KClO3 v KClO4

[fireworkpower]

Sorry if this is a bad place to post but:

 

My potassium perchlorate contains 0.05% KClO3 and 0.05% KCl. Is this any problem when making flash powder (german dark 70/30) and stars without sulfur?

Edited May 29, 2014 by fireworkpower

[WSM]

Sorry if this is a bad place to post but:

 

My potassium perchlorate contains 0.05% KClO3 and 0.05% KCl. Is this any problem when making flash powder (german dark 70/30) and stars without sulfur?

 

In most cases, no. That appears to be good material.

 

WSM

[WSM]

You got some for sale? As far as I know it's not sold by anyone, and according to people like WSM the stuff is more fragile (mechanically) than eggs, and it requires a fairly extensive lab setup (at least based on how Swede does it) to make them, as well as dealing with very toxic chemicals. It's not like MMO for sure.

 

More like, as fragile as glass. Properly handled, LD anodes should hold up well.

 

WSM

[WSM]

I would go for the platinum electrodes. Bite the bullet for now , and pay the $ till a more durable sub is found for the production of perch. THere is much research and testing going on behind the scenes to develop such a thing, but I fear we are still a ways out.

As for the choice of kclo3 and kclo4 I love both. They both have a special place in my hobby, and heart. I love electrochemistry as well as a couple the fellow on this site, and find that if respected kclo3 will work for most everything perch will. There are exceptions, but the sensitivities of past impurities is not much a issue anymore. The use of kclo3 for flash is still used to this day with relative safety ( i say this sparingly) , but i personally find perch safer for flash( i have worked with both). In tests done with a kco3 - antimony trisulfide- and AL (used as a target mix) was wet badly by a rain storm , it sat in a dry area for a month or two and upon shooting it , it showed no signs at all of power loss, , degrading, or more sensitivities present.

Making stars is a by far the most enticing thing about the use of kclo3. It offers advantages that kclo4 cant.Ease of ignition , large flame and good chlorine donner . The sensitivities are great for friction comps, smokes , shooting targets , and a array of other wonderful devices. Yes there are inherit dangers , but usually these are in the larger stars or large comets for that matter . Detonations are more common when there is a fine metal in the comp.and or larger comets are used and confined . Organic stars are less prone to this and offer nice colors . .

 

This response is well thought out and well said. Good job, pyrojig.

 

WSM

[taiwanluthiers]

I still like perc, I can't find too many good chlorate formula out there that doesn't involve the use of exotic chlorine donors or paris green, plus the ones I have tested so far burns way too fast for all but the larger shells.

[ivars21]

Website is not yet finished, but filter option works, so you may find this useful:

http://pyrodata.com/composition/stars/color-organic?tid_3[]=8&title=&field_video_video_url=All&description=All&description_1=All

Edited May 31, 2014 by ivars21

[Merlin]

I realize chlorate is more sensitive that perchlorate and I thought I would never have a use for chlorate but the H3 burst seems highly recommended for small shells in the 2 to 3 inch range. Am I wrong? Is there another formulation equally good as H3 for burst in small shells?

[nukleofil]

H3 is very dangerous to handle, I recommend forget about it. No one in the world of the fireworks company do not use it.

[schroedinger]

Better use benzolift, is based on perc and strong enough too. But if you make god bp, you can use straight granulated bp and get god breaks from those small shells without anything else

[pyrojig]

As mentioned above by schroedinger ....

Benzo-lift is a good in-between burst with good qualities . Hot bp is good , but smaller shells still suffer from lack of power, therefore flash or whistle is used for a "booster".

H-3 is not as dangerous as one may presume. Just study the Grandmasters work ( Shimizu) and see for your self that the material is claimed quite safe. Chlorate is not the big boogy man that people make it out to be. One just needs to be careful to not get incompatible material in contact with it , and the dangers wont be there. Use a tissue to separate the burst from the stars if sulfur is present ( like bp based ) and your risk is minimal . I have used the material for small shells and like it , but still find it a tad weak, and tend to use boosted bp shells myself. The trick is in the consistency of the material(H3) in size and shape ( like coated hulls , or carefully screen sized material). This is where max power is achieved.

Edited June 27, 2014 by pyrojig

[JimWoodson]

Hi Everyone

I'm a newbie to 21st century pyro and just bought some K perchlorate for £12 a kilo here in UK-is that OK price ?

Is this stuff difficult to get in other parts of the world?

I made a mix with icing sugar and it was a total fail -LOL - K nitrate and regular sugar was much better

[asdercks]

Hi Everyone

I'm a newbie to 21st century pyro and just bought some K perchlorate for £12 a kilo here in UK-is that OK price ?

Is this stuff difficult to get in other parts of the world?

I made a mix with icing sugar and it was a total fail -LOL - K nitrate and regular sugar was much better

Don't waste perc mixing it with sugar, if you can get ahold of other chems use it to make some color stars instead of trying to make R-candy,based on your comment you don't seem to have too much experience with pyro, I would recommend you to keep working with kno3 compositions before you start working with perchlorate, about the price I can't say if its right or not (prices depend of quality of chem and I suppose location as well) may be one of the members from europe could give you a better answer, stay safe!

[JimWoodson]

Thanks for the advice and yes sugar rockets with stars is my main interest.

Many years ago the only oxidiser we could get was Sodium Chlorate with or without fire depressant (mostly with) which seems

to have disappeared completely and maybe banned here in Europe ?

We used to make a solution with cold water and soak "C fold" paper towels in it and once dried out this paper was used for everything-fuses, bangers,propellant etc The fire depressed stuff produced the slower burning paper and we could vary the concentration of salt in the paper by using different strength solution. The finished dry paper was very safe and not sensitive to shock or friction. I may try this with KCL03 but cannot try with the Perc as it is not very soluble. Anyone else try this ?

[schroedinger]

KClO3 is not very soluble too.

The NaClO3 is still available but now they declare it to be used for cleaning stone plates not as weed killer.

 

Guy you are in the UK just go for elexier garden supplies and get 25 kg bag of KNO3 thats what you need jow not perc