OpenRocket problems with Estes E and F motors

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Barkley

Barkley

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Does anyone else have issues with OpenRocket and Estes BP motors? The thrust and delay (even some diameters) aren't what's in the box.
 
which motors are trying to find? Estes has Es in both 24mm(E9, E12) and 29mm(E16) while the Fs are 29mm(F15). from my brief glance at OR everything looks kosher.
Rex
 
My E12s are just big firecrackers. The thrust and delay is definitely not what it says. I am a glutton for punishment. Totally blew up 3 rockets on 3 motors from one pack and opened another and proceeded to blow up my fourth rocket. 2 of the 4 were brand new builds. It has scared me away from buying e12s. Why are the major online retailers still selling bad batches of these? Sorry to hijack. Carry on. One cato is entertaining, every one after just hurts.
 
Nantucketdink said:
My E12s are just big firecrackers. The thrust and delay is definitely not what it says. I am a glutton for punishment. Totally blew up 3 rockets on 3 motors from one pack and opened another and proceeded to blow up my fourth rocket. 2 of the 4 were brand new builds. It has scared me away from buying e12s. Why are the major online retailers still selling bad batches of these? Sorry to hijack. Carry on. One cato is entertaining, every one after just hurts.
Click to expand...

Contact Estes Customer service and file MESS reports, E9's have been known to cato regularly (some lots anyways) not sure how common E12 catos are but definitely contact Estes.
 
Nantucketdink said:
My E12s are just big firecrackers. The thrust and delay is definitely not what it says. I am a glutton for punishment. Totally blew up 3 rockets on 3 motors from one pack and opened another and proceeded to blow up my fourth rocket. 2 of the 4 were brand new builds. It has scared me away from buying e12s. Why are the major online retailers still selling bad batches of these? Sorry to hijack. Carry on. One cato is entertaining, every one after just hurts.
Click to expand...

Sorry for your painful experience. I've got some old E9s and the couple flights I made from one pack was fine. But I've heard so many complaints that I've built a couple simple rockets to test fly any new package of E9s or E12s just to hopefully assure myself a good flight on a really nice rocket in my fleet. Although I think I've read about packages that had both normal flights and CATOs. Talk about Russian Roulette!
 
E12 motors with 8-18-11 and 11-15-11 date codes had high CATO rates for me and others in my club. All date codes after have been fine. The *reported* failure rates must not have been high enough to trigger any NAR action.
 
Thanks for mentioning date codes. I've got a few D12s and E9s, plus a huge inventory of 24mm RMS reloads, so it may be awhile before I feel the need to purchase any E12s. My interest at first is likely for E12-0 booster motors.
 
Nantucketdink said:
My E12s are just big firecrackers. The thrust and delay is definitely not what it says. I am a glutton for punishment. Totally blew up 3 rockets on 3 motors from one pack and opened another and proceeded to blow up my fourth rocket. 2 of the 4 were brand new builds. It has scared me away from buying e12s. Why are the major online retailers still selling bad batches of these? Sorry to hijack. Carry on. One cato is entertaining, every one after just hurts.
Click to expand...

I've seen similar things happen across the E and F spectrum. Had it happen to me. Thus my new signature line. Sounds like you had it worse.

As a bonus, when you report it to Estes, they'll send you some shiny new grenades.
 
Not to derail the discussion, but the initial question was regarding OpenRocket and Estes motors. I've not noticed anything wrong with OR's listings with the few that I've checked, are there specific motors that anyone can point out that're incorrect?
 
Spurkey said:
Not to derail the discussion, but the initial question was regarding OpenRocket and Estes motors. I've not noticed anything wrong with OR's listings with the few that I've checked, are there specific motors that anyone can point out that're incorrect?
Click to expand...

I've purchased several Estes 29mm 16-8s, but I only see Estes E16-0 as an option in OR. Also, when I select the B6-4 or B4-5 motors from the list the delay gets "changed" to B4-2 when it's actually in the MMT. The rocket in question is clustered, and it happens in every MMT other than the first one. I can upload examples if necessary.
 
Doesn't seem to do that for version 15.03. Post a file.

kj
 
Last edited:
The uploader seems to be down...

What I did was have a 54mm BT and 4x18mm MMTs internally, then 4x18mm external MMTs as pods. All the external MMTs had issues with B6-5 turning into B4-2s.

I'm running 15.03.
 
Last edited:
Barkley said:
The uploader seems to be down...

What I did was have a 54mm BT and 4x18mm MMTs internally, then 4x18mm external MMTs as pods. All the external MMTs had issues with B6-5 turning into B4-2s.

I'm running 15.03.
Click to expand...

I've just realized my error, where I can set the delay for the engine. Feeling rather sheepish at the moment.
 
Another OR question. When you do a weight override for the fins, is that for one fin (and OR assumes all fin weights are the same and multiplies by the number of fins), or for all of them?
 
ah an easy one, mass over ride is for all fins. weigh one and multiply by number of fins or, weigh them all.
Rex
 
OK, last OR question I swear. How do you model for a cable cutter deployment? Put in drogue/parachute cord with no mass and reduced surface area for the event at apogee, then a separate chute (with mass) for main deployment?
 
Barkley said:
OK, last OR question I swear. How do you model for a cable cutter deployment? Put in drogue/parachute cord with no mass and reduced surface area for the event at apogee, then a separate chute (with mass) for main deployment?
Click to expand...

Yes.
 

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