Lighting whistle motors in the core

[dangerousamateur]

I cannot reach my raw materials and tooling right know, and I'm reluctant to waste precious, hard to get or make material anyway.

 

If you already made experiences and are willing to share them:

Do whistle motors necessarily explode when you light them at the core or even quickfuse them?

 

And is that so for every type of spindle and fuel, or are there types that benefit from this?

Edited April 20, 2021 by dangerousamateur

[EastTxPyro]

So far I've only made a hand full of whistle benzy and sali rockets 8oz extreme tooling from woodys and have worked fine just J hook the fuse in to the core

[BetICouldMake1]

It will depend quite a bit on how hot your fuel is and what spindle you are using. I also use a j hook of visco to light mine, though I don't stuff it all the way up the core. That's for Sali or K Benz whistle. I don't take any efforts to make the hottest fuel possible, no extra milling or fancy oxidizers. I've seen some speculation that the issue with core lighting whistle has more to do with having "stuff" up in the core creating over pressure, and less about lighting the core all at once. I know of one guy who lights his using a bucket made with foil tape lightly closed around some quick match so when lit it blasts flame up the core, but the foil tape quickly blows open so there isn't any confinement like there would be on a traditional paper bucket tied on.

 

Even "slow" whistle is still a pretty spicy fuel. If you're looking for max performance I guess there could be a benefit to core lighting, if you're looking for max reliability and aren't sure where you're at lighting the edge of the fuel grain is probably the safest bet to avoid CATOs.

[dangerousamateur]

Thank you.

 

It's 76/23 K-benzo with oxychloride, my standard. 2% mineral oil.

The spindle varies, can be pusher, can be LWS, sometimes even BP coreburner nozzleless.

 

I also ask because visco just touching the grain sometimes failed to light.

 

I'll try J-hooking and see what happens when I do the next shots in the summer.

[MrBOOMbastic]

Cant speak to whistle alone but my strobe rockets definitely have a tendency to explode if I ignite the core. If your intent is not to waste material it is not difficult to light at the bottom as Ned explains from his whistle tutorial. Small hole at bottom of motor below where grain starts and run a visco fuse in so it just touches the bottom. I prime mine with a little nq and bp. Works like a charm and holds the fuse in place. Why do it any other way

[ronmoper76]

I j hook every single one now,and only occasionally does it not light. When i was just learning i stuffed the visco right down the core,lol Bomb on a stick everytime,i also tried curling the fuse in a circle and letting it set right on top of the fuel grain held in place by the tension of bending it in a circle. This worked 50/50,sometimes it blew,sometimes it flew. I can't remember the last cato honestly since i started fusing like that and waxing my tubes,they just always work,so i definitely believe fusing has a lot to do with bad motors.