shelf life of AP motors

None of these are junk. Find a local rocket club (thru the NAR section list, online, or the equivalent on the Tripoli web site), and give them to a good home.

Please don't soak the Estes engines in water! Dispose of them properly (in a rocket ).

- Rick "Society for Motor Preservation" Dickinson

Estes motors (BP) can last FOREVER if stored properly (no extreme temperature cycles - and you should fire them at a temperature less than 75 degrees F below the highest temperature they ever experienced).

Aerotech motors can sometimes develop a crust on the exposed propellant surface. A seriously dipped Magnelite will burn through the crust - just make sure it is dipped the entire length of the core with ignition starting at the top.

-Fred Shecter NAR 20117

temperature cycles - and

highest temperature

he he.. My Estes motors have been exposed to 89 degrees F.

So I must fly them at no warmer then 14 degrees ? Burrrrr......

They should be fine, as long as they've been stored reasonably well. (No water damage, etc.) The grains may have developed some white crust or spots, but that won't affect use. Just brush it out of the core so it won't interfere with ignition.

Reading comprehension:

If I say to put a shelf less than 75 centimeters below the ceiling, you will put it between zero and 75 centimeters below and no more than 75 centimeters below.

Now re-read what I said about the temperature. :-)

It's hard to properly comprehend someone who can't speak unambiguously.

People have different expectations about resolving ambiguities when talking about height than about temperature.

You said "less than ..." which sounds like you meant "colder than ...". You should have said "no colder than ..." or "warmer than".

It's like turning the freezer up. Is it colder (more freezing) or warmer (more degrees) now?

Did you mean "(less than 75 degrees F) below the highest temperature" or "less than (75 degrees F below the highest temperature)" ? It's ambiguous.

ROFL

I have some Composite Dynamics motors from the early 80's. I think I'll bring them to BALLS and sell them as antiques. :-)

If I had been interested in an english major, I would never have become interested in the persuit of science.

I did, and it's err, am-big-you-is.

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