My motor pinion did the same thing first battle at Nats 2 years ago, I had replaced the motor, and had it so the gear mesh was too loose. After like 5 minutes in battle the pinion was gone. I could see the teeth but the ends were worn off, so only stubs of the teeth were left.
Absulutely what Nick said,,, Don't Burn it to the waterline and good luck, May none of your camels be infested with fleas!
Well they say it's pretty hard to make a silk purse out of sow's ear so we'll see. Lol fingers crossed!
Sorry to hear that. If there is anything I can bring down tomorrow to help you out let me know. I'll see what i can do.
Just realized I never updated this thread. Tromp did not get to battle during the spring regionals in 2018 but she did make one or two sorties at Nate's in the fall after my King Edward sunk in the first sortie. Prior to that, @Kevin P. and I tried to have a Tromp vs. Tromp battle but Kevin had regulator issues and we had to cancel the duel. Here we are trying to fix it while everyone waits to see the battle. Running this boat during regular battles was fun. More fun if everything worked well. (More on that later) I had issues with the guns wanting to spurt instead of fire singles. I had no issues with that when I tested the guns on the air compressor so I think it may be an air supply issue. I don't remember much about the battle but I do remember @bsgkid117's Dunkerque was hanging close to shore and with those billboard sides made a good target. I spent most of the battle trying to land shots on him which was trickier than expected lol Took some damage from the encounter too. I doubt I did any damage at all. Tromp has been on the shelf since the battle so it's about time I get her refitted into a more effective boat. Main things I wanted to fix. Spurting guns. Suspect that the issue is not enough air available to fire the guns properly. Stability. Lots of unmounted components, especially ballast. This boat needs everything to be secure. Overall neatness. Boat was a bit of a rats nest before. Gonna try to remedy that. One major issue with stability was the co2 regulator and the bow solenoid. Both just sat in the hull and could move about as the ship rocked. Built a mount to hold both. Solenoid attaches with Velcro and the regulator/capsule sits in a cutout. Also, you can see I added a little water channeling. Idk if it will help being it's not much of a channel but it's there. Lol The supply hoses to the solenoids were just 1/8" OD tubing before so there wasn't much volume of air ready when the guns fire. These plastic regulators don't seem to be the fastest either so I added a sort of accumulator tank in the lines using 1/4" nylon tubing. Haven't got to try it out yet but I hope it improves the situation. That's all for now.
good idea. I might have to use that same nylon tubing for the run back to the solenoids for my haymakers.
I suspect you will still have issues from air supply. 1. My reading of others using that particular regulator is that they leak, and the material distorts too much so they do not last long. 2. The simple beverage regulator ( must find one that goes to 150 psi - read the fine print) works satisfactorily and is quite cheap. 3. Best option is to use Charley's BC lite reg which is reliable and has great flow + an adapter for the threaded cartridges - I got mine from Palmer Pursuit. I used both of these at 2019 Nats(switching from the beverage to BC after one battle and never looked back.) as did Phil who owns Vac-u-Boat and John. Both of them went to Charley to get BC regs when they see how much better the guns worked off these regulators.
I had issues with the Palmer adapter, it broke during first use, wasn’t able to break through cartridge. Might go to 12oz next
Thanks for the insight, Nate! I wonder if the leakage is from people not changing the super hard O-ring around the pierce pin with a new softer one. I haven't had any issues with leakage but I'll keep an eye out for it. I think I have a spare BC regulator lying around here. I'll get the parts to hook that up and compare the two rigs.
maybe see if other companies offer the piercing adapters. as I recall, one of you had one that did not seem to have a very sharp point on it. also, the O ring size has to be just right. if the supplier did not match the tolerances, it can be hard to use. Call Palmer, they have been good on the phone with me in the past with issues. they may have an upgrade, or a replacement O ring. who knows.
I am also working on getting a suitable air supply. Concerns are weight, flow rate, and pressure reliability. I have tested two regulators, with a third on the way. So far: 1) Palmer Pursuit Rock Lite regulator. Pros: Extremely light, and high flow rate. Weight is similar to the BC regulator, without need for a heavy adapter. Variable pressure, easy to set. Cons: Inconsistent pressure output. On a single 16-gram cartridge, without adjusting pressure setting, I watched the output pressure go from 140 (original setting) down to 120 for a few shots, and up to 180 for a few more. This was with an ideal arrangement (straight vertical, ensuring no liquid CO2 past the valve) and only one three-shot burst per minute, rather than combat-realistic scenarios. Very frustrating, since I have used some of their other regulators in the past with much better success. 2) Palmer cartridge adapter with BC regulator Pros: High flow rate. Large thermal mass. Cons: the cartridge adapter is very heavy. Constant pressure cartridge-to-cartridge, but subject to long-term drift due to mechanism wear. I tested two BC regulators, which I've used for the past year or so in my predreads. The first regulator very consistently produced 120PSI. The other regulator very consistently produced 180PSI. This is a known issue, with a simple fix: replace the plastic ball that forms part of the mechanism. It's an integral part of the pressure mechanism and a known wear part. I have replacements on order. I just wish I could order just the ball in bulk, rather than buy full rebuild kits with a single ball apiece. 3) 150PSI beverage regulator (still on order, not tested yet) The only thing I know now is that these things take a long time to arrive. Tracking estimates mine are still about a month out. If you plan to get one, order WAY in advance.
Wanted to post a quick update on the co2 supply testing. I got a paintball 12g co2 cartridge adapter paired with a BC regulator - 6.4oz with empty cartridge. Vs Plastic regulator - 3.4oz with empty 16g cartridge. The results: Performance with the plastic regulator did not improve with the nylon accumulators. Guns fired like machine guns. I'm beginning to wonder if these 16g cartridges that came with the spray tan kits the regulator was salvaged from aren't filled properly. They don't seem to hold as much gas as a 12g. I'll have to get different ones and revisit the plastic regulator. The BC regulator paired with the 12g adapter on the other hand performed great! The bow gun fired very hard and fast. The stern gun fired like a machine gun again so I think it needs some tweaking yet. It looks like the 12g will provide enough gas to fire both half unit guns to empty so that's pleasing. Here's a size comparison of the two. BC regulator is obviously larger and heavier, but I have room in both departments on the Tromp. Moving forward I'll be using the BC regulator. With the guns working well, this ship will be great for campaign at nats or a great secondary/loaner boat.
Changed the pump output on this. Went to a vertical discharge. I originally had a hose going out through the subdeck but that was just interfering with stuff inside too much. Pops right through the deck. You can see the original hole in the deck. Pumps a nice steady stream of water.
Finishing up the refit so Tromp can kill convoys at nats. Switched back to dual bows. Beware axis balsa!
