I must be doing something wrong here. I'm assembling my Loki 76/8000 M1969 motor. I'm putting together the forward closure with the smoke element. I'm following these instructions:
2. Rub a thin layer of grease on the inside of the bulkhead, each end of the case and over all o-rings. Temporarily place the o-rings on a clean surface.
3. Place the small 1.25 OD by 3/32 thick o-ring onto the tracking smoke grain. Apply a light film of grease to the back side of the smoke grain.
4. Loosen the head bolt at the top end of the bulkhead. Push the smoke grain into the smoke well, being careful as the o-ring is compressed into the well. Push
the grain all the way in and then tighten the head bolt down. An eye bolt may be used on the bulkhead in place of the head bolt. Transfer the small o-ring from
the head bolt to the eye bolt and tighten with a jam nut.
5. Install small snap ring in the smoke well to retain the smoke element.
I put a thin layer of SuperLube grease on the inside of the bulkhead, on the O-ring, and on the end of the smoke element (not entirely sure why that's needed). As I slide the smoke element in, the o-ring in the smoke element groove pops enough into the snap ring groove that the whole thing gets stuck. I couldn't insert the smoke element any further in that about 1 cm.
After much wrestling with a strap wrench, I managed to pop out the smoke element. The o-ring was damaged. Fortunately, I have a big bag of the exact same 3/32 thick x 1.25 OD o-rings, so I greased up another one to try again. Same result! I tried pushing harder to get the o-ring to pop past the snap ring groove, but instead, it kind of smashed out of the smoke element slot and wedged in between the smoke element and the bulkhead. It's now insanely tight.
I couldn't go backward any more, so I might as well go forward. Using all my weight, I managed to get the smoke element all the way inserted. That smoke element is going nowhere! I'm hoping I can chisel it out after it burns.
I'm very hesitant to move on with inserting the bulkhead and especially the graphite nozzle into the case since I'm afraid those will have the same problems with the o-rings getting caught up in the snap ring grooves. I can force the bulkhead back out if there are issues, but with the force I used on the smoke element, I'm sure I'd chip or crack the nozzle.
Am I not using enough grease? The instructions don't say to slather it on. Maybe I'm inserting too slowly? Should I pop it in quickly to avoid the o-ring from settling in?
I've assembled a lot of smaller Loki motors and never had this issue.
???
2. Rub a thin layer of grease on the inside of the bulkhead, each end of the case and over all o-rings. Temporarily place the o-rings on a clean surface.
3. Place the small 1.25 OD by 3/32 thick o-ring onto the tracking smoke grain. Apply a light film of grease to the back side of the smoke grain.
4. Loosen the head bolt at the top end of the bulkhead. Push the smoke grain into the smoke well, being careful as the o-ring is compressed into the well. Push
the grain all the way in and then tighten the head bolt down. An eye bolt may be used on the bulkhead in place of the head bolt. Transfer the small o-ring from
the head bolt to the eye bolt and tighten with a jam nut.
5. Install small snap ring in the smoke well to retain the smoke element.
I put a thin layer of SuperLube grease on the inside of the bulkhead, on the O-ring, and on the end of the smoke element (not entirely sure why that's needed). As I slide the smoke element in, the o-ring in the smoke element groove pops enough into the snap ring groove that the whole thing gets stuck. I couldn't insert the smoke element any further in that about 1 cm.
After much wrestling with a strap wrench, I managed to pop out the smoke element. The o-ring was damaged. Fortunately, I have a big bag of the exact same 3/32 thick x 1.25 OD o-rings, so I greased up another one to try again. Same result! I tried pushing harder to get the o-ring to pop past the snap ring groove, but instead, it kind of smashed out of the smoke element slot and wedged in between the smoke element and the bulkhead. It's now insanely tight.
I couldn't go backward any more, so I might as well go forward. Using all my weight, I managed to get the smoke element all the way inserted. That smoke element is going nowhere! I'm hoping I can chisel it out after it burns.
I'm very hesitant to move on with inserting the bulkhead and especially the graphite nozzle into the case since I'm afraid those will have the same problems with the o-rings getting caught up in the snap ring grooves. I can force the bulkhead back out if there are issues, but with the force I used on the smoke element, I'm sure I'd chip or crack the nozzle.
Am I not using enough grease? The instructions don't say to slather it on. Maybe I'm inserting too slowly? Should I pop it in quickly to avoid the o-ring from settling in?
I've assembled a lot of smaller Loki motors and never had this issue.
???