Damaged clay cap on an Estes motor

[rbelknap]

I was going through my range box this morning when I noticed this on one of my unspent D12 motors:



Would having that much of the clay cap missing cause an issue with flying this motor?

[RadManCF]

Maybe, is there still BP under the cap? I would think that the biggest potential problem would be that the BP for the ejection charge could leak out.

[JStarStar]

The clay cap serves no function during flight -- they used to use a paper cap to hold in the ejection charge.

I would however be very careful about turning the motor upside down since as RadMan says, you could lose some of the ejection BP. Have you noticed any evidence of BP leakage in your range box (black dust, BP smell) ?

I have flown motors before with apparent gaps and irregularities in the clay caps without ill effects.

I get the impression that clay-cap quality control may not be a big priority with Estes.

[rbelknap]

Yes - there is still BP under the cap. I'm going to cover the end with masking tape (at least for storage.)

[chadrog]

Or put a drop of epoxy on it. As long as you don't cover the entire cap, it shouldn't cause any problem.

[darthgriffin]

I get the impression that clay-cap quality control may not be a big priority with Estes.

In all fairness, that could have happened rattling around in the range box. That's not counting just plain being dropped at the store and put back on the shelf. I never thought about it before; I would just grab a package and go, but now I might inspect my motors before I purchase them.

[Salvage-1]

I would be tempted to dribble a little more 4f down that gap "just in case" and then repack the hole with kitty litter. Blow it up or blow it apart.

[blackbrandt]

I would be tempted to dribble a little more 4f down that gap "just in case" and then repack the hole with kitty litter. Blow it up or blow it apart.

I agree.

[tightwad]

Ditto on that.