Lpr , but a heads up!

[SolarYellow]

Actually, figuring out such problems is within a manufacturing engineer's job description. I've assisted one of those guys. Sometimes, we'd just be going to vendors our company purchased from to fix problems that came up after they laid off the people who knew what they were doing.

This. More to the point: Ideally, it's not the manufacturing engineer's job to fix problems, but rather to prevent them. If problems arise in a process that has been historically stable, it suggests that inadequate preventive controls were in place. So it is an engineering problem.

Because the motors aren't as reliable as in the past. Unless it's something about storage or shipping, I suppose. It may not be a change that was done on purpose. Might be something getting out of adjustment.

There has been a hypothesis floated in another thread that the D12-3 CATOs seem to be associated with Hobby Lobby inventory disproportionately, so there could be something about the handling &/or storage in that channel.

 

[lr64]

This. More to the point: Ideally, it's not the manufacturing engineer's job to fix problems, but rather to prevent them. If problems arise in a process that has been historically stable, it suggests that inadequate preventive controls were in place. So it is an engineering problem.

snip only 10^81 electrons left!

That's ideally. In the real world, It IS the manufacturing engineer's job to fix problems. A perfectly designed process can fall apart if someone isn't doing what they're supposed to, or if a tool was defective, material was defective, etc. In one of our issues, the vendors multi part mold had a very small leak in a hydraulic cylinder, which meant that part of the mold backed off a thousandth or two. Which wouldn't be a problem if the design of the product allowed for some variation.

 

[Cape Byron]

Pike's Peak is just a big rock with a really high altitude road.

Yeah, baby!

 

[burkefj]

Haha I thought this was an entire thread dedicated to sketchy Daddyisabar's rocket launches

 

[RobertH3]

I hope they fix the E12's - was my favorite black powder motor. Widely usable for a lot of kits Here's my older LOC photon on an E12-6. Motors were bought several years ago.

Maybe Klima should give the US a try? The D9 looks good.

 

[Daddyisabar]

Haha I thought this was an entire thread dedicated to sketchy Daddyisabar's rocket launches

Those threads are deeply archived. Remember, you even survived the Crazy Train and Albatros DV launches right next to your awesome Titan and other foamy creations! That was a great day on the rarest of green grass days out on the Pawnee. Perfect weather, cool rockets and no STINKING Estes BP catos!

 

[Daddyisabar]

Mass producing BP motors cheaply enough is hard! Such a demand from all of the Sputnik crazed kids gazing into the October Sky! Who can solve the engineering problem? Who has the skill set in pyrotechnics and hydraulic bottling presses. Certification is required for SAFTEY! Many tried and are still trying, only one has totally succeeded. God bless Estes motors!

 

[burkefj]

Those threads are deeply archived. Remember, you even survived the Crazy Train and Albatros DV launches right next to your awesome Titan and other foamy creations! That was a great day on the rarest of green grass days out on the Pawnee. Perfect weather, cool rockets and no STINKING Estes BP catos!

My foamies are still shaking from fear and in counseling

 

[BEC]

There has been a hypothesis floated in another thread that the D12-3 CATOs seem to be associated with Hobby Lobby inventory disproportionately, so there could be something about the handling &/or storage in that channel.

That's an interesting thought. This is anecdotal only: I once was in a relatively local Hobby Lobby store that had just gotten a shipment of various things in. I was there to get some E16s or F15s (I don't recall which). Another box from the same shipment was a mess....some bottles of pre-mixed tempera paint (which is water-based) had burst due to freezing during shipment. I opted not to buy those motors, even thought that's what I was in the store for....

This makes me a little leery of recently-purchased-from-Hobby-Lobby D12-3s that I got on clearance, actually, now that I think of it.

 

[Art Upton]

That's an interesting thought. This is anecdotal only: I once was in a relatively local Hobby Lobby store that had just gotten a shipment of various things in. I was there to get some E16s or F15s (I don't recall which). Another box from the same shipment was a mess....some bottles of pre-mixed tempera paint (which is water-based) had burst due to freezing during shipment. I opted not to buy those motors, even thought that's what I was in the store for....

This makes me a little leery of recently-purchased-from-Hobby-Lobby D12-3s that I got on clearance, actually, now that I think of it.

What makes the D12-3 different from the D12-5 at Hobby Lobby?
Or is it that more D12-3s were sold due to the clearance sale?

 

[BEC]

Art, I think it was just that they were closing them out. Which means, of course, I should be leery of shipped-in-the-winter D12-5s I've bought there as well (and E12s).

 

[BABAR]

. The downside is the possible CATO.

“other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?”

 

[SolarYellow]

Put all my HL D12-3s in one place today. Out the wazzoo. Didn't exhaustively check the dates, but fortunately, not all of them were early 2023.

 

[PDawg]

I didn't mind a CATO in 1 out of 30 flights, but the recent lack of customer support concerns me. I'm going on week 4 of trying to get a CATO E-12 replaced. I've sent about 15 emails, got 7 different case numbers, a phone call, and still nothing. They are about to win as I'm about to give up and buy some composites for my nice rockets, and use up my current stash of BP to never get replaced. It used to take 2 emails and a week.

 

[cwbullet]

Put all my HL D12-3s in one place today. Out the wazzoo. Didn't exhaustively check the dates, but fortunately, not all of them were early 2023.

That may mean something. You will know after you fly them.