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dgreger

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I just can't say enough good things about their altimeters, besides being reliable, I had my Sam Adams Patriot land in an irrigation ditch on Thursday at LDRS34. The chute and nose were on one side, the booster on the other nad yep you guessed it, the Av-bay was in the water for about 20 minutes. G-Dog and I went and got the extendable pole and pulled it from the water and the RRC3 was still chirping out the altitude. Got it back to the trailer and took it apart, disconnected the battery and let it dry in the sun for a little while. Just have to repalce the battery holder and put a new battery in.

Also got to meet Jim Amos at LDRS, great guy and great company! Thanks for taking the time to talk!
 
It doesn't matter what altimeter you have, once a barometric sensor is submerged in water it is not usable anymore.
You are risking a lot if you continue to use the device.
 
According to Jim, it should be fine, I'm planning on flying it along side a known working altimeter to make sure its still working properly though just in case.
 
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It doesn't matter what altimeter you have, once a barometric sensor is submerged in water it is not usable anymore.

Not true at all. I've flooded 2 Perfect Flites. Both sent back for testing/cleaning and both were fine. Still in use today.
 
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Not true at all. You've been given bad info.


Maybe so, but...........

I have 3 that have been under water. Perfectflite...Missleworks...Adept. Quick rinse with distilled water, set on dash to dry for the day & all have been working just fine over the years.

That being said, they were only dunked for short period of time. Had they been under overnight.....no amount of 'they'll be OK" would convince me to use them again.
 
Dave -

Despite the rain-out, I still enjoyed what little time there was on the launch field. It was a pleasure to meet you and several other "right-coast" clients. I really wished there was field time for Saturday/Sunday. I know I missed the opportunity to meet so many others who did come out to the launch.

On an upside, CJ and I did get two test flights in on Friday using the alpha RTx hardware. Preliminary flight results were extremely good. After wandering back from the flight line to grab the car, the location exercise netted the ground-zero pinpoint within 3' using the autonomous location operation of the base station. I'll get some additional flight time at our "High Skies in July launch" next month @ NCR.
 
Dave,,
3 weeks ago in Pine Island NY at a METRA launch was supposed to be the last shake out flight for "SteamPunk"..
On that flight the rocket landed across an irrigation ditch,, out of 75 ft all extended which 12 inches landed in the water ??
The av bay.. submerged,, filled...
Immediately removed power to the Marsa 54L and the Eggtimer..
Let dry in the sun. When I got home they looked dry so I pulled them from the sled and hit them both with contact cleaner and a toothbrush,, avoiding the baro sensor.
They both cleaned up nicely.. I waited days to power them up,, the speaker was bad on the Eggtimer,, Cris stuck another speaker in my order of switches..
I replaced it easily.. All tested well,, but the next flight was to be my level 3 cert flight,, talk about bad timing..
The next week was a local launch with Radical Rocketeers.. I had a K 800 G that would lift the rocket.. Both altimeters worked perfectly..
I moved forward with the level 3 flight.... Both altimeters worked perfectly...

By the way,,
I also have a fantastic respect for MissleWorks altimeters,, I flew them exclusively until recently..
It was a pleasure finally meeting Jim A this past weekend after so much time on the phone with him...
He has been super helpful,, but I guess that's not a surprise...

Teddy
 
I recently picked up a pair (funny story) of RRC2+ last week and I am super excited to get them up and running. I have been eyeing them for a while and finally decided to get off the pot. Wished I did it sooner, they look like sweet little units. MW sent them out super quick and were supremely easy to deal with. They gained a new customer for sure.
 
MW altimeters are awesome. I actually exclusively fly an RRC 2 and have not had a problem on any of my flights except I had a drogue charge fail to fire on one occasion with my PML Amraam 4, (Dual deploy but not CPR3000). Rocket fired main OK and there was little damage to the rocket except some chute seam tearing. Right after that flight MW issued a minor recall for a specific serial number group and mine was involved, (sn 1515). I sent it back and it was tested and reflashed and I think that the altitude was increased but not sure about that. Got it back within a week. Never had a problem with it since. Many of you will possibly find humor in the fact that my all time heavy hitter and faithful backup altimeter is the early 2000's model PML Copilot. As Bombproof as they get.
 
I've got to give a big shout and a thank you to Missile Works. They provided the RRC 3 altimeters in our world record attempt at thunda downunder and they worked perfectly!

Thanks Jim!


Sent from my iPad using Rocketry Forum
 
Most barometric sensor are are pretty close to water tight/resistant , long time ago they used a paper type membrane, now this mostly a Mylar type membrane.
So short of a pin prick, bad seal or mass over pressure, your good, but always test to make sure.
My RRC3, landed in a 6" deep puddle and the AV bay was filled with water, set the altimeter in the redneck heat chamber( car dash board) it's working like a champ.

I lose altimeters from lost of rocket and the dog ate it. :dark:
 
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