More on " Mr.Darby"

[John Doe]

I finally "tubbed" the boat today to find out how much more ballast I need
to achieve the waterline. Unfortunately, I didnt have weights lying around
at the time. It was quite a funny scene, with the wheelhouse and underlying
substructure off; the boat floating in the tub with my rechargeable drill,
both of its batteries, and 3 Mason jars full of water standing on the bow
and stern!!!
Came to the total of 16 pounds of weight needed!!! This is with the battery
as well. 13 pounds to the stern, and 3 pounds in the bow. Good thing I know
the local Commercial Fishermen! I was able to get lead net weights to use as
ballast.
They are round, and about 5 inches in diameter. One of them weighs 8 pound
alone. Chunky little suckers!!


Scott

[Johnboy]

I recently completed the "Pono" tug for a customer of mine
and had excellent results utilizing a garden tractor battery
for main power. You didn't mention what type of batteries
you were using. You might consider this option instead of
adding weights. The battery only costs $20.00 at Wal Mart
and gives me 6-8 hours run time. I installed a power distribution
panel with fuses and blown fuse indicators with silicon insulated
wiring, but found this was overkill on the wiring. Nothing runs hot.
The huge power reserve allowed me to install a custom 18 watt
BTL audio system for great sound using a baffled acoustic system
and equalizer for deep robust diesel sound. The only drawbacks
were the required use of several 317 regulators to hold the volts
constant for accessories. Good luck with your great ship model!

> I finally "tubbed" the boat today to find out how much more ballast
I need
> to achieve the waterline. Unfortunately, I didnt have weights lying
around
> at the time. It was quite a funny scene, with the wheelhouse and
underlying
> substructure off; the boat floating in the tub with my rechargeable
drill,
> both of its batteries, and 3 Mason jars full of water standing on
the bow
> and stern!!!
> Came to the total of 16 pounds of weight needed!!! This is with the
battery
> as well. 13 pounds to the stern, and 3 pounds in the bow. Good thing
I know
> the local Commercial Fishermen! I was able to get lead net weights
to use as
> ballast.
> They are round, and about 5 inches in diameter. One of them weighs 8
pound
> alone. Chunky little suckers!!
>
>
> Scott

[John Doe]

The battery is a lead acid " Gel" battery from Wal-Mart. It is used for
wheelchairs and golf carts.You can tip it on its side and it wont leak. It
is also a deep-cycle battery. Unfortunately, when I recieved the model; it
already had the box for the battery built in so I was restricted to the
battery size . Another friend of mine has 3 of the Darby models, and is
eager to see mine, which has a bilge pump and a bow-thruster. His has a
built in winch to drop and lift the anchors.
I recieved mine with a speaker connected to a small circuit board, but I
dont know what it is. I dont think I have a way to find out .It may be a
sound system of some kind.


Scott
"Johnboy" <jondne@knology.net> wrote in message
news:10bmjpte7lu8b0b@corp.supernews.com...
> I recently completed the "Pono" tug for a customer of mine
> and had excellent results utilizing a garden tractor battery
> for main power. You didn't mention what type of batteries
> you were using. You might consider this option instead of
> adding weights. The battery only costs $20.00 at Wal Mart
> and gives me 6-8 hours run time. I installed a power distribution
> panel with fuses and blown fuse indicators with silicon insulated
> wiring, but found this was overkill on the wiring. Nothing runs hot.
> The huge power reserve allowed me to install a custom 18 watt
> BTL audio system for great sound using a baffled acoustic system
> and equalizer for deep robust diesel sound. The only drawbacks
> were the required use of several 317 regulators to hold the volts
> constant for accessories. Good luck with your great ship model!
>
> > I finally "tubbed" the boat today to find out how much more ballast
> I need
> > to achieve the waterline. Unfortunately, I didnt have weights lying
> around
> > at the time. It was quite a funny scene, with the wheelhouse and
> underlying
> > substructure off; the boat floating in the tub with my rechargeable
> drill,
> > both of its batteries, and 3 Mason jars full of water standing on
> the bow
> > and stern!!!
> > Came to the total of 16 pounds of weight needed!!! This is with the
> battery
> > as well. 13 pounds to the stern, and 3 pounds in the bow. Good thing
> I know
> > the local Commercial Fishermen! I was able to get lead net weights
> to use as
> > ballast.
> > They are round, and about 5 inches in diameter. One of them weighs 8
> pound
> > alone. Chunky little suckers!!
> >
> >
> > Scott
>
>