gofast53

Well I guess we all make mistakes but boy did I **** up this time!
Had a good run yesterday with my Miss Elam, bought it back into shore after an initial 10 min run to refuel and drain any excess water from hull via drain plug. Re-launched boat for another run but somehow I had forgotten to replace the drain plug, which was pearing up at me from my toolbox!
Water was abit choppy and I made the mistake of trying to cut across the centre of the pond which meant the chop was ponding the rear of the boat. Also because the boat was not on plane this resulted in water entering the engine compartment via the turbine opening and eventually stalling the engine. Well then I really was in the crap as water obviously starting filling the hull via the drain hole that some idiot had forgoten to replace the plug into. Must have been a good 5 min before hull was almost completely submerged.
In a mad panic, luckily I managed to hook a line onto it and drag it in, yes I mean drag as it was actually touching the pond bottom. Took me a good 30 min to finally get it to shore.
As you can guess radio box was full to the brim with water, so it was off home dragging my feet to check out the damage.
Have only just started disassembing my electrics to dry out, but what do you think my chances are of it still working?
Also should my radio box have been so full with water or is this standard considering hull was completely submerged?
Even though my battery pack and receiver were in ballons water still managed to get in.
I guess there is not much you can do when your boat is this far under and for so long.

saleens7

the electrics might be ok....other have had this happen to them and after a day or so of drying, they worked again....i think there is a type of silicone or grease spray you can put of the electrics to keep them from getting water damage, just forgot what its called...


also, put silicone on the rim of the box where the cover is placed, that way it will be somewhat water tight....also, put a couple of tampons in it too....they soak up the water if any gets in....

piper_chuck

My Feedback: (12)

Not a fun day. The electronics should be ok. I'd suggest opening up the receiver and the servos so they can dry out quickly. You could also wash them off with distilled water to remove any minerals that were in the lake water. It would also be a good idea to get a pool noodle and cut it into pieces that will fit inside your hull. This will prevent further sinkings.

gofast53

Yep, soon as I got home stripped down servos and receiver and sprayed with electrical contact spray and left to dry out. Unfortunately as my hydro hull is sealed up, no where to put any flotation. Was thinking of plugging up permanently the drain hole but is obviously there for a reason!
Hoping to reassemble everything tonight and test. Radio box does not appear to be sealed very well from inner hull, as silicon tube that runs from water pickup to cooling head runs straight through inside of hull and through radio box. So when drain plug was left out, water had no difficulty entering radio box. It was not my lid seal or push rod seals which failed, so will have to try and seal box up better with silicon.
Even though this incident has forced me to have to disassemble everything, it is good in that now I can maybe make some improvements to my boat.

misshydro

I'd done that my self too!! LOL But I'd caught it in time and brought my boat back in,in time too.no water in the box eather!!

gofast53

Real pain when this happens as now off the water until problem sorted. Can't wait till my Bud .21 arrives! This will allow me to retire my Miss Elam to the bench for some .21 mods!

wave waker

that's scary[sm=omg_smile.gif],,i'll bet u'll put floatation next time u run it...

TIA

I've seen that done by people with REAL boats! [X(]

So you must be normal!

I'm suprised nobody has ever mentioned this but I had a plane go for a drink once,
and I pulled the electronics and put them in the oven and just let the pilot light heat dry them all out.

Everything worked fine the next day.

Scorpio145

Hey CARIMALI believe me I am am sure that we have all been through that. The other day I took my seaducer out and forgot to put the ruber band across the radio box to hold it in place. When I tried to turn left the box lifted instead of the rudder turning...In a panic I killed the engine and if you know anyting about the seaducer hulls they will always fill with water when they are staionary!

I am 100% sure that you wont forget it next time out

Quicksilver1

at least its a model, I cant tell you how many times I've seen people launch boats at the marina and forget the plug......sometimes they dont figure it out soon enough

I guess that why so far I havent put a plug in my boat, I'm very forgetfull

Massey

While I have not yet sunk my Elam I have cuased alot of dammage to the boat and fliped it a few times. I broke the hull around the left rear wing destroying that area of the hull and opening it up to the water. I got lucky I was close to shore before my Miss Elam met Davey Jones. My radio box has been flooded many times over and not from sinking. Here is what I found that will help keep yours dry.

Keep the foam around the batts and reciever they will soak up a good amount of water before the water will puddle and stand in the radio box.

If the areas around the seal between the upper and lower hull halves is not that good use some epoxy to seal it all up again. (Mine had a 1/4 inch hole in one corner behind the servos)

Put some waterproof grease in the pushrod boots, use thick stuff that will not dribble out in to the box.

Clear Duct tape is the best for sealing the box from the outside. Other tapes seemed to seal at first but I was still getting ALOT of water in my box now I can go for a few days out on the lake before I need to re seal it.

The silicone tube that runs through the radio box is for engine cooling (duh you prolly already know this) there could be a leak were the hard tube passes through the box. Seal this part up with some epoxy just like you did for the seam gaps.

I hope this helps you out. I had alot of trouble with my Elam when I first brought it home but I finally got the radio gear sealed up good. For extra protection I wrap my reciever in a condom (pun intended) and then use a small zip tie to seal the end closed. This works really good. After dunking my electronics countless times the only thing that has went bad on me were the stock servos. When I would get my stuff wet I would take it all out of the hull, open the cases and soak it in 90% alcohol for about 5-10 minutes then blow dry with my air compressor. The alcohol will help the water evaporate faster and will help with or with out the compressor. If you are running in salt water... um... you may be in trouble, salt water is not kind to electronics.

Massey

BUDMAN27

If it makes you feel any better Car. I have sunk a .30 size helicopter in a pool twice. I dove in and got it out both times and striped it down let it dry out and like a dummy did it again. Some people never learn. Yes i know they make floats for helicopters I just don,t have enough sense to get them. Maybe thats why i in to boats now.

wave waker

what flavor do u recommend?

Ron Olson

My Feedback: (1)

I used to fish Bass tournaments and saw all kinds of stupid people tricks! The forgetting the drain plug was one that I saw a lot and had done myself. The funnier ones were the guys that forgot to remove the tie-down straps from the transom to the trailer.

Quicksilver1

I forgot that one lol
Duh, why the trailer floating?

Or a truck backing in too far and falling off the ramp, thats a site.
or the famous, letting the boat go, and forgetting the bow line

man, this brings back so many memories from childhood at the marina.

gofast53

Well finally dried everything and reassembled, servos work fine but receiver is a no goer! Just as well I have a spare receiver which was put together for me by an electronics wizz and is 100% waterproof!
Hey Massey. are you still running a Dynamite .15 in you Miss Elam. If so do you know what your LSN is set at, as I disassembled my engine and forgot to write down my needle settings. Can remember what my HSN was set at but not my LSN as have never had to adjust it. Manual says 7 turns out but this is not possible without needle falling out.

47steve

I think you are talking about the corrosion-X stuff. Works wonders with electronics when combined inadvertently with water.

-Steve

gofast53

Well took the day of work yesterday to try and get my Miss Elam sorted out!
After alot of frustration I finally managed to get it tuned in for some good runs.
I had been chasing my tale in circles trying to set my LSN when on disassembling the tank for the zillionth time I noticed that there was a thin piece of plastic blocking the tank outlet nipple (I have the moulded tank with screw lid and plastic outlet fuel nipple). This must have happened during moulding in the factory and where it was located was acting like a flap, partially blocking the outlet nipple. As the fuel sloshed around in the tank this flap would also move backwards and forwards restricting the flow. So once I removed this plastic with a knife my tuning issue instantly went away.

For anyone interested my Dynamite .15 is now at the following settings:
HSN = 2 1/2 turns out
LSN = 1 3/4 turns out

Borrowed a GPS from a fellow modeller and my best run was at 31.9 mph. I reckon I could adjust my HSN abit more on the leaner side and is running rich. Head temps were at 139 degrees, using 20% nitro fuel and stock using plastic stock prop.
Going to try relocating my battery pack forward of the motor, as I heard that there is already to much weight on the prop and by taking some off it is able to get on plane better.
Final thing will be to change to a metal Y535 prop but at the moment I am happy with using plastic as they are cheap and my LSN does not have any Y535 in stock! Though will try another size of plastic as the stock prop has alot of cavitation.