Topic: Rudder Disaster (Read 4416 times)

jaymac · « **on:** May 21, 2012, 07:04:38 pm »

Took the boat out today mainly to try and Sus the water enrty so deck more or less sealed .Then it decided it would be fun to go ito a permanent circling display . Initially not knowing owt I thought perhaps one of the motors had stopped . eventually got her back in rescued by rowboat. and apart from alot of water aboard the port rudder was slammed right over , Once home and dried out I straightened the rudder (Maybe I should not have) turned on the Rc motors ok but damned rudders have gone right over to starboard and no respnse after that. what might have caused the first problem of the rudder sticking hard over and equally how do I sort out the new prob
Thanks for any help
John

Nordlys · « **Reply #1 on:** May 21, 2012, 07:26:44 pm »

Sounds a bit as though the rudder linkage to the servo has overshot its
travel and jammed?
Make sure the link arm (rod) is positioned at the same distance from centre
of servo spline and rudder post otherwise it could bind up.
When you setup the Esc make sure rudder is central (adjust if not) then you will have
plenty of travel left and right on the controller.

jaymac · « **Reply #2 on:** May 21, 2012, 07:37:02 pm »

Thanks but Sorry clueless as to what you are saying the linkage al looks as it did before the incident if I manullyme the rudders to straight and Setup the ESC to me thats just for the motors how does one set that up and whats it got to do with the rudders , As said I'm clueless

.

Bob K · « **Reply #3 on:** May 21, 2012, 07:54:51 pm »

After setting up the motor ESC, you swich on your transmitter with control sticks in central positions, then turn on your receiver.

The rudder servo arm should move to its central 'neutral' position. In this position the rudder should be in its central position. If not you will have to turn off and adjust the servo arm and linkage to the rudder so that it is central.

By moving the rudder control stick you should get a roughly equal movement to each side, returning to centre when you centre the control stick.

Nordlys · « **Reply #4 on:** May 21, 2012, 07:56:49 pm »

Well, one of the channels on your Rc unit is for the rudder control. So make sure
control lever is in central position on the controller, also centralise the trim adjuster.
Then make sure your rudder is manually set to centre.

When you turn on your controller, rudder should stay central.(until you operate it)

Provided you have set up linkage properly ie. as I said
the distance from centre of servo to linkrod must be the same as the distance from
centre of rudder post to the linkrod.
Thats how I set mine up.......can be fiddley.
Hope this helps.

Nordlys

raflaunches · « **Reply #5 on:** May 21, 2012, 08:05:22 pm »

To prevent any possible overshoot by the servo linkage it's advise able to have two linkages, therefore you will always have one linkage pulling whilst the other will be pushing the rudder. This happened to me a few years ago and ended up with a dented rudder when it hit the prop adding this linkage now stops this annoying problem occurring.

Nordlys · « **Reply #6 on:** May 21, 2012, 08:16:46 pm »

Sounds a sensible idea , never considered that before.
Any difficulty setting that up? Link arms of identical length
and position of course....
Will look into this when I get to rudder installation on my latest
boat rebuild....

Nordlys

triumphjon · « **Reply #7 on:** May 21, 2012, 08:33:25 pm »

the problem is nothing to do with linkages , if you all read the origanal post , THE BOAT WAS RECOVERED , AND HAD WATER INSIDE IT ! the boat was working fine until the water that has got inside has obviously got to the electronics inside the servo , the answer is fairly simple , remove the rudder servo , take it apart , ( normally foue very small headed posi drive screws underneath ) flush in fresh water 9 if your operating in salt or brackish water ) and leave hanging up to dry out for a day or two . you may be lucky and be able to reuse it , otherwise you will need to buy another servo . for the more delicate electronics i now fit them inside of a baloon with a small cable tie around the neck where the cables exit !

malcolmfrary · « **Reply #8 on:** May 21, 2012, 10:00:23 pm »

Like triumphjohn says, water has got into the servo works and the internal electronics will need drying out before anything else. Replacement servos are cheap enough, though, if the existing one won't come back to life. Important thing is to dry it out thoroughly. Any residual moisture, and it has lots of tiny nooks to hide in on a PCB, is trouble waiting to happen, ten times more so if it was not clean fresh water in the first place.

jaymac · « **Reply #9 on:** May 21, 2012, 11:08:18 pm »

Not sure about water being the cause of the one rudder going over fully that has to be mechanical I would have thought . OK it may contribute to the other problem of it going straight over when I power up now .Staying with mechanical could I remove the wee screw that holds the am on on top of the servo and check the spindle movement for centreing when ts not connected top owt
Thanks also for the other input like double linkages etc of to lie down in a dark room with awet towel over me head now

malcolmfrary · « **Reply #10 on:** May 22, 2012, 10:06:55 am »

Ah yes, PORT rudder. Polishes reading glasses for a better view.

Assuming more than one rudder linked to the same servo, then one rudder misbehaving indicates a linkage fault, and quite possibly the port rudder linkage has overcentred itself. You would think that if a tiller arm had loosened itself, that the rudder would trail like a castor, but Murphy comes into play, and will quite happily let the shaft slide one way, but grip the other.
One servo per rudder could still be a wet servo.

jaymac · « **Reply #11 on:** May 22, 2012, 07:27:09 pm »

Well things are worse than I thought I let her cook in the sun today so no moisture rudders still slam over to port and with the tiller arm disconnected there is still no response from the R/C also Motor. now play up sometimes run and respond sometimes wont and at one point Methinks a its heading for the skip or least to the shed till winter

.

Tug-Kenny RIP · « **Reply #12 on:** May 22, 2012, 08:33:18 pm »

Yes it does sound like a faulty receiver now.

ken

malcolmfrary · « **Reply #13 on:** May 22, 2012, 10:28:18 pm »

Quote from: jaymac on May 22, 2012, 07:27:09 pm

Well things are worse than I thought I let her cook in the sun today so no moisture rudders still slam over to port and with the tiller arm disconnected there is still no response from the R/C also Motor. now play up sometimes run and respond sometimes wont and at one point Methinks a its heading for the skip or least to the shed till winter .

Did it cook in the sun with the electronics exposed to the open air? If not, the steam will have simply redistributed the moisture. Another part of the de-watering process is dunking the boards in meths to dissolve and dilute the water, then letting it drip and air dry. Running any RC gear with moisture on the bare metal bits will cause Mother Nature to create her own brand of components, which are unreliable and never do any good. Powering damp circuits allows electrolysis to take place.
ACTion do a nice servo tester, saves a lot of guessing.

jaymac · « **Reply #14 on:** May 22, 2012, 10:38:20 pm »

I did think of the Rx but that never got wet and is well protected notwithstanding any electrical probs that the controller might have done though thats supposed to be waterproof though so was the Titanic I have another T5 Rx in a chopper Guess I could maybe try that

jaymac · « **Reply #15 on:** May 23, 2012, 07:16:27 pm »

''The Kraken Awakes
Turned on the R/c and power thismorning and got some response from the rudders albeit limited so turned off
Lunchtime on agin more response from rudders but still wrong so reset tiller arm and rudders now ok? but motors deads switched off then back on all ok . Left it for a good while then tried again all ok stooped the motors then found no go agian THEN spotted the LED out on the Rx switched power off then back on and it came back and all worked .I think not certain the power switch is possibly/Hopefuly part of the problem whats the best to use ? this is a wee slide switch thingy.
On reflection prior the Rudder saga ther were a couple of times when after switching on nothing worke but nearly always corrected just as I went to investigate . I wonder if this was the demon waiting to happen . Any way will be a few land and bath trials before I go loose on he lake again

Nordlys · « **Reply #16 on:** May 23, 2012, 07:43:21 pm »

There's nothing like having the kit in front of you when it comes
to troubleshooting!
You've solved it yourself by the sound of things - a dodgy switch!
Well done.
We tried........

Nordlys......

jaymac · « **Reply #17 on:** May 23, 2012, 07:53:47 pm »

Oh its more luck than Judgement Nordlys and maybe a bit of wishful thinking yet Whats the best and easiest to connect up Switch and from where

Nordlys · « **Reply #18 on:** May 23, 2012, 08:08:18 pm »

Well, the switch is usually connected to your Esc. (Thats the only switch on my boat)

Its no problem to disconnect, if your sure this is the switch thats dodgy.
Maplins do a small SPDT switch for £2.59 easy to wire up with a dab of solder.
Looking back to sailing last year I recall something similar happening to one of my boats.

Thing to do is eliminate as you go, one step at a time.

N

Shipmate60 · « **Reply #19 on:** May 23, 2012, 08:20:52 pm »

Heres 5 for £2.48 posted.

5 SWITCHES

jaymac · « **Reply #20 on:** May 23, 2012, 10:48:16 pm »

Thanks Guys

Doug D · « **Reply #21 on:** June 04, 2012, 12:07:57 am »

Same thing happened to me the first time I put my boat in the water. Got the boat back and went straight for the servo motor and horn. Removed it from the servo motor with the Z wires still attached and centered the rudder and re-attached everything and have had no trouble since. Quirky thing with the servo motor when the servo came on for the first time. Has never happened since.
Doug D

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Author Topic: Rudder Disaster (Read 4416 times)