TERRIBLE Sank my boat:(

[ray schrauwen]

Lights on is good. Plugged in and unattended= BAD. Lipos are draining slowly and it is a hazard at this time.

Please get home asap. Hopefully (most likely) the cells are depleted to a safe level.

[JMSCARD]

Batts

The Polyquests Lipos were under for 24 hours almost exactly... are they worth even trying to save? and if they are how would I go about it....

[Chris Harris]

You did the right thing by hiring the divers. Glad they found it.

Chris

[D. Newland]

Motor: fill it w/WD 40, shake it (or use compressed air), then let it sit.

Cells/ESC/Rx-cut the shrink wrap off/separate Rx casing and use compressed air. If you have Corrosion X, use it on all circuit boards/wire connections. Use caution when removing shrink wrap from the cells.

Servo-loosen it up, shake it or blow it out w/compressed air.

After all of this, leave all items under a fan for a a few days. Make sure the cells are laying on a non-flammable surface and away from anything that can burn. Be cautious with the cells. Not paranoid...just cautious.

If you don't have Corrosion X or clear shrink wrap, get it at OSE.

[ray schrauwen]

You could also help eliminate water using some de-natured Alcohol, like 70-90% pure, then let air dry as above. Just dunk yer rx & esc and let air/drip dry. The alcohol helps get water out of the smallest of spaces.

[D. Newland]

Oh-this happens to all of us! I lost 2 boats within 40 days of each other. 1 was just a "quick test run" without floatation (stupid), the other lawn-darted at the bottom of the pond. I had enough floatation in that one, but it never came up.

For those reading this that haven't lost a boat (and those that have and need a reminder), please make sure you've got plenty of floatation in your hull. When it happens, you inevitably start thinking about giving up the hobby. It can easily be the sole reason for exiting FE, or the "the straw that breaks the camels back". I've seen it happen, and I've lived it, too.

[JMSCARD]

Thanks for all the info! where can I get corrosion X around here? radio shack? I am very happy I got the boat back.... it was a very good boat.... set up perfect by mr. martin...... I clocked it at 49 mph with a bushnell gun on the UL-1 motor right before it capsized.... went well for a ul-1 motor..... I am going to use the wd-40 on the motor for sure.... and you guys think I should dunk the esc in Alcohol? strait denatured alcohol? thank you again for all

[m4a1usr]

The Polyquests Lipos were under for 24 hours almost exactly... are they worth even trying to save? and if they are how would I go about it....

Take a voltage reading off the leads. If it reads below 3 volts per cell then you need to worry. Being wet doesnt ruin a lipo pack. Maybe the insulation material between each cell and if you have some form of balancer board thats built in, but they are sealed. And for gas size molecules. Not large ones like water. So water intrusion doesnt spell the end to those packs.

John

[LuckyDuc]

Foam doesn't always help. If you stick a boat hard enough, and it lodges itself in the mud, you may have a trapped boat regardless of the amount of foam. We have a drag cable at our club boat for just such an occasion.

[Jeepers]

If you don't mind me asking what did hiring the divers cost you?

[JMSCARD]

I contacted a Diving Instructional School in a Larger City..Burlington, here in Vermont, and did some inquiring, they gave me the name of a gentleman who goes on "recon" missions for all sorts of things and he lived "fairly" close to the lake I lost my boat at.... It was pretty reasonable cost wise.... $100 a piece for each diver and they require (2) diver minimum... so $200 is the total I paid for the two divers..... and it took them 1hr 15 minutes to recover the boat.... in 36 degree water I might add....BRRRRRRR

I thought it was more then reasonable.... and I got my boat back!! so it was well worth it....

I am in the dry out process today... well see how it goes...

The ESC had brown stuff around the capacitors and a small eraser tip size black mark on the inside of the shrink wrap too..... does this more then likely mean it burnt up? I dunked it in alcohol.... should I use a old toothbrush to clean of the esc from debri?

Thanks for all the good info gents!

[ozzie-crawl]

fantastic,well worth the $200

[Ub Hauled]

You know, I'd stay away from Alcohol, it still has water in it...
use corrosion X or WD40, they are made for that...
just a thought
glad you found your boat.

[D. Newland]

Sounds like your caps are gone. Is the black burn mark to the right side of where the Rx wires solder to the ESC? If so, that's the voltage regulator. I've got 1 that still works that started to burn, and another that didn't work and had to be sent back to Castle.

I don't think you really have anything to lose on the ESC. Might as well scrub it clean, dry it out and plug it in and see if it works. When you plug in the battery, you should get that "spark". If not, the caps are not charging.

If you just send it back to Castle now, it's $105 for a new one. If you plug it in and it burns more, then you send it back to Castle and it's still $105.

[vasy]

Caps can be replaced if they are the problem for $5.
Lets up know how the dry out process goes for the motor and receiver.