Mr. Crackle Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 I was wondering if a strobe rocket will be judged as highly as a payload rocket in the competitions because I have made a blue strobe rocket, the Ammonium perchlorate and GE silicon2 type, and I dont want to take away from the strobe effect with stars or salutes. Pics Blue strobe 1 Blue strobe 2 8 cm length1 and 9/10th cm IDFuel length 7 cm, cored 6 cm through40 grams propellant Advice would help too. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al93535 Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 I am sure it will be judged fairly. A blue strobe rocket would be very impressive! Hope it performs well! What kind of advice are you looking for? Looks to me like you already built it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Crackle Posted May 22, 2006 Author Share Posted May 22, 2006 I phrased it wrong, by advice I was wondering if anyone else had used the propellant and still had notes on their core lengths and stuff. There doesn't seem to be that much out there except for the composition. The fuel did strobe a beautiful blue in my small scale tests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquaman Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 You actually got it to strobe? Do you have a video? I've been trying it lately and can't get it to strobe. I don't use the GE5000 silicone but the GE5070 insted. I also don't have the PVC but tried it with saran insted with no good results except a good blue flame. I need to stop at lowes and try the correct silicone II but I'm not sure if it's going to make a difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fisherbmx Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 hey, Does this mixture have to be pressed or can it be rammed safely?I am asking this becaus ei wont have my press for a little while. My dad has to call in a favor form a guy he seels parts to to get him to weld me a frame for one. I could really care less if the rocket strobes perfectly as long as it gets off the ground. So any help would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBang Posted May 24, 2006 Share Posted May 24, 2006 From what I have heard, you have to press it for safety reasons. This propellant is supposedly impact sensitive, or atleast similar to whistle mix in its sensitivity. I've only made small stars and strobe pots with this, but have never tried it in a rocket. Better to be safe than sorry IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Crackle Posted May 24, 2006 Author Share Posted May 24, 2006 Here is a video of around 3 grams pressed by hand, followed by a small roll of it just lit on one end. blue strobe video This composition is sticky, very sticky. I would say pressing is good enough for it to form a solid grain. And to anyone who wants to try the comp be warned that it stains everything a nice CuO black/brown, especially hands, so wear gloves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquaman Posted May 24, 2006 Share Posted May 24, 2006 I've seen a video where a guy is teaching how to make rockets with this comp. He actually rams this composition which supprised me too but he does it all the time and only had it go off on him like twice. Both times he said he didn't get hurt but rather the rammer shot up in the air. In other words if you have a press use it. If not very carefully ram it (hold it using something other than your hands, ram it away from face , wear eye/ear protection, leather gloves, etc...) Jungle- What silicone exactly are you using?GE5000? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Crackle Posted May 24, 2006 Author Share Posted May 24, 2006 GE silicone 2 for kitchen and bath100% silicone sealant, clear. I got it in a squeeze tube from wallmart for three dollars, it contains 82.8 ml so it can't be that much more expensive than GE5000. GE 5000 is a siliconized acrylic so you will probaly get different results with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Crackle Posted May 29, 2006 Author Share Posted May 29, 2006 I have tried replacing CuO with strontium carbonate to get a red strobe without success. It seems without copper oxide it burns slower and doesn't strobe. I believe the CuO acts as a catalyst, I could be wrong, so it might not be all the silicones fault for not strobing well. Does anyone know for sure if the copper is a catalyst? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted May 29, 2006 Share Posted May 29, 2006 There is a good chance that it is a catalyst. Perhaps the carbonate just makes it not work well. Try replacing half of the copper oxide with strontium carbonate. You may get a purple, but it will hopefully work. To get a red strobe, you may be able to use strontium oxide. However, I do think it is the copper that catalyses the reaction. Transition metals to catalyse the decomposition of perchlorates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ActionTekJackson Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 Alright, well, this may seem like a dumb question, but I have to ask. When mixing the CuO, PVC, and Silicon, the silicon is still a gel, or do you process it in anyway to make it a powder? lol, or am I just retarded? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AreteVeteran Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 Alright, well, this may seem like a dumb question, but I have to ask. When mixing the CuO, PVC, and Silicon, the silicon is still a gel, or do you process it in anyway to make it a powder? lol, or am I just retarded? I think the silicon should be in gel, thats why the comp is sticky and not a powder. Cus PVC and CuO arent sticky... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquaman Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 The silicone is left in the gel form. As you mix the comp it turns into a black playdough consistancy. It's actually kinda fun to make. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ActionTekJackson Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 Awesome... Thanks! I will be pickin up the silicon this after noon, I'll be sure to vid the test flights. Thanks for the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
optimus Posted June 17, 2006 Share Posted June 17, 2006 and I dont want to take away from the strobe effect with stars or salutes. Not sure why you think adding stars would detract from the strobe effect. Why not put some blue strobe stars ontop of it? That would look rather cool IMO. Also, I've made nice purple stars by substituting a little Strontium Carbonate for the Coper Oxide. Not sure if it would still work as a strobe rocket, but it doesn't seen to effect the burn rate of the stars... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Crackle Posted June 18, 2006 Author Share Posted June 18, 2006 It is still a gel and feels like greasy dry playdough when pressed, I personally don't like working with it. I still have to fire the rocket in the pictures...yeah . I will get video of it when I do, even if it is a faliure. If the rockets effect is not aesthetically pleasing I think I will add some stars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ActionTekJackson Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 alright, one last question... Can I substitute Chlorowax or Saran for the PVC in this comp? Or maybe even Parlon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquaman Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 I tried substituting the PVC with saran and haven't got it to work as saran is the only thing I have right now so I don't even know if the saran is the cause of the strobe not working. I think I need to confine the composition more. I made a couple of "Whizzies" and they kept heading for my bushes so I decided to drop them in a hole in a brick and put another brick on top of it. When I lit them they started to make the strobe sound so that tells me it only works when it is somewhat confined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ActionTekJackson Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 So for implementation in a rocket, it might work with a smaller nozzle size? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquaman Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 I hope. I have one ready to go but 2 things are stopping me from litting it: 1) No time/keep forgetting2) I split the casing while pressing. I used a PVC sleeve but there is a little gap and it split right where the gap was. I will post the results on the strobe (it probably won't work to well since I split the casing) and I hope I get atleast one strobe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ActionTekJackson Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 Ok, I finally got enough PVC ground fine enough to make this comp. You're right BTW, it is kinda fun to work with, and whoever said the Silicone smells like ammonia needs to go to the desert, it smells like sage Anyway, plan on launching the rocket tonight, and it will be on video so I'll post it up tonight if I can. Thanks for all the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ActionTekJackson Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 Well.... it didn't fly. I think I need a smaller nozzle. The rocket was 3/4" ID with a 3/8" nozzle. In the video there are some sparks shooting down from the flame, I believe these are PVC pieces, so I guess I will have to buy some as I can't get it any finer than what I used (which really was kinda rough). Anyway, the Rocket is 3 1/2" long and the propellent was not cored. Hence the extremely long burn time... It has a beautiful color though 3/4" Blue Rocket -Failed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquaman Posted June 24, 2006 Share Posted June 24, 2006 I just tried mine too and I'm not sure if it worked. The casing held up (I taped it with that aluminum duck tape stuff). When I lit it sounded like a machine gun. Ash was being shot out of the nozzel like a star. I also noticed that this composition produces alot of hard ash (like the novelty snake kind of ash). My question is what causes the strobe in this composition? Is it the ash kinda plugging the nozzel and shooting out or something else? ActionTekJackson: your rocket basically looked that same as mine but the other way around (strobe pot). Did yours strobe? From the video it looks like it didn't. edit: sorry no video Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ActionTekJackson Posted June 24, 2006 Share Posted June 24, 2006 It didn't strobe per say, but it sounded like it wanted to. So I imagine it would have had the nozzle been smaller. However, I too got a ton of ash when I burnt a small amount of the comp hand pressed. The ash stuff held a shape pretty well and was, like you said, almost exactly like the snake things. Is it not supposed to do this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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