have a witness.....



So, Motor or ESC? Any one have working parts they want to sell or unload?

[bigdave]

Re: Neptune mod, or late to the party.

Hey!
I know that guy.
Mike Mercury right?

Wasn't he on Supercar with a monkey?

Hi Jeff!

BTW my guess is the battery. If it is the original it is definitely the battery.
The lead acid will just not hold a charge anymore.
BD.

[jefftytoo]

Re: Neptune mod, or late to the party.

The witnesses were all the water fowl, not me.

The battery is a good theory, but everything else was still responding so well, I'm not sure. Maybe best to get a new battery AND test a different ESC—just to be positive. Your mission, Mr. Phelps, should you choose to accept it, is to accomplish this feat in time for our impromptu So. Cal. fun run at this site on April 12th..."official" announcement of same I will post shortly in the Upcoming Events forum.

Truly, it was great fun to finally meet you in person, Mr. Chalfant! Really looking forward to plying the water together in a few weeks!

Best,
Mike Mercury...er, Jeff

[salmon]

Re: Neptune mod, or late to the party.

Aside from running a sub, one of the best experiences is meeting other r/c submariners. It was great meeting Jeff and just chatting.

Battery is not original. Let me see if I can find a motor to test with. Thank you Dave!

[bigdave]

Re: Neptune mod, or late to the party.

Usually (not always) you will find if power (thrust) is an issue it is the battery.
If an ESC or motor are bad they just simply won't work. There is rarely a 1/2 way.
The ESC is really rated at a high amp output and has protection circuitry built in.
The sealed lead acid batteries will charge up OK but drop off very fast with the voltage when pushed.
They don't like to deliver the high current like the Nicads, Lithium, or others will.
But I am sure you will track it down.
BTW You will not meet a better ambassador for the Subcommittee than Jeff. BD.

[Guest]

Re: Neptune mod, or late to the party.

Process of deduction.

The fact that the pump is running okay suggest the battery and power switching is okay.

Try running the motor direct from the battery, if that works you can rules that out. Next hook up the ESC, and it flakes, then possibly bad MOSFETS on the controller. Not worth mucking about with unless you like soldering. Try substituting for a known good controller.

[bigdave]

Re: Neptune mod, or late to the party.

I need to factor in those Chineese amps more.

I think one of our guys measured the ballast pump and it was under 2 amps.
It could very well run and not show a battery problem.
The motor is 10+ I would guess.

Maybe your coupler loosened up too.
I have had that happen many times.
Although I believe there are flats on the shafts. BD.

[jefftytoo]

Re: Neptune mod, or late to the party.

Sincere thanks, BD. The very finest of compliments. I am humbled.

Best,
JeffP