Livingston Posted September 3, 2015 Posted September 3, 2015 So I got sum kno3 from a guy I know. Sum of it was super fine snd sum hard as rocks. I threw in my ball mil for 20-40mins and large 1" balls formed. Maybe I milled it to long maybe there's another problem?
Andres1511 Posted September 3, 2015 Posted September 3, 2015 Moisture. Lay it in the sun for a couple of hours/days (depending on the weather/degree of moisture in your KNO3)
Arthur Posted September 3, 2015 Posted September 3, 2015 Put it in the oven for an hour at a low heat 220F or 100C. That lump is just wet. 1
Livingston Posted September 3, 2015 Author Posted September 3, 2015 Try the sun and it's hot here in south Florida!!! Then tried the oven and nothing still hard lock rocks
Mumbles Posted September 3, 2015 Posted September 3, 2015 Heating it doesn't soften anything. If anything it makes it harder. Rather it makes it easier to crush, and keep from clumping back together.
WSM Posted September 4, 2015 Posted September 4, 2015 I have a theory about why potassium nitrate turns from a fluffy powder to a caked rock. If you've ever dissolved potassium nitrate and dried it, you may have noticed needle-like crystals forming. I suspect that atmospheric moisture causes the same effect on a microscopic level and those crystals form and knit together, forming the caked nitrate we've all seen. Ball milling even slightly moist KNO3 will often cause it to form a rock hard mass in the ball mill. I've had to dissolve the rock to recover my milling media (no fun). The only way to deal with moist KNO3 is to dry it (by whatever means) before ball milling is started. I can empathize with your situation. WSM 1
taiwanluthiers Posted September 4, 2015 Posted September 4, 2015 Also if you are milling them too fine, they WILL cake. I found this when making bp that when it starts to clump, it means it's milled too long.
pyrojig Posted September 4, 2015 Posted September 4, 2015 I hear ya Livingston , I feel kinda lucky about being in a dry environment . As WSM stated , he too lives in a wet / humid area , and sadly it is always going to be a uphill battle . I find that snap ring airtight drums are the way to go. I triple bag my nitrate then store in a drum. The chunky stuff I find is best to screen through a 20 mesh or courser screen, then oven dry. Sorry to hear your having some troubles with your nitrate . I
Maxim Posted September 9, 2015 Posted September 9, 2015 KNO3 gets rock-hard because it soakes a bit of water into itself and then gets dry. So what you need to do is to crash it. Meat-chopping machine is just made for this kind of stuff! And then you must dry the KNO3 very well, thats all!
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