Quest Engines vs. Estes?

Wildman Rocketry
eggtimer rocketry
the model rocket show
The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
F

fenbay

Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2020
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Is there a significant difference? Are they interchangeable in terms of the standard A,B,C etc. 18mm,24mm?

Are the ignitors more robust for clustered launches? Just trying to get a feel for the differences. We've certainly not graduated to anything requiring clustered launches yet, but trying to learn.
 
I usually use Estes motors, but the newer composite Quest motors are nice too. Avoid the Chinese made Quest black powder motors if you can. They create a lot of soot and really make the inside of your rocket dirty.

The old Quest igniters were great for clustering, not sure if the new ones are any better than Estes for clustering. When clustering make sure you have a strong power source. The little Estes AA powered launch controller is marginal for clusters. You really want a car battery or something similar.
 
Speaking of differences, I have a question as to how they burn. If I am understanding correctly, black power motors burn from the bottom up, but composites burn from the inside-out.

In an Estes BP motor, the delay element does not start burning until the propellant is exhausted. However, it looks like in a Quest motor, the delay element is ignited at the same time as the propellant, thus burning in parallel. Am I understanding this right? Is there just more delay charge such that it will continue to burn after the propellant is exhausted (this giving the desired "net" delay)?

Here's a cutaway view.Q-jet-instructions.png
 
MichaelRapp said:
Speaking of differences, I have a question as to how they burn. If I am understanding correctly, black power motors burn from the bottom up, but composites burn from the inside-out.

In an Estes BP motor, the delay element does not start burning until the propellant is exhausted. However, it looks like in a Quest motor, the delay element is ignited at the same time as the propellant, thus burning in parallel. Am I understanding this right? Is there just more delay charge such that it will continue to burn after the propellant is exhausted (this giving the desired "net" delay)?

Here's a cutaway view.View attachment 403975
Click to expand...
You understand correctly. Quest delay grains are lit at motor ignition and continue to burn after the motor is done until they are motor burnout +X seconds, whereas BP delays dont start burning until the propellant is consumed. The net effect of both delays is the same however.
 
Zeus-cat said:
I usually use Estes motors, but the newer composite Quest motors are nice too. Avoid the Chinese made Quest black powder motors if you can. They create a lot of soot and really make the inside of your rocket dirty.
Click to expand...
And the casings were thin, sometimes burning through on a C motor. And sometimes the paper needed to be peeled off to fit in an Estes BT-20. The older German made Quest motors were nice, though, as are the new Q-Jets.

The old Quest igniters were great for clustering, not sure if the new ones are any better than Estes for clustering. When clustering make sure you have a strong power source. The little Estes AA powered launch controller is marginal for clusters. You really want a car battery or something similar.
Click to expand...
The new Q-Jets work well for clustering - I've successfully clustered them with Estes motors, using stock Q-Jet igniters for the Q-Jets, and MJG igniters for the Estes motors.
 
I've launched a LOT of the Chinese made Quest motors. They have a black and white label and the nozzle is beige color.
I know there were problems with the Chines C6 motors, I avoided those. The B6s seem to be good.
Noisier than the Estes and sooty!

The German made Quest engines have a four color label and a silver nozzle. Not as loud as the Chinese made engines but also sooty.
I'm just starting to use the American made composite Q-Jets.
 
The old quest Cs I think had a thinner casing or burned hotter, I had some minimum diameter birds that actually had browned scorch marks on the outer paint layer.

I tend to try to take my BP motors out of the rocket as soon as I recover it (seems like it is easier to get out when hot, if I leave them in until I get home, sometimes they stick and seem harder to get out. Then again, I do a lot of friction fitting, so maybe the masking tape adhesive is looser when it’s hot.). The Quest Cs were a lot hotter in my hand than the Estes motors were.
 
The Chinese Quest C's did have a thinner casing. They also were C4s and burned for 2.5 seconds, giving more time to get hot. I love them and still have a few left. I also still have a bunch of D5-OP, -4, and -6 motors :)
 

Similar threads

Rocketholic
Estes Amazon Rebuild(s)
Replies
14
Views
493
roy_lappalainen
roy_lappalainen
dpower
Q-Jet F41 first flight
Replies
6
Views
686
kjhambrick
K
M
Quest v. Estes Engines in LPRs
2
Replies
45
Views
5K
prfesser
prfesser
ReynoldsSlumber
Old tractors, new tractors: Flying Pitchfork, Cluster F, TetraJet
Replies
16
Views
604
cwbullet
cwbullet
K
Balanced Moments and Roll and Coning
2
Replies
48
Views
2K
Spacedog49Krell
Spacedog49Krell

Latest posts

Back
Top