What are the effects on rockets from extreme weather?

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TheSamurai

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Here in Idaho we go through both very cold and very warm weather periods. From negative degree temperatures in the winter to above 100 in the summer. I have my rockets in a shed which has no temperature control in it. Is this a problem in either direction?

Thanks in advance!
 
I'm no expert/authority, but from my experience:

High heat may affect some glues and paints. Epoxies and cyanoacrylates are generally not a problem, but aliphatic resins ("white" and "yellow" glue) can be.

Some older forms of "BlueTube" and similar airframe materials were known to swell in high heat. This has not seemed to be a problem with the later generation stuff.

If you tend to use masking tape or something similar to tighten airframe/nose cone fits and such, don't leave it on when you store at high temps - it will get sticky and gooey.

There is little to worry about with just temperature extremes - the real thing to be concerned with is temperature extremes coupled with humidity problems. Just cold will likely not harm anything, but cold and wet can cause all kinds of problems. Same goes for higher temps along with high humidity. As long as your shed is dry, and your rockets are stored dry, I doubt you will see any problems.

For what it's worth I also deal with extreme temperature shifts. All my stuff also stays outside here in the southwest desert, and in the winter it is often below zero during the night at least. During the summer, it's common for temps to be WELL above 100 degrees. And as anyone can tell you who goes to the Hellfire launches - it gets HOT out there on the salt flats in July and August. I've never had any problems due to high or low temps, and my fleet consists of everything from paper & balsa rockets built with Titebond, to BlueTube and AC ply built with hobby grade epoxies, to carbon and fibreglass built with high-grade epoxies. I also store all my propellant/igniters/etc. outside. And those temperature extremes have not been a problem.

Now, ask me about trying to PAINT & finish during the winter when I have no indoor facilities (like I'm trying to do right now), and I can give you all kinds of horror stories.

s6
 
I'm no expert either, but I don't think freezing temperatures can be good for any epoxy bond. It would seem that the epoxy might crack if subjected to freezing temperatures.
 
Extreme temperatures will undo West Systems. Tg of 120F doesn't play nice with 114-degree-in-the-shade Black Rock weather.

Any other serious epoxy wouldn't care, though.

However, it's also only an issue if you fly them in such extreme heat. As long as the stresses aren't high, even West Systems wouldn't have a problem being stored in ~110 F temperatures.
 
On cold temperatures, avoid kits with plastic (aerotech fins and quantum tubes). You may have fit issues with pistons and nosecones. Also, it's harder to use electronics for deployment since batteries are weaker.
 

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