As i reported on YORF, I sent a direct message to Gary through Facebook Messenger (which I had never used before).
I provided the results of our first 4 A3-4 flights two weeks ago and he responded with a thank you for the feedback. I'm used to dealing with technical issues and explaining things so that the perceived issue is not just a complaint, but included the reason why it is an issue and also some suggestions for what might be a possible solution.
I pointed out that the A3-4 motors would only be used in very lightweight rockets, so they would not have a large volume to pressurize so the ejection charges seemed to be very strong. Ditto for an A3-6 motor which would only be used in an even lighter rocket.
he responded right away that they would look at reducing the ejection charges (IIRC from .5 grams to .3 grams). Also, the future motors would be .005 inches smaller diameter. I also had reported that the taping of the initiator was an issue since the tape can hold the wires and either the wires will be carried up (not good on low thrust motors) or the rocket would stay on the pad if the clips did not release from the wires. The solution for that was to now use 3/64" heat shrink installed next to the initiator in the nozzle to act as the 'plug' to hold it in, while still providing venting during ignition.
We tried the 3/64" heat shrink last weekend with 3 B4-4 launches and it worked great. We are 7 for 7 with ignition (4 x A3-4 and 3 x B4-4). We provided additional feedback for these latest flights and Gary confirmed that they are already using the .3 gram ejection charges for the motors being produced now. I did not ask for date codes, nor did I ask when the diameter change will cut in.
The B4-4 ejection charges were also strong, so the reduction will be welcomed. We also had a Big Bertha which hit the ground before ejection on a B4-4. The Big Bertha was stock with a small altimeter installed and it boosted fine to an acceptable altitude (I did not get the reading from the model owner), but the delay was at least 6 seconds and that was too long. All 3 of the B4-4 motors flown had long delay times, so either they are running long or they were B4-6 motors mislabeled.
So, for now, we will use the current batch of motors in lightweight rockets, with very strong shock cords and we will peel the labels and use the 3/64" heat shrink.
Gary responded to the last report to confirm that they were revising the instructions to provide max liftoff weights for each motor and delay time, which is locigal since a long delay would only be used in a lighter model. Also, they are officially adding the heat shrink to the motor packs and the instructions.
Continuous improvement and listening to useful (helpful) feedback. That is good.
As I told him, there are a lot of us who will be buying bulk packs (many bulk packs) once the issues are resolved.
So, if you have any issues, just send a report to their customer service e-mail contact. It will get the correct people.
We had four of them used at our launch last weekend. I am not particularly impressed. They don't fit Estes rockets as they seemed to be sized for Quest tubes. Really? What were they thinking? We'll make something that will be difficult or impossible to be used in over 95% of 18mm rockets. Anyway, the labels had to be removed and even then it was a tight fit for one of the rockets. I've heard that they will sand down the cases in the future to provide a better fit.
Another issue was the shotgun ejection charges. Even at 500 feet or so the ejection charge was very loud and looked very energetic. One rocket was actually destroyed when the body tube blew apart along the spiral. The rocketeer sent photos to Quest of the destroyed rocket with an explanation of what happened. To be fair, we heard a number of Estes ejection charges that were just as loud.
The motors are quite smoky and loud if you like that sort of thing. I'm not going to run out and get any soon. If you want to use them I would recommend expendable rockets for now until they get a better handle on the ejection charges.