All, my main purpose with this was to put out awareness of a potentially bad motor before anyone else experienced what I did. Motor of all types/brands have CATOs, so this is NOT a particular motor maker bash session. Probably one reason Aerotech and other OEMs don't participate much on TRF is because of the Internet bashing that likely would not happen in person--we've all seen it here. My hope is that this thread stays far, far away from that. For the most part, that's been true, so thank you.
Karl wrote me back and will warranty the L1000W that CATO'd. Apparently I got very unlucky with the motor I received--he reiterated the same testing and history indicating a reliable motor past. I've met Karl a couple times and admire his motor knowledge & candor. He's always been willing to communicate and has fulfilled past warranty issues without any trouble at all. He's a real rocket guy, and after all, I cert'd L3 this weekend on a motor Karl designed (M1780NT).
That said, once bitten twice shy with this motor--not 100% sure what I am going to do with the replacement yet. While the motor cost me $127, the rocket and everything else is easily three times that. My garage is getting filled out with CATO'd rockets, a few of which are not repairable. That's not fun, and five in a year is a lot of not fun attempts.
Then again, this IS rocketry, not goofy golf. And, trying to be as fair as I can, it was a relatively new motor--many new ones have teething problems when new. I tend to fly a fair amount and mostly buy motors at the edge of a particular size's capabilities, such as this 54mm L. I am meticulous with building motors--always by the instructions, never any leftover parts and usually at home without distraction, wind or problems. Of course, none of that matters with a CTI or AT DMS (SU) motor--a CATO is just plain a bad motor.
So, because it is rocketry, I'll drown my sorrows in building something else, something better, something even cooler than the one it is replacing. I'll wait and see how future L1000W launches go (please report them, good or bad) and maybe give it another go down the road. I've got a Wildman 3" rocket sitting in the garage just waiting to be built, and I just pulled it out and washed all of the parts. Build thread?
