rov filled with non conductive oil

[shaneb24]

rov filled with non conductive oil such as mineral oil or silicone oil.... if need be cooking oil any thoughts

[sthone]

I think its been done before, I know I've seen it done on gaming computers in fish tanks to keep them cool. Should work for pressure compensation too, but could be mess if you need to fix anything.

-Steve

[SoakedinVancouver]

I agree with Steve, very messy. Insulation on the wiring will "inflate" (a little like the hands of somebody allergic to bee sting, once they get nailed...) and get softer, depending on the type of wire you used. Would it penetrate any timing crystal case on PC boards? Would it affects unsealed relays? And, most important to me, will it affect the marine life if it leaks in the water?

[shaneb24]

these are really grate points to think about thank you

[haggisuk]

The use of oils in rov systems are fairly commonplace, we have a few systems that have oil filled junction boxes with a small compensator to have the pressure slightly above ambient.

The oil we use in that systems is corn oil / mazola which you can buy at any supermarket.

The only issue we had with corn oil is if you spill any and don't clean it up it goes all sticky when exposed to air for some time.

The plus side to using oil as many of you will be aware is that if it is compensated you don't need such strong enclosures as the pressure is not an issue.

Del

[Unorthodox]

Also glycerine is non-conductive but negatively buoyant, so if you wanted to achieve neutral buoyancy with a flooded pressure hull and dint mind the mess you could layer oil and glycerine.

haggisuk: how does this pressure compensator work on the ROV's you've seen? Im imagining a captive piston in a tube, that is acted upon by the external pressure and in turn acts on the internal fluid. But how is it really done? :mrgreen:

[marcane]

Importaint thing to consider when using oil-compansation is that clock-crystal and capasitors doesnt take the pressure. You must use tantalum capasitors. This is why I use compensation only on the thrusters on my project, and solid aluminium hulls and camera housing.

Marcus

[martinw]

haggisuk: how does this pressure compensator work on the ROV's you've seen? Im imagining a captive piston in a tube, that is acted upon by the external pressure and in turn acts on the internal fluid. But how is it really done? :mrgreen:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=92

See the explanation at the bottom of the thread