Naval Tug ? Mk2

[ivorthediver]

Been down the Club Lake recently and all being well hope to be there tomorrow morning

Recovery work still as active as ever , and it would seem that some modeller's never learn, but hey thats life , and it keeps me amused and busy on Sundays apart from honing my navigation skills and gets thankful testimonials in the club newsletter .

Had noticed a slight rumble whilst last in use with no obvious signs of cause , so this week I stripped out the prop shafts and re-lubed them with the lithium grease I have mentioned before , and checked for abrasion on any areas , and only found a slight mark of no consequence .

I have this operation down to a fine art now and with the Aid of tools made to suit and adapted socket's on 1/4 drive along with knuckled joints I can strip , lub and refit in around 3-4 hours for the pair , which sounds a lot, but is half what it used to take .

Now I remove the anchor bolts which hold the motors to the brackets , withdrawer the universal couplings , locknuts and thrust washers and then withdrawer the prop shafts out through the kort nozzles with the props still attached

Given the tight areas to work in, and the lack of light and access, it works quite well having profiled the allen keys involved and the hinged one I purchased in Cambridge, which cost twice as much as normal ones but save a lot of frustration , that and working with sockets to tighten / slacken the lock nuts on the engine side of the prop shafts , all of which used to be a real pain in the A,,, as well as my back

So all being well back to the lake and on rescue stand by

The club that lease the lake for Carp Fishing are very annoyed at present due to the road alterations on the A14 which involved compulsory purchase of one side of the lake which prevented four stations from being used by them as a fence has been placed close to that side which no one was aware of except the owners it seems .

The condition of the lake has improved since their involvement however the placing of nets , where we use the lake on Sundays, to trap squat tailed lobsters that breed better than rabbits and are about 5 inch long , does cause irritation but we always replace them prior to leaving .......give and take being the watch word

I must admit that of all the models i have built the tug is very satisfying and although it gets knocked about a bit it rises to the occasion and works hard when needed...... so for as long as I'm abled.... I will offer my help to the club members , and spin yarns along with the rest of them .......might even take my refurbished Sex tent down with me if I can get my bearings and the Sun's out , failing that its back to Gps

See you again soon and if your reading this " Jim the Brush " hope your feeling better and settled now mate

[ivorthediver]

Well today was a timely reminder as to why ships have refits and modifications to the original design and faults only unearthed after extended use at sea

You will note from the preceding post that the drive train was removed on both engines to check for ware and to re-lube the 6mm shafts , during which I commented about on the current speed, to strip out and rebuild the train , in areas of which there is very little room to hold spanners and in some cases physically-- see-- where you are holding small components and or tools .

I took the tug out today, and whilst she went well, I noticed a slight drop in power and manuavireng , but put it down to the high winds and choppy swell on the lake where we sail, indeed the " yacht brigade" were busy telling me what a great day they were all having today .

So when the time was approaching home time , I returned ashore, and took her out and looked at the kort drive nozzles to see if there were any abrasions caused by the props to the inner face of the tube the props are housed in , I ran the motors only to see that the portside prop was not moving in either direction whilst the starboard was fine

So put her on the trolly and turned everything off and removed the superstructure , and engine room bulkhead only to find that the portside universal drive had detached itself, and was laying on the engine room floor

It would appear that whilst tightening up the splined drive nut the day before . it had slackened off , and detached , but now it is apparent that it was not tightened up enough-- i'll use an extended socket to ensure it covers the whole of the nut concerned , whilst holding the prop shaft nut behind ....all of which was obscured ....and had it been in full view .....could have been avoided [hind site is wonderful aint it ] .

In the real world this would never happen[ unless the Engineer was blind] , and all could be visually checked , and even if it did the access would be improved to allow for maintenance issues like this during any refit schedules

Still at least she came back from the far side of the lake on the Starboard- Kort drive alone , none the worse for ware , so just goes to prove how good they are as a collective drive system and the true value of double lock nuts on the drive shafts preventing them rolling out their tubes and into the oggin

[jbryce1437]

Pleased the problem came to light before any real damage was done Ivor.

Jim

[ivorthediver]

You and me both Jim , still nearly all repaired now , but won't be down the week for a week so it won't get wet again till the end of the month

[ivorthediver]

Ok so repaired the problem now and all set for tomorrow , the weather forecast is good so happy boy today with batteries on top up charge .

Was looking at the Radar Motor to see if I could detect any short circuits or lose leads but found none sadly , jumped the motor leads but not a murmur

I wouldn't mind but these motors arn't cheap and pro rata expensive compared to the size / power rating , but I tried hitting it with a hammer and it still didn't work

So will have to see about another or a substitute motor , I wouldn't mind but its in the roof of the bridge with carefully hidden wires to a distribution board in the bridge deck housing, so more swearing and cussing whilst work in progress ...so be warned

I also am still getting feedback in the sound system and was advised to fit a Ferrite coil over the lead that fitted into the receiver which I was assured would cure the problem .......WRONG ....... still happens unless its pilot error on my part [which won't be the first time lets face it ]

The different sounds work on a flip basis in that for each additional flip you give the appropriate stick on the transmitter in a series of 1-10 you play another sound [ 1 being the main engine sound which is synced to the throttle ...so faster louder -slower quieter ...and runs continuously when no other sound is selected ] the problem being that whilst playing a different sound ..like "seagulls"... when you finish it revert's back to ships horn[very loud] and then back to Engines again

In fairness this is a very old sound module[ 12 years old now ] and was replaced with a newer all singing dancing sound card one,.... but sadly [ yes you guessed it ] that went down with the previous Tug that sunk after having a fit with the Amazon cheapo "Genuine manufacturers " receiver I bought but we won't talk about that one will we

Yes I could be more of an alcoholic, chase nubile women ,and watch suspect movies , but our local hospital is very busy and my darling wife would hang me up by the rowlocks. so better stick to modelling eh ....its much safer

So...... will while away the day looking at options ,...other than my modelling scalpel ......and ask my Wonderful woman for some pocket money

So there you have it .....another day in the life of everyday ordinary modellers who should find something more relaxing to do ......yea right .

[jbryce1437]

Good luck tomorrow Ivor and hope you get the problems sorted at very little cost.
Who would be a tug boat skipper? Must be easier ways to keep sane

Jim

[ivorthediver]

If you find out Jim , please let me know , certainly not being a Mod eh .....your always on the go , still..... where would we be without you're help and assistance

[ivorthediver]

Ok just a brief update on progress gang .

Tried repeated attempts to convert a gash servo motor into a Radar motor for the tug , but the gearing was all wrong so wasted time trying to rectify the problem all to no avail.

bit the bullet and bought a new motor [£5.40] and in process of wiring it up and fitting resistors to get near the right rotation speed via power supply .

The motor runs on twelve volts but you can reduce it by resistors and fitting in line with other items to reduce the power supply in that loom so ended up fitting three search lights on the bridge roof .....two forward and one aft which draw 3 volts each and a 390 resister on the motor which compacts the 12volt used to supply and she is now turning at something close to the ratio of the Rotating Radar [ viewed from the other side of the lake that is ]

So having managed that I will have the joy of separating the bridge structure from the superstructure and threading all the supply wiring around the bridge house as best I can to disguise it from site and then fitting it to the onboard distribution panel as discreetly as I can.

I have done a continuity check and all seams well and is working when tested , so tomorrow I hope to get it fitted ready for Sundays trip to the lake , weather permitting .

[jbryce1437]

Ok just a brief update on progress gang .

Tried repeated attempts to convert a gash servo motor into a Radar motor for the tug , but the gearing was all wrong so wasted time trying to rectify the problem all to no avail.

bit the bullet and bought a new motor [£5.40] and in process of wiring it up and fitting resistors to get near the right rotation speed via power supply .

The motor runs on twelve volts but you can reduce it by resistors and fitting in line with other items to reduce the power supply in that loom so ended up fitting three search lights on the bridge roof .....two forward and one aft which draw 3 volts each and a 390 resister on the motor which compacts the 12volt used to supply and she is now turning at something close to the ratio of the Rotating Radar [ viewed from the other side of the lake that is ]

So having managed that I will have the joy of separating the bridge structure from the superstructure and threading all the supply wiring around the bridge house as best I can to disguise it from site and then fitting it to the onboard distribution panel as discreetly as I can.

I have done a continuity check and all seams well and is working when tested , so tomorrow I hope to get it fitted ready for Sundays trip to the lake , weather permitting .

Well done Ivor, just hope the searchligh bulbs dont blow and the radar turns into a helicopter rotor as it speeds up with the surge

Jim

[ivorthediver]

EMMMM could make a bit of money if that happens Jim , might even market it as a Maritime Inshore Drone , lets face it it would frighten the scales of the fish at the expense of sailing blind

I managed to complete it today so tomorrow will be "enlightening" as my batteries were on charge so I had no way of testing them other than with a meter for continuity test's but I will at least be able to see my way clear back to shore