sky_dancer

Where's the best place to put the radio switch and charge jack on the Mariner? The instructions say to put it up high near the wing saddle but that pretty much puts it in the window area. I don't mind doing that but I thought I'd see where everyone else is mounting their's. To put it any higher up means cutting the hole in the wing saddle itself and that doesn't seem like a good idea. I haven't seen any pics that give a good view of where the switch might be mounted.
I'm using a GP switch and charge jack mounting plate.
Thanks,
Michael

JimCasey

My Feedback: (1)

I can't say I recommend the charge jack mounting plate. On a flying boat, you really OUGHT to take off the wing and let the insides dry out between flying sessions. Hence-no need for a charge jack. However, the pushrod-operated switch is a good idea for keeping the switch dry.

sky_dancer

Hi Jim,
Well the basic idea I had was to keep the switch inside and dry. The charge jack just happens to be there. I took the assembly of another plane I'm not currently flying because I was in a pinch and wanting to complete the Mariner. I guess I could just rig a pushrod out of some stiff wire but there is still no real good place that I can see to put the thing on this aircraft. I'm open to suggestions if there are any other Mariner owners out there.
Thanks,
Michael

clolson

My Feedback: (7)

I just snapped some pictures of how I rigged up the transmitter switch. I'll upload the pictures as soon as I can hand off my little one to the wife ...

clolson

My Feedback: (7)

Ok, here are two pictures that show my radio switch setup. My Mariner included some extra mystery pieces. I called up Lanier and asked them about this and a couple other things and the gentleman I spoke to was very helpful. There are two smaller plywood pieces with holes drilled in them that look like they were probably intended originally as pushrod supports. However, [I'm guessing] at the last minute they switched things up a bit and replaced the two small pieces with a larger single piece, but the original pieces never got removed from the hardware pack. Same story for 4 small hardwood blocks ... probably originally intended for servo mounting???

Anyway, I glued those two extraneous pieces in and mounted the receiver switch in between them. Then drilled a small hole in the side for the wire. I dabbed a bit of petroleum jelly where the wire goes through the hole and hoped for the best.

My Mariner was a bit damp in the bottom when I got done flying, but I did very little to seal the wing saddle so I think that's where my dampness was mainly getting in ... but it was very little ... and I hear it's hard to keep it completely dry.

Oh, and before you are done, I'd recommend that you do two things to your wing mount:

(1) the wing hold down bolts screw into soft balsa, so I cut some scrap plywood, painted it white, and glued it on. Some sort of washer would also work fine to, but I wouldn't trust those mini-bolts to hold in ordinary balsa.

(2) The bolts screw into the fuselage into predrilled/pretapped holes. I had one of the these holes strip out on me. Fortunately discovered before flight. I drilled out the hole a little bigger and installed a larger 1/4" nylon bolt with a matching blind nut.

I really do not trust the default wing hold down bolts! I've never heard anyone complain of a wing departing in mid flight, but I think mine could have easily if I didn't take these extra steps.

Oh, and one other thing I ran into. If you mount your batter in the spacious front hatch, make sure you either have enough wire so the battery can shift *all* the way forward, or secure it well enough so it can't move. I had one poor landing my second day out and smacked the water harder than I intended. My battery shifted forward and pulled out of it's plug. Fortunately I was on the water, with engine idle ... just had to have my dad fire up the boat and go chase it down ... but I consider myself pretty lucky ... if the battery had come disconnected when I had more than idle throttle, who knows what could have happened.

Hope this helps ...

Curt.

offgridman

My Feedback: (1)

I have a Neptune not a Mariner and I just used balsa rails and the metal wire out the side.
I smear vasoline on the outside, and all around the outside of the wings and on the wing saddle before I mount the wings. Works wonders, mine stays dry inside. A couple of minutes when I finish flying wiping off the vasoline to clean up.
I also fiberglassed my hull bottom forward and aft of the step. Much better and much stronger now.

Turbobeaver

Michael,get yourself a Dubro Kwik-Switch Mount.It is Dubro #203.Mount your switch onto this assembly and then measure the height from the bottom of the switch to the center of the mounting hole.When mounting the switch assembly,you will be mounting it in a inverted position so the switch is facing downwards.The measurement that you have taken is the minimum distance you must be from the top of the wing saddle so that the bottom of the switch does not interfere with the mounting of the wing.You want to mount the switch as high as possible and in an area with the least exposure to direct spray from the hulls chines.It's going to get a little wet no matter what so don't lose any sleep or it.We're just trying to minimize the immersion factor as much as possible.I prefer to mount as far forward on the side of the cabin as possible(ahead of the step preferably and as far back as the step)when I do my own.

The beauty of the Dubro unit is the way it attaches to the aircraft.You drill a simple hole through the side of the fuselage for the nylon bolt to install through and it threads directly into the black plastic switch mount.This thing can be rotated in any position that you want and then tightened down.I recommend CA'ing the edges of the hole with some thin to prevent water from wicking into the wood and under your covering prior to installation.A metal rod for ON/OFF control goes through the center of the nylon thru fitting(yes it is actually a nylon thru hull fitting that was first sold by Dubro years ago for use by the model boat guy's.No longer sold separately) and screws into a square plastic retainer which saddles the switches slide mechanism.By pushing or pulling on the rod,it will turn your radio receiver either on or off.The fit between the push rod and the nylon thru fitting is designed to be a snug fit and this benefits us greatly for water flying as water has a very hard time getting into this switch mount.Even if water did manage to get in,because the switch is mounted upside down,it will not run directly down the rod and drip down into the switch causing a malfunction.Here is a link to the Dubro site and the Kwik-Switch unit that I have been talking about.At NO time,should the switch itself be surface mounted for water flying purposes.It is not water proof and this is just an accident waiting to happen.It should always be mounted internally inside the model and suspended off the floor area along with the receiver also.Hope this helps!

http://www.shopatron.com/product/pro...d=DUB203/101.0