Calamity

[Ian Carter 2Participant @iancarter2]

Was just doing a flotation test in the bath and checking the ballast requirements for my barge and……….oops, she capsized. Everything soaked including electronics, will just allowing to dry out be sufficient and pray it all works afterwards? P.S. can't believe how much she is going to need, about 9lbs, including the drop keel.

Ian

[Ian Carter 2Participant @iancarter2]

[Byron Rees…(Ron)Participant @byronrees-ron]

Hi Ian,

I had my new little fast boat hit a submerged piece of rope at speed on its first outing at our freshwater lake. It flipped, the cabin came off and it only just floated for 20 minutes till it could be recovered. I left it open in the sun and all the way home (Took top off) after syringing out all the water I could and stuffing tissues inside.

Like you, everything soaked so starting with the receiver, took it out and removed the case, there were drips in it. If it had been left in the boat then condensation would have started. A thorough dry with soft cloth then a blow through with the airline. Next it went in the airing cupboard, closely followed by the servo and then the ESC and switch.

The battery was dried and put in there as well. The motors are brushless so they were OK just a blow through still fixed in the hull.

The next day all was tested on the bench and it appeared to work OK but steering servo twitched a bit. This was a cheapo so it went into the bits box for spares and a new one fitted just in case.

Once back in the model, some days later a full range test was done, OK

Next time out a thorough test that everything was working safely before a short run close to me on the bank.

I got away with it but if you are at all unsure, don't risk it. (Hot air guns and hair dryers are pretty good too.

Good luck.

Ron.

PS, the problems can be exacerbated if this happens in salt water. and I once put it all in the sink and washed it out with fresh tap water…drastic I know, but all the salts washed away and when dried out everything worked OK, just lucky I guess,

Edited By Byron Rees…(Ron) on 07/05/2018 17:55:17

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Ian. Been there, done that. Luckily not with any GEAR inside.

Yes I have had a few receivers get wet and as long as you dry them out they seem to be ok.

​It is suprising how much ballast you need. I had to use so much lead on the TG Lotus that I had to resort to gluing it on underneath as there was no room inside.

Ashley

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Ian

That sounds like too much weight, you only need the keel weight, if you ballast the hull she will float very low & get swamped when heeled over in a blow, let's have some more pictures of your progress

Regards Ray

[Ian Carter 2Participant @iancarter2]

Have taken some more pics tonight and will upload into my album, with regards to the ballast question, have weighed the keel bulb and have just under a pound in weight, which is what I managed to pack inside the pre moulded bulb. The bulb is quite small as you will see from the pic, perhaps I need to somehow make a new one but am restricted by the size of the bulb fin. This is about 5" long by 1/4". Was planning on putting lead sheet throughout the hull to bring her down. Will upload later, the pics, dinner is almost ready

[Ian Carter 2Participant @iancarter2]

Posted by Ray Wood 2 on 07/05/2018 18:22:09:

Hi Ian

That sounds like too much weight, you only need the keel weight, if you ballast the hull she will float very low & get swamped when heeled over in a blow, let's have some more pictures of your progress

Regards Ray

Ray, I have now added some more photos to my album, just wish I was able to post them into the build blog that I started. Despite seeing the advise given, it just doesn't seem to want me to do so. I digress, I appreciate your comment above and know that in a 1/24th scale, they use between 6-9 lbs. As you will see in the album, I have used the keel bulb from the kit. Measuring almost 6.5" log with a fin about 5" by 1/4", which fits into the keel case as built. The weight of this bulb is just over 12ounces. Hence my thought of using flat lead, laid into the various areas, throughout the length of the hull. Should I be looking at somehow building a new, weightier bulb?

Ian

[Ian Carter 2Participant @iancarter2]

Thank you to those who replied, thankfully everything dried out and is working fine.

Ian

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Ian,

If you fixed sheet lead to each side of the fin and faired it in with filler, you will improve the righting moment, I think 1 pound extra would be enough to keep her upright, the AMBO boys say as designed she was too tender to race competitively, ballast in the hull will just make her sit lower in the water with little improvement in stability, hope this helps

Regards Ray

[Ian Carter 2Participant @iancarter2]

Hi Ray,

I take it then that my idea behind the ballasting, it isn't a case of lowering the hull to bring her down to the waterline. As that is what I was trying to do. She seemed to sit so high and I thought, all she would do is, surf. I was aware that the AMBO boys didn't rate her racing prowess. All I want at this point of time is a barge that I can learn, never having done any, sailing.

Ian

[Malcolm FraryParticipant @malcolmfrary95515]

On a 34" boat, 12 oz for the bulb seems very low. At least 24oz, 32oz better yet provided the fin and its hull fixings can stand it when leaned over. The weight at the end of the fin acts both to keep the boat basically stable and to stop it falling over in a side wind. The fact that it doesn't fall over causes it move forward helped by the surface area of the fin reducing the tendency to slide sideways. As regards the "waterline", the only rule there is "Don't go deeper".

Even at the low weight, it won't surf, but with more weight in the right place, it will handle stronger winds. Wind does scale, a gentle breeze for you or the real thing could be a gale for the model.

The barge sail plan is fairly complex, capable of a LOT of tweaking. When you get to live sailing, try to change just one thing at a time and note the results of what happens. A lot of years ago, moving from a simple box camera to a 35mm one with lots of settings, I found that I had basically got a lot more ways to muck up the pictures. Same applies to having lots of sails.

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