Okay so after my boats first battle event not to mention water imersion . I over heard others saying how loud my motors were. Something along the lines of it sounded like I had a turbine in my boat. So previous to this I had just chalked the noise up to being out of the water, but this conclusion of mine was obviously wrong as it made almost as much noise when it was in the water as indicated by other people's comments. Now, granted it a USS Des Moines and sites high in the water espesially the back end where the motors are mounted as that is just a feature of that class. Before the start of the battle I sprayed white lithium grease down into the stuffing tube and in the motor housing and on the gears inside. (BC standard gearing set for 550 motors) The gears were not wedged together, but placed close as per direction from more experienced battlers on site. After battle inspection shows no wear on the gears, and both 550 motors appear to be just like new. So the question is: What can I do to lessen the noise coming from my drive train, or and more likely is there a problem that needs to be addressed? I will be posting pictures of the set up after I get all the parts reassembled from cleaning.
Do you have a long length of unsupported stuffing tube? What diameter & material are the tubes? Here is one thing to check. set the ship on the bench, turn the motors on so they are making the racket. If you grab the stuffing tubes with your hand, and hold them, and the noise goes down, then some of the contribution is flexibility of the stuffing tubes. Are your motors new or used? Gears are noisy but you shouldn't be that much noisier than others. Play with the gear mesh, make it a little tighter, and/or a little looser and see if that changes the noise.
The stuffing tube is brass 1/4" diameter and 1/8" stainless steel prop shaft. There is roughly 3" either side of where the stuffing tube passes through the hull. Each end of the stuffing tube is held either by the motor mount/gear box assembly or prop shaft struts. All of which is made by Battlers Connection. The motors were new when I bought them and have been sporadically used over the course of 2 years as I have been building the boat. I really don't think it is vibration but will check anyway. I'll also play with the meshing as you suggest. I'll post my results from these two checks later this afternoon.
Almost all my drive systems are loud. Just ask my wife. Some people put their gear boxes on to the hull with silicon so there is a "soft" connection that cuts down on vibration and noise. I think your main problems are: It's a new ship and has not worn in the shafts. Put some grease on the shafts, not a lot, and let them run out of the water. Check to make sure the stuffing tubes don't get hot. It's a big empty space. The Des Moines has lots of room in it and echoes inside the ship. If the noise really bothers you put something to absorb the sound in the ship. Persoaly I think that's silly. I did not think your ship was that loud. I do have a video clip of your first sea trails with your miswired motors.
If you really want to track down the source of noise, here's a little trick I learned several years ago. Take a 1/8" brass rod (or similar piece of metal, suitable for conducting sound) and grab one end in your left hand, with the extra material on the pinky side of your hand. place your ear on the thumb side of your hand, then touch the other end of the metal rod to various components in your ship. The metal picks up the vibrations from individual parts of your ship and transmits them to your ear. Rather than hearing the noise from your entire ship, you can listen to only the noise of the port motor, or the inside starboard stuffing tube, or the hull near your motor mounts, or whatever other components you touch with the metal rod. It's basically a stethoscope for ships. I have used this technique to track down and deal with vibration problems in at least two different ships.
Late comment on this, but I share Bob's opinion on your 'loudness', Ralph. If it had seemed louder than normal during our solo duel I'd have said something. Sounds like most any other gearbox boat to me. I do use plumber's goop around the stuffing tube(s) in-hull to keep the vibes down. It's pretty viscous when it sets, but less hard than epoxy. Basically, full-length reinforcement makes the mass to be moved in vibrating much greater than the lil brass tube.
It could simply be gear meshing. There is a fine line in which the gears will be more noise. If you are really concerned try adjusting your motor with the pinion gear some. You will find the point it is quietest. Most geared systems will make noise.
Gearboxes make noise, even with broken in shafts and motors. Quiet boats are nice during night battle I guess, but my ships always sound like a pack of angry hornets chasing a diesel generator. Makes it easy to tell where you are sometimes.
