It's not a dirt moving machine ,but I have always had an intrest in submarines.I built a model U-boat out of parts & stuff we had around the shop.The pressure hull is an air tank off a truck and the drive motors are 12 volt dc current heater motors.It pulls us around in a small "john boat" as it uses a umbilical cord of electric & air lines that go from the sub to the boat.The power source is a 12 volt battery and a air tank in the boat.We named it "U-505" after the U-boat at the museum of science & industry in Chicago IL.Its an awsome story & exhibit , www.msichicago.org/whats-here/exhibits/u-505/ Here are a few pics of myself & buddy matt testing out the model U-boat.Matt's at the controls and 25c is in the water making necessary ballast adjustments.
Dive , Dive !
Here are a few pics of it in "dry dock" In the therd pic it shows the vents at the bottom of the ballast tanks that allow water to enter in order to submerge.Then to surface the boat we blow the tanks with compressed air from the john boat.
Those look like blower motors on it, no? They also look like they are open. How does this work? I'd have predicted they would short and not work.
They are blower motors Steve.They dont "short" out due to the DC current.I first learned this as a youngster doing recoverys with the wrecker.A car or truck would go in the water after dark and the lights would still be on under the water.
LoL...they are "water cooled" blower motors Steve! Nice Sub 25c!
Yep ATCO,no danger of overheating the drive motors on the sub as they are water cooled.The big problem is if we run out of air to surface the boat!
That's when you call that fellow that has that Yeller GMC tow/recovery truck! :tong
looks like fun I like the balast tanks. I notice you even have counter rotating props on it to keep things in balance. Pretty neat.
Very cool! I'd have never guessed that about the motors, I've always thought the lights worked because they were sealed.
I think, what he means is the "current" is still flowing from battery, thru lights, and back to battery ground making the lights burn. No short circuits of the DC electrical current that would interupt the lights while under water. Whereas, AC current would short circuit underwater because it "alternates" the load and neutral between two wires at 60 cycles a second. Does that sound about right?
Understood, I was remarking about why I "thought" the lights worked.
Gotcha, you are talking about the lights are able to "remain burning" because water has not touched the filament, not the flow of the current through the lights. Your point is, if water touched the filament, then pffft, lights go out. Now we're on the same page. It is interesting nonetheless. Electricity, whether AC or DC, is searching for ground. It flows through conductors looking for ground. Water is a conductor. Yet, in the case with the motors, water does not "steal" the flow of current going through the motors, even though water is a conductor. I assume it would be because the brushes in the motors still make a good enough connection to the copper conductors of the commutator on the armature that the current still follows the path of the copper wiring of the circuit and motors back the the battery, ground. Therefore, water has no effect, and 25c makes his sub swim. Cool!
Electricity generally follows the path of least resistance. In this case the motors are lower ohms than the water. To change the resistance throw some salt in the water, or kick the voltage up say stick a running engine spark plug wire in the water he he. Lightning is DC and pretty much goes where it wants. AC matters more in electrocution as the frequency can disrupt the heartbeat. 2KV and a couple of amps is old sparkys magic.
Thanks for the comments Steve,ATCO,cannoneer,& good eye on the counter rotating props JDOFMEMI.This crazy project started out on a friday night in the winter of 2001 .Myself and a few buddy's got to talking about submarines in the shop that evening over a few barley sodas.We planned on building full scale 3 man sub and we tabled the meeting after deciding to build a model & check the water out.Here are a few pics of the controll panel.Nothing fancy,just plywood ,volt gauge,0 to 15 psi pressure gauge,& valves & electric switches.We are easily entertained.
25c...that story is redneck as hell, and I love it! :notworthy
I found that out by wrecking an Skater offshore boat in 1988 the pumps still ran even though underwater for hours:Banghead. No clue how the batteries lasted that long either. Had to tow it back 85% under water and lift it at a marina which was 4-5 hours for 3 batteries and three fuel pumps. Cool sub:drinkup
I agree, cool sub!