Color Smoke

[shouldnoteatindat]

Hi all, So what i want to know is how to color smoke for a rocket tail during the day. is there any easy way to color smoke without that organic dye stuff. Anyone know if this is possible?

 

 

thanks in advance!

 

 

ps. how would i implement this into a rocket fuel?

[Mumbles]

Without an organic dye, you have your choices of white, black or grey.

 

You also wont be able to implement it into your rocket fuel at all. It'll probably have to be pressed as the delay/coasting phase.

[Niladmirari]

Organic dye burn in rocket fuel. О2 (or Сl2, if NH4ClO4) oxidize оrganic. Mumbles rights, smoke will white, black or grey.

 

I think the smoke can be colored if you use fuel: zinc + sulfur + (2/1 by weight) + organic dye

Edited January 22, 2014 by Niladmirari

[shouldnoteatindat]

ok, black is easy enough just put a crap ton of plastic in fuel but i quess i just gotta find some dye

[kpknd]

Walrus Enterprises, LLC at coloredsmoke.com has smoke dye, but they sell it in large lots. I ordered a pound a few years ago and cost me $60 because they had to break up a bulk amount, sounded like an excuse to charge more to me. Or you can get smoke kits from Firefox or Skylighter.

Edited January 23, 2014 by kpknd

[psyco_1322]

I have two full pounds of blue smoke "mix" that Firefox used to sell. If anyone is interested, $25/lb plus shipping. I believe all you need to do is mix in the oxidiser (KClO3). PM me.

[nater]

Psyco, is that just the dye and the fuel, or did Firefox ship the oxidiser as well?

 

I believe Dag had some decent results with the black smoke trail from asphalt rockets. Whitish yellow is easy with a sulfur heavy BP type mixture, but it really stinks and I don't think it shows up that well unless it is burned on the ground. I have some blue dye that I have been meaning to cut into some stars for daylight shells, but I've been putting it off for fear of the mess it will make. Maybe if we get a real calm day in the Spring, I'll sit outside and get it done. The organic dyes are expensive too, and that makes me weary about experimenting too much with them. For rocket delay, I don't know if it would work best as a smoke pot attached to the motor or the smoke mix pressed as a delay grain. For stars, I question whether they should be cut or formed into inserts. A benefit of inserts would be a smoke to report effect.

[psyco_1322]

It's just the dye/fuels mix, in 1lb "tubs", you had to supply/buy the oxidiser. Basically same thing here, I don't want to mess with the mess I just picked up the two pounds from a guy at PGI, and since I've never used it, and probably never will, just trying to get my money back out of it. If it wasn't blue, I probably would not have bought it, but blue smoke is just so pretty!

[papasmurf]

ok, black is easy enough just put a crap ton of plastic in fuel but i quess i just gotta find some dye

You'll have to experiment with the correct ratio if your using a lot of plastic. It can clog up your nozzle then you have CATO. Unless you go nozzles. You could also just play around with your fuel to oxidizer ratios as well. Go heavy on the fuel to get darker smoke, but you'll lose some of the performance in the rocket in turn. Another method I've seen is somebody strapped a smoke bomb to the side of his rocket and that worked ok.

Edited January 26, 2014 by papasmurf

[FlaMtnBkr]

I can say that the premixed stuff I have used is not very messy. At least the mix from Skylighter. I just wore a pair of gloves and was surprised at how little got stained blue. It actually encouraged me to try some other dyes which weren't bad either and required everything be mixed together. I could see if a dye was clumped together badly and needed milling it could become a big mess. But the dye I have seen was dense and didn't airfloat but stay in place. Maybe other types are worse.

[kpknd]

Blue smoke mix Firefox "Used to sell?" I just baught Blue and Orange, It's sitting at home right now. The older kits gave intructions for mixing using percentages, now it is in ounces.

[Arthur]

Consider attaching a smoke pellet to the motor as a separate item

[psyco_1322]

Blue smoke mix Firefox "Used to sell?" I just baught Blue and Orange, It's sitting at home right now. The older kits gave intructions for mixing using percentages, now it is in ounces.

 

I figured they still sold it. Was kind of meaning it's some older stuff, as the product may have changed over the years.

[schroedinger]

For black smoke, which would be the best dye?

[kpknd]

I used the black smoke dye from coloredsmoke.com . If loaded into a tube like regular smoke mix, it will burn in chuffs or pulses rather than steady. when mixed with thinned NC laquer and pumped into long pellets and placed in a tube it will burn steady, but must be primed on one end with a BP slurry and fused. it actualy turnes out to be a greyishbrown to a greenish brown ir dark grey, depending on how it is burning and lighting conditions I guess. A few examples can be seen at youtube.com/kpkndusa of my projects, clock on the videos, "My Wilesco Steam Roller, Smokin Mamod Pt. 1 and Steam Engines, Rockets & Trains at the 1:32 mark. The Chuffing effect can be seen by searching the video "Modified Wilesco Heavy Haulage Steam Engines" . For REALY BLACK smoke, the Ninja smoke mix from Firefox is good except it burnes fast and leaves sooty little things in the air. Or, a mixture of magnesium powder, hexachloroethane and napthaline (moth balls) will do the same thing as the ninja smoke. The hexa, and napthaline have a BIG, BIG stink to them, mix it outside!!!

Edited January 29, 2014 by kpknd

[schroedinger]

Right, Naphtalene was the thing i often heard about. Thx.
Well i don`t wan`t to mess Hexachlorethane.

[FlaMtnBkr]

Black smoke doesn't use dye. It uses napthalene. A search for black smoke should give you more than enough information.