iv81 Posted May 13, 2006 Posted May 13, 2006 I had no barium nitrate so I replaced it with potassium nitrate and also replaced mgal with just al.. see result... http://www.flurl.com/item/strobe_pot_movie_u_134886/ I now know that barium nitrate is what makes a better strobe and mgal would make the thing more brighter. I pitty myself.
artificier Posted May 13, 2006 Posted May 13, 2006 Awesome !! nice white strobe nice comp to make strobe stars !
Douchermann Posted May 13, 2006 Posted May 13, 2006 Not that bad for being heavily improvised. What mesh MgAl does the original formula suggest?
iv81 Posted May 13, 2006 Author Posted May 13, 2006 Not that bad for being heavily improvised. What mesh MgAl does the original formula suggest?The mesh size of mgal in original recepie is shown in the clip right after I show the pots while they drying. The color of the comp seems brighter on those becasue I used a cheap web cam.
Douchermann Posted May 13, 2006 Posted May 13, 2006 Hmm well you mentioned that you used 1200 mesh aluminum. You should use coarser aluminum if you have it. The strobe effect will benefit from it.
Mumbles Posted May 13, 2006 Posted May 13, 2006 Coarser Al will just make more of a glitter than a strobe I would imagine. Well, it strobed a little bit. It is the barium nitrate that is key for the reaction. I've seen strobes that were just Mg or Al based. Potassium Nitrate doesn't form as distinct of a smoulder stage as Barium Nitrate would, as you probably noticed.
iv81 Posted May 13, 2006 Author Posted May 13, 2006 Hmm well you mentioned that you used 1200 mesh aluminum. You should use coarser aluminum if you have it. The strobe effect will benefit from it.The other al I have is indian-dark 600 mesh coated flake. I don't think that would work well since it would burn up too fast. In the actual mixing, I may have used a bit less (-3% )sulphur, (-2%)Al and bit more (+3) p-nitrate and (+2) dextrin. So the real formula of what's in the clip is: Potassium Nitrate: 53%Sulphur: 22%Al 1000 atomized: 18%Dextrin: 7% ..If anyone is interested in makeing those. edit: just also checked on the Al I used, It's actualy 1000 mesh not 1200 mesh .
aquaman Posted May 13, 2006 Posted May 13, 2006 Nice strobe. I've tried making a blue strobe pot with no success. The formula I tried was:Ammonium perchlorate..............................63Silicone II.......................................22Copper(II)oxide...................................10PVC...............................................5 It had a nice blue flame but there was no *blink*. I didn't have PVC so I just substituted it with saran. Could that have thrown it all off? Has anybody tried this formula?
iv81 Posted May 13, 2006 Author Posted May 13, 2006 Nice strobe. I've tried making a blue strobe pot with no success. The formula I tried was:Ammonium perchlorate..............................63Silicone II.......................................22Copper(II)oxide...................................10PVC...............................................5 It had a nice blue flame but there was no *blink*. I didn't have PVC so I just substituted it with saran. Could that have thrown it all off? Has anybody tried this formula?I believe that formula is actualy for a blue strobe rocket that needs to be pressed. I personaly found Silicone II as a nice smokeless fuel/binder when I experimented with it and Ammonium Perchlorate once uppon a time.
aquaman Posted May 13, 2006 Posted May 13, 2006 Yeah it is a rocket formula. I read on skylighter that you can just press them in tubes and place them on the ground for a strobe pot effect. I tried it and yes it had a good blue flame but it didn't strobe. I pressed it so much that the composition was squishing out the sides. I'm so puzzled. The only thing I can think of is that the saran threw off the strobe effect.
iv81 Posted May 13, 2006 Author Posted May 13, 2006 I have a clip of somone demostrating and making blue strobe rockets for the crowd. I rented it off from technicalvideorental.com and made a copy for myself. I also found out they don't own a copyright to it so if you guys are interested I can seed it through a torrent.
aquaman Posted May 13, 2006 Posted May 13, 2006 Could you put it on rapidshare or something so that all someone has to do is download it (what is seeding it through a torrent mean?).
iv81 Posted May 13, 2006 Author Posted May 13, 2006 -edit: I'm taking this offtopic file sharing to PM's. Anyone interested in watching it, PM me and I'll send you the link with a password. Do not share it amongst yourselves. Anyone wanting it, have them contact me through PM's. -edit2: I no longer participate on these forums, don't bother contacting me in PM's
Douchermann Posted May 13, 2006 Posted May 13, 2006 I pressed it so much that the composition was squishing out the sides. This doesn't always mean you have pressed it to its maximum density. If its bursting out of the sides, that could just mean you have a weak tube. I don't know if this would have anything to do with the strobing effect though, I just wanted to clear that common misconception up.
aquaman Posted May 13, 2006 Posted May 13, 2006 The guy actually didn't press it at all. He just rammed it. I also have to believe that I didn't mix it long enough. He mixed it for like 5 mins where I only mixed it until it all looked the same ~2-3 mins. Also the mixing of laquer and stuff was for the whizzies not for the rocket. I will try again tomarrow because I ran out of gloves and I know how messy this stuff gets. I tried again today unsucessfully but my tubes were all to weak so I just made a few more to test the comp. Thanks. If its bursting out of the sides, that could just mean you have a weak tube You're right that tube was crap but that wasn't the problem. It was squishing between the rammer and the tube. The tube itself was ok. There has to be a small gap to be able to get the rammer in and out and that is where the composition was. I was thinking I was pressing it so much that it had nowhere to go but up. I also think I tried putting to much of the composition in at a time. So that could be my problem. Has anybody actually got this formula to strobe?
PsychoChem Posted May 14, 2006 Posted May 14, 2006 Well I tried a modified version of this formula (put way too much oxidizer in) and it simply flashed. I should have tried to leave the top of the cap I was using open more but I opted to put paper and than masking tape over it instead hardened mixture. It popped and made a very bright flash (which was cool) but was pretty useless in terms of strobe. Here is the link: http://media.putfile.com/Failed-Strobe
iv81 Posted May 14, 2006 Author Posted May 14, 2006 Well I tried a modified version of this formula (put way too much oxidizer in) and it simply flashed. I should have tried to leave the top of the cap I was using open more but I opted to put paper and than masking tape over it instead hardened mixture. It popped and made a very bright flash (which was cool) but was pretty useless in terms of strobe. Here is the link: http://media.putfile.com/Failed-Strobe Heh, that's what happnes when you skip putting dextrin in, beleive it or not it slows the comp down. There a formula for makins sparkles using KCIO4/AL/Dextrin If you were to leave out the Dextrin, it turns to flash powder.
justanotherpyro Posted May 14, 2006 Posted May 14, 2006 It depends. Dextrin in corned BP doesn't inhibit it. Any substance in a large ammout will mess up a composition. If you mixed a gram of flash with 500 grams of sand, it wouldn't burn.
Rooster Posted May 14, 2006 Posted May 14, 2006 iv81, according to the sound of your strobe, it seemed strobing all the time, but too fast for the camera or our eyes to pick it up. Maybe if the strobe was traveling, like from a shell break, or a roman candle, you would be able to see the distinct flashes? If not, you could try 325 mesh Al. I do not think it will make a glitter, like Mumbles, although even coarser Al, like 60mesh might do that.
iv81 Posted May 14, 2006 Author Posted May 14, 2006 iv81, according to the sound of your strobe, it seemed strobing all the time, but too fast for the camera or our eyes to pick it up. Maybe if the strobe was traveling, like from a shell break, or a roman candle, you would be able to see the distinct flashes? If not, you could try 325 mesh Al. I do not think it will make a glitter, like Mumbles, although even coarser Al, like 60mesh might do that. I wouldn't mind trying except I don't have that type of Al. But you know what, I'm gettng my hands on some 600 MgAl soon and BN. We'll see how that goes.
aquaman Posted May 15, 2006 Posted May 15, 2006 I just tried the Blue strobe and failed again. I have found that this formula is very hot. It burnt threw my 1/8 in. walled tube in about 8 seconds. I also don't have the right silicone GE5070 where it should be GE5000. Oh well... Here's a video Blue Strobe First time using my POS camera and had the zoom to far back. Sorry. - it was basically a rocket with the exauhst upwards and the tail stuck to far into the ground. It burnt as a nice blue but then it burnt threw the tube and caught it on fire (orange). No strobe.
iv81 Posted May 15, 2006 Author Posted May 15, 2006 May I ask why you used a clay plug where the exaust is supposed to come out from?
aquaman Posted May 15, 2006 Posted May 15, 2006 I'm wanting a strobe pot not a strobe rocket so I just basically made a upside down rocket. It is initially a rocket formula so I decided to keep the construction as a rocket thinking the strobe would work that way, but it didn't. I normally don't have a nozzel but it doesn't matter as the results were the same as all the others. It does make a nice blue lance though.
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