Will Animal Motor Works hardware work with SlimLine Motor Retainers?
According to our customers - No, AMW motor hardware will NOT fit the current SlimLine retainer products.
Also, Please read this caution:
We have had several mechanically inclined zoo lovers, look at the SlimLine fit problem. Several have proclaimed, "The casing looks like a new external snap ring groove location, and a smaller diameter thrust ring will fix it! What is so hard?" Well, since you asked;
1) Changing the external thrust ring location: Moving the external thrust ring forward to fit Slimline, will put the external groove very near and in some casings directly on top of the internal snap ring groove. Since both snap ring grooves are cut to ~1/2 the casing wall thickness, the new external ring location will severely reduce or eliminate the casing's ability to hold pressure. There are minimum requirements for "edge margins" of solid metal between snap rings (and other machined features), minimum groove depths/tolerances, and the required safety margins that prevent a simple casing modification to correct the Slimline retainer fit problem. Modifying your AMW hardware in an attempt to fix it, not only violates the warranty, but almost guarantees casing failure under pressure. If the casing doesn't fail the 1st time, it will most likely stretch a snap ring groove, reduce the metal thickness, and then fail on a later use. We have seen one attempt where the motor become permanently stuck inside the retainer, due to the expansion of the modified, stretched snap ring groove. Of course, this will damage the retainer and rocket when it fails.
2) We have also investigated a smaller diameter, external thrust ring to fit the SlimLine and older AeroPack retainer systems. The Slimline retainers investigated, could not handle the extra casing length below the snap ring with only a thrust ring diameter change. So this did not entirely "fix" the Slim line problem. A "Standard Duty" ring with an acceptable smaller diameter is available, but it is also weaker. We tested the "Standard duty" for 2+ years prior to deciding a "Heavy Duty", stronger, external thrust ring was needed. The "Standard Duty" ring did not have the reliability zoo lovers expect. Investigation of keeping the smaller external diameter with "Heavy Duty" capability, was a custom part. This proved too costly in tooling and lot charges. AMW settled on a standard diameter, "Heavy Duty" ring as a compromise.
