Building the Ultrasonic Antifouling Kit from Jaycar

Ric said:
I am having a problem at the testing stage, where I have to use the trimpot to set 5v at the two PC stakes. The trimpot regulation is not linear at all - as I turn it from one extent to the other the voltage hardly changes at all until approx 2.4v, then it jumps very abruptly to 5.8v, before slowly increasing to 6v. It is absolutely impossible to set it at 5v.
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I'll take a look at the schematic later, but have you removed the fuse?
 
Yes, fuse is out. IC2 is out as per instructions. I've gone through every component at least three times to check orientation, resistor codes etc. I've checked the soldering with a magnifying glass and all appear good. I'll post a pic of the circuit board and soldering later tonight.
 
After resoldering everything for the third time I finally got this to work.

Next conundrum is to be sure that the transducer is working. Can't hear any clicks, and couldn't see any waves when I put the transducer in a frying pan full of water.
 
No, I just melted the old solder and let it reset. It did the trick. There must have been a hard to spot dry joint. I did examine them all carefully under a magnifying glass.

I have now managed to set the trimpot to 5v. With the fuse and IC2 in place, nothing goes pop, the red LED lights up, and the driver uses about 0.01A. I just need to now check that the transducer is actually singing which is not so easy. I am going to try again tomorrow with the bucket check and a strong light source, and also have downloaded the test software suggested on an earlier thread - though I would be surprised if the microphone in my laptop is sensitive to the frequencies of the transducer
 
Ric said:
... With the fuse and IC2 in place, nothing goes pop, the red LED lights up, and the driver uses about 0.01A. ... and also have downloaded the test software suggested on an earlier thread ...
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That doesn't sound like enough current, the article says what it should be.

What test software? I plan to use a small ultrasonic transducer as a microphone for a divide by four circuit, when I get round to building my dual version.
 
Ric; ....... and couldn't see any waves when I put the transducer in a frying pan full of water.[/QUOTE said:
the waves are quite decent, a strong light directed to the water surface will help
to see them. Don't expect tsunami of course!
The ducer not fully submersed, just the surface!

As Nigel told you, the current isn't enough, or your meter isn't good. The device must draw around 0.3 amp with picks up to 1 amp (hard to measure however, the picks)
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Fixed it now. Yet another dry solder, this time on the transformer.

Driver now draws 0.3A, the transducer clicks away merrily, and I can see little waves in the frying pan.
 
Yes, I had been wondering whether that might be a good idea. The solder I am using must be about 20 years old at a guess... I should have used the solder that Jaycar includes in the kit, but didn't notice it until I had finished. I will replace the solder tomorrow before permanent installation.
 
Ric said:
Yes, I had been wondering whether that might be a good idea. The solder I am using must be about 20 years old at a guess... I should have used the solder that Jaycar includes in the kit, but didn't notice it until I had finished. I will replace the solder tomorrow before permanent installation.
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I'd be inclined to get some decent Multicore 60/40 leaded solder, the stuff in the kit may be lead-free which is carp.
 
nigelmercier said:
I'd be inclined to get some decent Multicore 60/40 leaded solder, the stuff in the kit may be lead-free which is carp.
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Actually I the solder Jaycar supplied made good joints even with my soldering technique, and I think that it is good old 60:40 stuff. It comes from Australia, which is a country still largely unaffected by the kind of over regulation that forces us to buy sub standard products.
 
1) Could someone please direct me to some user reports of how well these work in the real world? I have read in quite a few pages from the beginning and then from the last post forward several pages without seeing any testimonials. I also found
http://www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/...nic-antifouling-for-boats-test-start/?page=-2 & of course page 1.

2) My boat and I are in Finike, Turkey. Norman_E, I would love to know where your boat is and how your system has worked. I can be reached at svalegria immediately followed by an 'at' sign and then hotmail.com if you prefer. Anyone might want to put "Ultrasonic-Antifouling" in the subject line as I get a lot of spam.

Thanks for any help,
Dave on ALEGRIA from Seattle, Washington, USA
 
Hi Dave
I have 3 of them on my 24ft motor boat.
I posted here in this forum my first observation about it, on page 32 post #320.
In few words : it's no "silver bullet", but can help to prolongue the life of GOOD antifouling paint.
BR, Plamen
 
Just an update. I am currently out sailing, and swam round the boat a week ago. I launched it March with new antifouling paint and the Ultrasonic kits turned on. There is now no fouling at all on the hull, but the acoustically isolated rudder has some hard fouling near the waterline. That fact alone indicates that it is having an effect. The bowthruster propeller, not antifouled and acoustically isolated was so fouled I had to remove it and clean it. The actual thruster was also fouled despite the paint, but I think it too is somewhat isolated from the ultrasound. My conclusion after the first two seasons, and experience this year is that it does work in terms of improving the effectiveness of a/f paint and prolonging the length of time between painting, in my case from every year to every two years.
 
Good to hear Norman! I have just built my kit following your excellent instructions. I made the jig to pot the transducer and just happened to find an offcut from an IKEA kitchen end panel with the blue plastic film attached. I sprayed with silicone spray and hey presto - no wrinkling! The bottom is dead smooth and I can just see the three bits of plastic.
The boat is out of the water at the moment and I've had the hull sand blasted back to the epoxy coating. I'm putting an undercoat and 2 coats of Seapro Cu 120. I've polished the bronze prop and am going to coat with International Interprotect followed by the same antifoul as the hull. Barnacles are a real problem here especially on the prop - I normally have to get in the water and scrape it every 3 or 4 weeks so looking forward to seeing how the kit performs.
Thanks again for your great input.
Sailorbaz
 
I have 2 of the kits fitted on my M44.
Because of a last minute change of winter plans Ive left her in the water over winter and wont be back until Spring.
Since fitting the system Ive, so far, had no fouling problems but this will be the big test. I'll report what we find in the spring.

I have left the battery charger on because Im not convinced that my 180W solar panels will keep pace with a 24*7 2A draw in the winter months.
I read somewhere that the algae doesnt form/grow during the night and that fitting a dawn - dusk relay can therefore reduce power consumption accordingly.
Anyone have an opinion on this theory ?

PS My boats not a million miles from NormaE ie Eastern Med
 
Removing air pockets during the potting process?

I'm just about to pot a transducer.
Before I do so I've noticed that in the face of the transducer that will end up being closest to the hull, there is a 10mm circular cavity about 10mm deep. I'm assuming that this needs to be filled in, so as to remove the air bubble that would remain if the pocket wasn't removed. Would I be on the right rack if I filled this pocket with the provided "J B Weld" and let it cure before completing the potting?
The instructions also advise that 1mm plastic spacers should be positioned on the transducer's face when the potting compound is poured. Do these spacing pieces need to be removed and the subsequent cavities filled before the final fitting to the hull?
Good luck.
 
My plan was to ignore the potting advice, there have been many problems with it: air pockets, floating transducers etc. The current kits come pre-potted for this reason.

Mix up a small batch of potting resin. Fill the hole with it, let it flow over the "lower" face, smooth if necessary. When it has gone off, mix another small batch and pour into the mould to a depth of a few mm, then put in the transducer and agitate to remove air. When this batch has gone off, mix and pour the remainder.
 
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