Emergency ballast systems
Posted: 30 Jun 2011 17:30
Hi to the Sub Drivers,
I have just been reading the latest Sub-Driver newsletter and saw an article on emergency blow systems for use below signal depth where the sub has been compressed to the point where it has achieved negative buoyancy and so cannot float to the surface. There seemed to be lots of fiddling around trying to decide if a pump can scavenge enough air from the WTC to blow the tank enough to get some positive buoyancy. I got the impression it was a tricky thing to get working well.
Has anyone ever thought of the old system of using a drop keel or something similar? Seems to me a small weight held in place which could be released by a timer (electric or clockwork) would be less complicated? Set the timer for 1 hour or whatever you decide, if the sub gets lost then just wait for the weight to drop off and the sub should surface.
Another system which was used in the 1/1 scale bathyscaphe TRIESTE which could be adapted to a model submarine would be to have a small cylinder full of steel shot (which a modeler can get by buying the stuff from a gun shop which sells reloading gear) held in place by an electromagnet powered by a small battery. By trial and error you try to arrange it so the battery will hold the shot for an hour or two. When the battery powers down the magnet lets the shot go and the sub surfaces. Has the advantage that the shot will corrode over time without polluting anything, unlike a lead keel.
Just a thought..........
cheers
Kim
I have just been reading the latest Sub-Driver newsletter and saw an article on emergency blow systems for use below signal depth where the sub has been compressed to the point where it has achieved negative buoyancy and so cannot float to the surface. There seemed to be lots of fiddling around trying to decide if a pump can scavenge enough air from the WTC to blow the tank enough to get some positive buoyancy. I got the impression it was a tricky thing to get working well.
Has anyone ever thought of the old system of using a drop keel or something similar? Seems to me a small weight held in place which could be released by a timer (electric or clockwork) would be less complicated? Set the timer for 1 hour or whatever you decide, if the sub gets lost then just wait for the weight to drop off and the sub should surface.
Another system which was used in the 1/1 scale bathyscaphe TRIESTE which could be adapted to a model submarine would be to have a small cylinder full of steel shot (which a modeler can get by buying the stuff from a gun shop which sells reloading gear) held in place by an electromagnet powered by a small battery. By trial and error you try to arrange it so the battery will hold the shot for an hour or two. When the battery powers down the magnet lets the shot go and the sub surfaces. Has the advantage that the shot will corrode over time without polluting anything, unlike a lead keel.
Just a thought..........
cheers
Kim