Screw Loose

I recieved a multi directional switch for the bow thruster today. Its a pretty simple bit of kit, takes 1 channel on the reciever. And (in my case) switches the bow thruster one way or another with a dead position in the centre.

It has only 4 wires, 2 for the power supply, + and -, and 2 going to the motor. And the standard set going to the reciever.

I am using a Robbe 7 channel reciever, now I thought I had ran out of channels for the thruster. But I have found out that the power supply port can be fitted with a "Y" joint, and another function coming off that port. Saved me the £??? on a multi channel decoder and switch unit for the handset.

So it was pretty simple to set up, bateries charged and all systems go, or so I thought. For some reason the unit only switches the motor one way, and wont reverse. Talk about dishapointed. I put a servo in the same port as the switch, and it works so I know its not the reciever.

So back it goes to the shop

Paul

subzero

Pandan models.......?

If not try them.

its a Sub Tech RS5 i have 2 in my sub and small too work great.

Sub.

Screw Loose

Thanks Sub, funnily enough its one of those that has went wrong!

Its the first thing I have bought from Pandan that has went wrong. So I cant complain really.

I just didnt mention the brand or anything in case it was something I was doing wrong, and I would hate to do Dave a disservice without checking first

He thinks its the chip inside that has a problem, not really sure whats inside to be honest, but its going back Tuesday.

Paul

solo

Back on the wtc lid problem I think I have a solution. I had from a previous buy some 3mm solid neoprane rubber strip. Having removed several bolts from one side i have used self tapping roofing screws 5.5x20mm. Theese are screwed through the top of the lid down into the metal strip on the wtc. Result perfect seal and reseal after several removals of lid. All I need to do now is remove rest of the bolts and problem solved.

Screw Loose

Glad you got it sorted Solo. I think the Neoprene sheet or rubber sheet will be the way I will be going with mine.

Unfortunatley on my boat I cant remove the bolts, as I am sure if I remember back, they are set in with resin as per the instructions. And it would be a massive and dirty job to get them out.

If your using self tappers, will the holes become worn with time ? I think thats the only thing i would be concerned with ? Dont get me wrong, I am not doubting, just curious

Paul

subzero

Yep,

Dave is a good egg, with some good products, we can all suffer from chip probs from time to time, totally out of anyones control.

I'm sure the new one will work fine, as I said, I have 2 in my boat and they are spot on.

Sub

Screw Loose

Well I was not able to do much testing on the boat today due to the seal still on order. So I thought I would connect up the forward planes again just so it was ready to go in the water when the seal arrives.

I checked the connections, everything seemed ok, so I flicked the switch and away it went. So now that it was working I reconected the plane mechanism. Seemed to be going a little slow So I removed the mech, turned it by hand and after a little adjustment back on it went. Bingo the mechanism works fine.

That was until I tried to move the control surface on the forward planes. And the Servo wouldnt move? Odd, its a brand new Robbe unit, checked all the wires and connectors, reciever, batteries, leads everything ok.

By this point I was starting to get an uncomfortable feeling, you know the one you get when you know theres a big job on the horizon

So after everything obvious was checked, out came the forward dive plane mechanism from inside. This was after the tanks, board, plates, battery, and servos etc



Anyway, I checked the connections on the board and they are ok, motor runs, microswitches fine, hmmm starting to think of the relays And just as we (roped father in as assistant) were about to remove a relay we saw one of the resistors on the board totally burnt away!


So at least that explains why the servo wasnt working Now to find a replacement.

Does anyone out there know the value of the resistor on the Forward Planes mechanism? The others are testing at 54Ohms, but not sure of the make up or type to be honest ? I think I have found replacements from RS, but would prefer to check first to be honest, as I said not too sure.

Oh and the problem that caused the thing to blow was a bit of debris on the thread of the mechanism, caught in the worm gear! Must have made the resistor act like a fuse! Dohh

As I said, if anyone knows the value of the resistor it owuld be much appreciated.

Paul

Screw Loose

Well everything is back together and its all working surprisingly enough !

I bought a new set of resistors today, took 2 minutes to install them, connected everything back up again and.... Nothing, the servo still wouldnt turn when its supposed to!

Now I eliminated any possible faults with the servo, handset etc, so I knew it must be on the board somewhere. So apart it came and to my surprise the solder paths on the board had completley burnt out! There were gaps where the path went, and nothing inbetween.

Supose its what you get by not putting a fuse in !Any problem and its goodbye for components.

So just to get it working again, I soldered jumpers between the tags on the board, just to eliminate a faulty relay.



And perfect, it works fine ! Now the board doesnt exaclty look good, in fact there are spur marks from the Cowboy who wired it up, but its good enough till I order a new board in the future.

So I tenderley put all the tanks back in, batteries, boards etc and fingers crossed switched everything on. No smell of burning, and.... it all works still thank God ! So now I am at the point I was on sunday

Waiting for the new seal to arrive from Germany.

Paul

Screw Loose

I have recieved a new O ring from Engel today. As I have said previous the old one was so thick I couldnt screw the hatch on. The new one is half the diameter of the old one.

Will see if it helps tommorrow.

Paul

Screw Loose

Its been an odd day with the sub. I fitted the new seal this morning, and put the lid on. It is better than the origional seal but still its very tight. I may buy a sheet of Neoprene this week to replace it. But I will see.

Once I had the lid fitted, I pressure tested it again just to make sure it made a good seal. Apart from a few minor leaks its nearly there, just a bit of resin and a slight modification to the seal and its there.

But whats worrying me more is this reversing switch I got for the bow thruster. I recieved a replacement switching unit on Friday, so I wired it up today, switched it on and its still only switching the motor one way ? I reversed the direction on the handset, changed the travel for the channel, still only switching one way. I put a servo on the same chanel as the switch, fine ? I even switched channels, and still fine ?

So unless this switch is faulty as well I am running out of ideas, I find it hard to believe 2 switches are faulty

But whats nagging at the back of my mind is, I bought a Robbe F16 transmitter about 9 months ago, and have been using that for the Typhoon. But when the thing is powered up, and the reciever is on the servos twitch a fair bit. They are controlable, but twitch when theres no input from me. I have checked the obvious like batteries, connections, all motors are surpressed, antenna is fine, so not too sure about that to be honest.

The only thing i have noticed is the twitching stops when I turn the transmitter off. Which is kind of worrying Staring to think its damaged.

Any ideas more than welcome please I have left it for the night before something unfortunate happens to it, or me since I have been in there all day and forgot to take the dog out tonight Talk about ear ache

Paul