Quest motors vs. Estes motors

Since my hobby shop recently started carrying Quest motors, I wanted to see how they compared to the Estes motors.

Today, I got to burn a few, here's what I found:

Estes B6-4: Quest B6-4

Ignitor: Solar Tiger tail

Tracking smoke: White Brownish

Delay: About 4 seconds About 5-6 seconds


Overall, I was quite impressed with the motors. I really liked the brownish colored tracking smoke and it made a noise that made me think that the motor was still burning.

Due to the delays running a second or so longer than posted, I'm not sure if I would use them in applications where I would need precise delays but one of these days I intend to burn some Quest C6-5s in my Rockethead Lightning Strike, that should be a cool flight.

I really like the Quest motors, the smoke is a lot cooler than the white Estes stuff, and I think they're louder?

Phil

I like Quest motors becasue they're cheaper than Estes but at teh local wal mart I can get a back of C6-5 for 5 dollars. So I still mainly burn estes motors when it comes to black powder motors.

I had two rockets damaged by Estes ejection charges this weekend. I know that I'm building them sturdy enough, but I had one 1/4A ejection charge that snapped the Kevlar, and a B4-2 charge that snapped the elastic. How do the Quest charges compare to the shotgun charges that Estes has adopted lately?

The two Quest motors I burned seemed to have very gentle ejection charges.

I flew one in my Quest Big Betty. The chute came out of the tube in a very gentle manner.

The other went in my Quest Totally Tubular which was another gentle ejection with the streamer popping out easily.

I know what you mean by strong Estes motor ejection charges. I recently had a C6-3 with an ejection charge that sounded like a gunshot and turned the parachute of my Sunward Galactic Wave inside out.

Luckily it came down flat and didn't sustain any damage.

One time, I had a 1/4A motor where I swear the ejection charge had more impulse than the motor itself. It was a loud pop, separated the NC, and shot the rocket body a good 10' backwards from the force.

Originally posted by cjl
One time, I had a 1/4A motor where I swear the ejection charge had more impulse than the motor itself. It was a loud pop, separated the NC, and shot the rocket body a good 10' backwards from the force.

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No telling how far it shot the nose cone from my model. I was never able to find it. Sounded like a 4th of July celebration except it was a cold December Saturday.

I've noticed Estes ejection charges being really, really strong lately--and, as previously noted, I see it a lot in mini motors; they sound like little firecrackers! I've never experienced this directly, but it happened to a lot of the campers at a church rocket camp I do every summer this past year...I think we had a few separations, too.

Funny, though--the previous year I had an ejection charge NOT fire...not even the delay (!) in a Gnome...looks like they overcompensated this year to make up for it!

As for Quest motors, I've--other than a few delay problems--heard that they're pretty reliable, usually cheaper (except at Wal-Mart), and they have darker smoke, and are a bit louder.

I rarely see them, but I flew a few several years ago--I seemed to note these things when I flew them.

My experience has been quite the reverse - Estes ejection charges are nice, Quest charges are dirtier and more violent. When I put a Quest motor in my Skylark, there's often some soot left round the outside of the front of the body tube which is never present if it went up on an Estes motor. For this reason, I never use Quest motors in my A-9 or Feuerlilie F-25; these have short body tubes with little room for the ejection charge and parachute, and I don't want to risk the damage the Quest charges might do.

I have noticed stronger ejection charges in Estes D12 motors lately, though - perhaps overcompensation for the weak charges which caused problems some years ago.

Was you timing of the delay done using a stopwatch or were you counting in your head?

I ask because Estes motors are notorious for having short delays and that is why we use the term "Estes seconds" (similar to our use of the term "Estes glide").

Quest motors (made in Germany) are known for having extremely accurate 'real-world-seconds' delay times. if you are used to counting in "Estes Seconds", then you will be surprised.

Review actual test data on the NAR S&T website.

Originally posted by Donaldsrockets
Since my hobby shop recently started carrying Quest motors, I wanted to see how they compared to the Estes motors.

Today, I got to burn a few, here's what I found:

Estes B6-4: Quest B6-4

Ignitor: Solar Tiger tail

Tracking smoke: White Brownish

Delay: About 4 seconds About 5-6 seconds


Overall, I was quite impressed with the motors. I really liked the brownish colored tracking smoke and it made a noise that made me think that the motor was still burning.

Due to the delays running a second or so longer than posted, I'm not sure if I would use them in applications where I would need precise delays but one of these days I intend to burn some Quest C6-5s in my Rockethead Lightning Strike, that should be a cool flight.

Click to expand...

What little experience I have had with the Quest motors, I like what I see and hear. I will agree that their ejection charges are "dirty", but I don't mind that too much. What I *do* mind are the shot-gun shells with the Estes logo... I have noticed this for a number of years. I beleive that this is a result of a period of weaker (or normal) ejection charges causing problems in larger rockets, such as the Mean Machine.

Two interesting problems that I have seen often is (one) on my Triple Threat flying saucers, if I use an A10-3T, the model will go up normally, flip and start to float down and when the charge goes off, she will actually go back up about 3-4 feet from the force. Also (two) in my Tumbleweed I have had the ejection charge rip out the engine hook (gauze and all) upon the ejection charge going off.

ick...

alsok, I agree about the "Estes seconds", i find the Quest motors to be much more accurate in timing.

jim

Originally posted by jflis
What little experience I have had with the Quest motors, I like what I see and hear. I will agree that their ejection charges are "dirty", but I don't mind that too much. What I *do* mind are the shot-gun shells with the Estes logo... I have noticed this for a number of years. I beleive that this is a result of a period of weaker (or normal) ejection charges causing problems in larger rockets, such as the Mean Machine.

Two interesting problems that I have seen often is (one) on my Triple Threat flying saucers, if I use an A10-3T, the model will go up normally, flip and start to float down and when the charge goes off, she will actually go back up about 3-4 feet from the force. Also (two) in my Tumbleweed I have had the ejection charge rip out the engine hook (gauze and all) upon the ejection charge going off.

ick...

alsok, I agree about the "Estes seconds", i find the Quest motors to be much more accurate in timing.

jim

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Yeah, I'd take "dirty" over "destroyed" any time. I'm going to order a bulk pack of Quest B6-4s after the holidays and see what I can figure out. I'm tired of rebuilding.

I also forgot to mention that the Quest motors are a bit smaller in diameter than the Estes motors so if used in rockets with friction fit retention, a bit more tape will be needed to hold them securely in place.

Also, I counted off the seconds from burnout to ejection in my head. Maybe my count was slightly off.

Originally posted by Donaldsrockets
I also forgot to mention that the Quest motors are a bit smaller in diameter than the Estes motors so if used in rockets with friction fit retention, a bit more tape will be needed to hold them securely in place.

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Oh yea, and I *love* that! Many times I have discovered Estes motors that have swelled up, *just a bit*, and not fit well at all... real noticable with the 13mm motors...

If you can't get an Estes 13mm motor to fit in your model, it's unlikely that you'll get a Quest motor to fit it either.

I've never had a model damaged by an Estes ejection charge, apart from one of the newer, more violent D12's which blew the shock cord out of my Space Needle. That had been tied to a thrust ring glued into the motor mount; the shock cord took the thrust ring with it (but fortunately not the rest of the motor mount). The motor mount is out of reach (down the other end of a 3' piece of BT-55 equivalent) so I couldn't put the shock cord back the way it was, so I reattached it using a good old trifold paper mount. It's flown twice more since then without further damage. I have had rockets fail to eject their parachute or streamer, either because I was in a hurry while packing them or because I was overgenerous with ejection wadding, so if Quest ejection charges are actually less powerful than Estes ones then I definitely won't trust them.

The CATO's I've seen from Quest motors were significantly more violent than those I've seen from Estes motors. The few times I've seen CATO's from Estes motors, they either shot the whole grain out of the front or blew the whole nozzle out of the back; the rockets were unharmed in all cases. Whereas the Quest CATO's I've seen involved the motor going BANG and destroying the rocket. That, however, was some time ago, when they were still made in America and had the old orange cases.

I have noticed that the Estes motor cases seem to be rounder than the Quest, fit a little better I think.

Both motor companies can get a lip on the ends during shipping if not handled with the proper care.

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Which Quest motors are you seeing that have a lip on the end or are not roound? USA made or German made?

They have not been made in the USA in a LOOOONG time. The USA motrors had white rounded nozzles and were very fat.

The German made motors have dark nozzles and are extremely round. They do not exhibit the gross swelling from packing that the Estes casings exhibit.

Originally posted by Flash
I have noticed that the Estes motor cases seem to be rounder than the Quest, fit a little better I think.

Both motor companies can get a lip on the ends during shipping if not handled with the proper care.

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Good question? Based on your comment it must be the ones not made in Germany. It has been a while since I had some Quest motors.

I am like the other Guy above, I usally get my small motors at Wal-Mart for 4.99 a pack with wadding and all.

Thanks for the info!

We sell both and I have used both... I always use estes becuase I have more in stock and for every 12 Estes B6-4's we sell only about 1 pack of Quest B6-4's sells if that. Its ashame but Estes is the household name

I like them both, I've used Estes alot more though

Didnt realize there was much difference in the LPR motors, thought all BP motors were very similar, my cousin is thinking about a BP clustered rocket... might have to get some quest motors for the better smoke and all that...

Here's what I found out today as I burned some more Quest motors.

First, I used a B6-4 in my Quest Full Moon. Normal flight with another gentle ejection. But I agree that the ejection charges of these motors is very dirty. Upon recovery, the front of the rocket was covered in thin sooty ejection residue but a damp paper towel will wipe it right off.

Second, I attempted a cluster of three Quest C6-5s in my Rockethead Lightning Strike, I used Estes ignitors, the Quest plugs and a clip whip. Unfortunately, only two lit and the rocket lifted off very slowly and crawled it's way up to maybe 350-400 feet, arched over and lawn darted just prior to ejection.

Fortunately, the only damage was a slight crumple in the forward section and the balsa nose cone had broken loose and wasn't found. I figured it was probably reduced to balsa splinters anyway. I am currently assembling a new forward section for it and I'm going to replace the balsa cone with a plastic one.

Well anyway, I'm glad to report that the Lightning Strike will fly just fine on two motors.

I then took the remaining C6-5 and put it to use in the Full Moon which worked perfectly. I really do like the ejection charges in these motors, plenty strong enough to deploy the recovery device but gentle enough to avoid damaging bounceback. I don't plan on using them in clusters again though.

I'm confused by your message. you used Quest motors and Estes igniters and your Estes igniter failed to ignite the motor and based upon that you reject the idea of using Quest motors in clusters.

Why?

Why would you not reject the idea of using Estes igniters in any cluster ever again?

I have used Estes igniters as well as the new Quest Q2 ignitersin clusters with either Estes or Quest motors with extreme success.

I also prefer Quest motors in the upper stage of multi stage models because the nozzle opening and propellant face "target" is much larger than Estes B6 or C6 motors and there is no Estes B4-6 anymore. The Estes A8-5 is back and great for upper stages because of it's large target face and longer delay time.

Originally posted by Donaldsrockets
Here's what I found out today as I burned some more Quest motors.

First, I used a B6-4 in my Quest Full Moon. Normal flight with another gentle ejection. But I agree that the ejection charges of these motors is very dirty. Upon recovery, the front of the rocket was covered in thin sooty ejection residue but a damp paper towel will wipe it right off.

Second, I attempted a cluster of three Quest C6-5s in my Rockethead Lightning Strike, I used Estes ignitors, the Quest plugs and a clip whip. Unfortunately, only two lit and the rocket lifted off very slowly and crawled it's way up to maybe 350-400 feet, arched over and lawn darted just prior to ejection.

Fortunately, the only damage was a slight crumple in the forward section and the balsa nose cone had broken loose and wasn't found. I figured it was probably reduced to balsa splinters anyway. I am currently assembling a new forward section for it and I'm going to replace the balsa cone with a plastic one.

Well anyway, I'm glad to report that the Lightning Strike will fly just fine on two motors.

I then took the remaining C6-5 and put it to use in the Full Moon which worked perfectly. I really do like the ejection charges in these motors, plenty strong enough to deploy the recovery device but gentle enough to avoid damaging bounceback. I don't plan on using them in clusters again though.

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