I built some 38mm reloads to use winter of 2004, but never got to fly. The motors have been assembled ever since. I plan to fly soon, so will these motors now be hard to ignite? Should I disassemble them, scrape the propellant cores, and reassemble? Or just leave them as is? They are AT Blue Thunder reloads - I357T & I435T. Larry Lobdell Jr.
How Long To Keep A Motor Assembled?
Oct 05, 2006
2 Replies
They are probably OK. Emphasis on the word probably.
You need to remember that APCP is hygroscopic - it absorbs moisture from the air. This can cause a "crust" on exposed surfaces and also swelling of the fuel grain.
You might want to take off one of the closures and see if the motor has been affected. If not, you should be fine.
If it does have the crust, you need to make a choice. Depending on the degree of damage, you might want to dispose of the grain.
O-rings can also take a set over time if the closures are left tight.
Good Luck
RDK Plus came out...
IIRC, for pre RDK Plus, if the bp charge was loaded, I believe a complete disassembly of the delay element to clean out the bp was necessary if the enclosures were relieved too too much.
Something having to do about deployment on the way up...
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