dagabu Posted September 7, 2014 Posted September 7, 2014 Bottom line. Problem solved. It was the drastic change in humidity. The powder was wet. After dying it went boom once again. So from now on I will keep my lift and burst in ziplock bags and place a container of dryerite in the bag. before it was stored in plastic pails with snap on lids in a aft magazine and susceptible to moisture. The best kind of drierite (calcium sulfate I think) is the indicating type. It changes from blue to pink when it has absorbed moisture. Place it in over and use it over and over. The only thing I haven't quite figured out is why commercial goex is not as susceptible to moisture as home made. Since it is not much trouble I am also coating my bp with graphite. I dont know if graphite helps with locking out moisture but It is the only difference I can see between home made and commercial. Because you are not making traditional BP, GOEX spent lots of research dollars coming up with a way to control their BP in humid conditions. Go back to straight PB, press, puck, granulate, polish and you will see the difference.
BurritoBandito Posted September 7, 2014 Posted September 7, 2014 I would wager that corned BP is less susceptible to moisture than riced is.
FlaMtnBkr Posted September 7, 2014 Posted September 7, 2014 (edited) Ummm...Skylighter did NOT advise to dry BP in an oven. Maybe the KNO3 or charcoal. Can't believe no one caught that yet. And wet BP doesn't burn for the same reasons wet paper doesn't burn. Water, thermodynamics, phase changes, etc. Edit: didn't see there was this last page. KNO3 is only very slightly hygroscopic. Charcoal is more so as it can trap water molecules in pores on the surface similar to molecular sieves. BP should only absorb small amounts of water and as mentioned a few percent actually increases power compared to zero water. I would say if your BP is absorbing enough water to effect performance than you are using contaminated fertilizer grade nitrate or the red gum is causing it. I have left BP out on accident outside on the ground in sticky Florida summer heat and humidity without a noticeable difference. I also have some home made BP that is about 9 years old and stored in a plastic bucket without dessicant that still works fine. Other hygroscopic material in the same container, in the same conditions, will absorb water in a few months. Anyways, just trying to say you can make BP that won't get wet over time. Just might take a little testing to see what component is absorbing the water. You will crank out great BP in time assuming you have a decent mill. Edited September 7, 2014 by FlaMtnBkr
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