Bit of an ongoing problem

[Guest]

Although I have a couple of surface craft my main interest is with the subs. I get a lot of pleasure out of my Seawolf dynamic diver but I would really like to have a go at a static dive - so why not I hear you say - Well the club pond of which I am a member has a serious weed problem - lots of remedies have been tried but it's beginning to look as if it's not going to go away due to the fact that our pond is topped up from local canal thus importing weed spores. Due to the pond being quite shallow (around 3ft) the spores get plenty of light so they thrive as you can imagine. I'm nervous about building a static dive as I can imagine the water intake/outtake getting clogged with weed with a possible result of sub on bottom of pond and not being able to pump the water out.... is there a solution to this (apart from moving to another pond) or am I worrying needlessly over the issue?????

Cheers All,

Periscope.

[Guest]

Hi m8



I am also building a sub and a water filter is essential if it's not a swimming pool. It seems the plastic fuel filters as used on cars with the main casing cut off to leave the filter and collar intact is best as this leaves a large surface area. You could also cover any vents in the subs outer hull with alloy mesh on the inside as this will also help stop weed getting in.



As for the pond our pond got weed clogged over the summer for the first time I can recall, it was just a mass of blanket weed. To cure this firstly bags of barely straw were put in as this removes the nutrients from the water causing the weed to die, then the dead weed was removed by hand, then black water dye put in to make sure nothing grew back and killed off anything remaining. The pond is now fine and the water is back to its normal dark green look.



As for using subs in proper ponds you rarely use them at anything more than periscope depth as you can just lose track of them so easily. As long as you remember to fit a failsafe so if you lose contact with the sub it surfaces on its own.

Don

[Guest]

Although I have a couple of surface craft my main interest is with the subs. I get a lot of pleasure out of my Seawolf dynamic diver but I would really like to have a go at a static dive - so why not I hear you say - Well the club pond of which I am a member has a serious weed problem - lots of remedies have been tried but it's beginning to look as if it's not going to go away due to the fact that our pond is topped up from local canal thus importing weed spores. Due to the pond being quite shallow (around 3ft) the spores get plenty of light so they thrive as you can imagine. I'm nervous about building a static dive as I can imagine the water intake/outtake getting clogged with weed with a possible result of sub on bottom of pond and not being able to pump the water out.... is there a solution to this (apart from moving to another pond) or am I worrying needlessly over the issue????? Cheers All,

Periscope.

Hi Periscope,

It can depend on what dive system you operate as if its a compressed air system from a fixed wall ballast tank, the chance of getting the water in let blocked is negligable, the air pessure will blow the weed out.

An Engel piston tank is quite a powerful thing and you can always place the water in / outlet into a bulkhead within the outer shell of the sub , again negligable risk and as mentioned you could fit a filter but these can get clogged easier than an open " hole ".

Go for it.

I think you are worrying a little bit too much over the cloging in let / outlet, issue.

I would be more worried about the prop being fouled or the hydroplanes getting snagged on the weed holding the sub down , but that would happen more easily with a dynamic sub any how , at least with a ballast sub you can get more lifting force when blowing the tanks.

Hope its of use Sub.

[Guest]

the biggest risk is diving the sub into the weed and then the physical trapping of the sub into the weed attached to the bottom of the lake/ pond and not being able to surface..

i understand periscopes concern, i have twice had problems with my sub being trapped by weed, having dived the model and then getting dive planes snagged in weed on the bottom of the pool, - no matter how much 'grunt' your sub motors have i could not tear my model from the weed by thrust alone....

the failsafe cuts in once the transmitter was switched off but even with the tanks blown there was still not enough ' pull' to tear the weed and release the sub from the murky depths.....

the only option was to either go in for it or to find the largest stick ( well a tree branch ) to see if i could tear the weed from the lake bed thus releasing the model....

luckily i could find a stick long enough and the model was only about 8 foot from the bank and about 3 feet down.... so after 20 minutes of mucking about with a stick i managed to tear the weed off the bottom and the sub slowly surfaced... but only just.... as the weight of weed attatched to the model gave it virtually a negative bouyancy.....it was only just afloat.....

model subs are very rewarding but there are risks...... so long as you are aware then go for it- launch away

[Guest]

Thanks for the comments guys - I'll see how it goes - our club pond is only about three feet deep, I have had the sub trapped a couple of times also quite a few times I've had the prop fouled with weed. With the prop problem I just wait until the sub drifts across the pond (there's access to all sides fortunately) they're a bit difficult to push aren't they -they just roll over and submerge when someone tries to give it a shove.lol. I'll see what I can come up with over this winter - sort of fancying the French Galathee for a smallish pond - I've seen a couple of good videos of them in action.

Cheers,

Periscope

[Guest]

I've never had weeds foul my balast tanks, i don't take any special precations. Weeds seting my sub on fire yes, but never fouling the tank . As you pond is only 3 foot deep there a good chance of a successful rescue even if the worst was to happen.

[Guest]

I've never had weeds foul my balast tanks, i don't take any special precations. Weeds seting my sub on fire yes, but never fouling the tank . As you pond is only 3 foot deep there a good chance of a successful rescue even if the worst was to happen.

I am frightened to ask this, but how did the weeds set it on fire ?:thinking:

Did they foul up the props or something, overheating speed controllers etc ?

Paul

[Guest]

I am frightened to ask this, but how did the weeds set it on fire ?:thinkingid they foul up the props or something, overheating speed controllers etc ?

Paul

Yep Speed controller blew, and shorted itself, batteries gave the ghost, not before setting the insulation on the wires on fire.

Any shes all fixed up, here a picture taken today at Brockwell Lido