swollen grain

[fyrwrxz]

I swear this has NEVER happened to me before so I'm looking for some input. I 'inherited' what looks to be a H180 motor in an opened bag minus the igniter. Looking thru the pile I looked at the grain that comes stuffed in the liner from the factory (Aerotech BTW) and it looks a little pooched. It's just slightly domed towards the center by slightly less than 2mm. The other grains look fine and square. I know AP is hyrdoscopic and wanted to know how badly this degrades the performance. Not sure how the internal pressure would affect the grain if it was weakened and plan on using it as the top grain if possible on a disposable bird. Can I just 'trim it square' or can I even just cut it up for igniter boosters? It would be sad to feed it to my roses.
>my alter ego says "test to destruct"!<

 

[edwinshap1]

white lightning can become oxidized. If you sand in the grain until it looks different (will look either lighter or darker) then you'll be good to go. otherwise it may take longer to light or will not light at all

 

[fyrwrxz]

Thanks Ed-I'll try it with a boosted igniter with a little mag added to light the rust. Ohh, sparkly!

 

[cmcain]

A 9mm bore brass bore brush for a pistol works great for scuffing up the core on old motors, I had to scuff the core on an I284 i july and it lit quick

 

[cavecentral]

Shouldn't be a problem. Don't put the 'bad' grain at the top of the motor. Put the easy to light ones there for the ignitor. I do that with even newer ones since the unsealed grain gets some oxidation.

 

[fyrwrxz]

I was worried if the structural integrity of the grain was compromised it would be subjected to more of a load from the g force of takeoff. Good call for ignition tho'! Thanks!
And thanks Cm for the bore brush idea...I'm gonna try that also