[PSUBS-MAILIST] Dive fail.

Sat Jul 11 08:35:30 EDT 2015

Glen,
After converting to saddle tanks, I would never go back.  The stability is remarkable, and in my case very robust.  I used 100 lb propane tanks because I had them but also they are super tough and pretty light.  As for towing, I can not comment, but I can say that my top speed seems about the same.  More effort could have gone into mounting the tanks to be more streamlined, but I am very happy with the performance.  You can see them real well on my launch video.
Hank --------------------------------------------
On Sat, 7/11/15, glen brown via Personal_Submersibles <personal_submersibles at psubs.org> wrote:

 Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Dive fail.
 To: "Personal Submersibles General Discussion" <personal_submersibles at psubs.org>
 Received: Saturday, July 11, 2015, 6:39 AM

 Hi
 JamesSaddle tanks sound good ,but i have wondered how
 much they will effect  towing . Thinking as a option of an
 removeable fibreglass skin say 300mm from pressure hull
 forming some kind of
 deck.?regardsGlen
 On Wed, Jul 8, 2015 at
 12:54 PM, James Frankland via Personal_Submersibles <personal_submersibles at psubs.org>
 wrote:
 Hi Glen, If I were
 doing it again, I wouldn't bother with the standard MBTs
 at all.  I would make saddle tanks like on the
 "Nemo" sub.  For better surface stability and
 enclosed, so you don't burp air.    Im going to
 change my boat over the winter to have tanks like that
 instead, or probably as well.  Hank has done the same on
 his Gamma. Im not sure what you mean
 with the poly carb sheet attached to the top of the fore
 mbt?  Is this for a deck of some sort? 
  I paid a boatbuilding company to
 make the fibreglass tanks for my boat.  They made the plug
 out of a load of blue builders foam sheets stuck together
 and shaped that.  Then made the mould from that and layed
 the glass into it.  The same as Dan H did I
 think. regardsJames 
 On 8 July 2015 at 11:37,
 glen brown via Personal_Submersibles <personal_submersibles at psubs.org>
 wrote:
 Hi JamesI am busy with my k350 mbts at the
 moment trying to copy Dan's plug, mould, product. I was
 thinking of using a section of poly carb sheet attached to
 the top of my fore mbt.Any
 comments?
 Thanks
 Glen
 On Mon, Jul 6,
 2015 at 11:04 AM, James Frankland via Personal_Submersibles
 <personal_submersibles at psubs.org>
 wrote:
 Hi All, 
 I had a failure of a day on Sat.  I put the boat in, and
 it had a
 leak.  Not into the pressure hull, so it wasn’t a
 complete failure, but
 the leak was from the forward main tank.  The nearly
 useless windows that I put on the forward tank were leaking
 air.  Not just a little bit which I could have put up with
 it, but loads.  The boat was diving quicker than venting
 normally.  
  I pulled it out
 and went around tightening them up.  Put it back in and it
 didn't make any difference. It was strange as
 they have been perfectly ok before.  I think the problem is
 that on Friday while I was prepping the boat for diving, I
 went around and tightened the bolts.  It must have broken
 the seals.   Anyway. 
 I could
 have possibly winged it by running with a reduced main
 ballast, but as
 I was heading into the open sea, I thought I best be
 sensible and call it off.

 So
 It was in for about 10 minutes.  Pulled it out and was home
 by 8:30, very
 disappointed. Spent the
 afternoon sticking them in with Sikaflex and
 moaning. Hope these pics
 make it through.  You can just see the air spilling from
 the widows in the second picture and the boat is going down
 nose first. Kind
 RegardsJames 

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