Appendix A - Troubleshooting Your Seaperch Rov; Things To Try Before Re-Wiring The Rov Or Changing Rov Parts; Solving Directional Control Problems - SeaPerch Remotely Operated Vehicle Construction Manual

Troubleshooting Your SeaPerch ROV

Things to Try Before Re-Wiring the ROV or Changing ROV Parts

Solving Directional Control Problems:

Sometimes SeaPerch controls are found to be reversed, such as the port switch
controlling the starboard thruster. Often one or more thrusters operate in the
reverse direction from that intended. Before resorting to re-wiring anything,
consider the following simple solutions.
 Port and Starboard Switches Operate the Wrong Horizontal Thrutsers.
Simply swap the horizontal thrusters by loosening their mounts and trading them
(port for starboard) or swap the switch positions in the control box.
 Horizontal Thruster Runs in Opposite the Direction Intended. Loosen that
thruster's switch, rotate it 180 degrees, and re-tighten it.
 The Vertical Thruster Runs in Opposite the Direction Intended. Swap the
mounting hole positions of the two pushbutton switches (or, if a toggle switch is
used instead, rotate it 180 degrees in its mounting hole), or re-mount the thruster
upside down in the thruster mount (but be careful that it will not interfere with any
payload being handled by the ROV).
 The ROV Always Seems to Turn More Easily to the Left or Right. Check to
see that the tether cable is mounted on the ROV in the center of the pipe on the
rear of the vehicle, and that the crossed tie wraps are in place to keep the
vehicle-end of the tether cable pointing straight back from the ROV. Also, check
to see that the horizontal thrusters are both running at about the same speed. If
a thruster is not working or is running slow, it can easily be replaced with a spare
by cutting the thruster's wire pair about 4" from the thruster and splicing on a
good spare thruster.
 The ROV is Very Slow in Diving. First check to see if any air is trapped within
the pipes. Then check the ballast to confirm that none of it has fallen off. Re-
ballast for neutral buoyancy if necessary.
 The ROV is Very Slow in Surfacing. Check to see if the payload being
handled by the ROV is too heavy. Also, make sure that the floats have not taken
on water. Note that a significant problem can occur when using foam-type floats.
If such an ROV works fine in shallow water but does not surface easily from
deep water, the problem is likely caused by the foam floats compressing due to
increased water pressure at the deep depth. This results in less water
displacement by the floats, thus less buoyancy.
APPENDIX A
A-1
SeaPerch ROV Construction Manual – Version 2010-04NW
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