bicycle CO2 inflation systems

Has anybody tried using bicyle CO2 cylinders as a compressed gas source? From the various tables I've ssn about the I reckon the small CO2 cylinder has the equivalent of about 1.5 l (i.e. the volume of a fat bike tyre) at about 100 psi, so quite a lot of CO2 for about £1 each and about £20 for the adaptor. I think the big issue is that it would probably need a regulator to drop the pressure to a more more controllable value.

As a second question I am thinking about using a peristaltic/tube pump to provide a trim function, as both models I am think about (Seehund or X-class) only have a rear p[lane so getting the trim right seems important. I was planning to have 2 small trim tanks at the extreme ends of the boat, but they could be sealed or at ambient pressure (diaghram?) by linking via a tube to allow the air to flow from tank to tank as well as the water.

We did have a member that used Freon gas in his sub's, and that worked well, he also tried using a Sodastream gas bottle but that did not work out to well.

Fred

CO2 was done a lot in the mid to late 80's, however the issue with CO2 is the +850 psi it is stored at. There were issues to say the least, but there were many successful subs using it. Freon use was changed to compressed air (not actually air) but it is stored at ~75 psi. This gas system is still used today.

So, can you do it. Absolutely, but you are dealing with a lot of pressure and bad things can happen.

a lot of model subs use a single peristaltic pump for their single ballast bag.

i have two.

one is Norbert Bruggen's Delta,
the other is a moebius models skipjack converted to r/c with parts that originally came from a thundertiger neptune.

the peristaltic pump systems both work well, but are slower than airpump or freon based systems


as to the rest of the system you describe...  take this as constructive criticism... it sounds terribly complicated, i personally believe in the K.I.S.S. principle.

I met Tim several years ago and will tell you he is brilliant. He can build the most complicated submarine if he wanted. So, his advice to keep it simple is real wisdom. Do not complicate your build. I was taught crawl, walk, run - so same principle. Begin simple and as you gain real knowledge increase what you do to your sub.