Cellulose Wadding Question?

[johnnwwa]

My question is this I saw a post on cellulose wadding that you can get at Home Depot. Do any of you out there in rocketland use this product? Also would like to hear Pro's and Cons about using this product.
Sidebar... Work continues on my OOP Der Ver 3 and Fat Boy
Seams filled and fins attached and sanded & two coats of sanding sealer nosecone sanded next step fin fillets I'm using Apogee Fix-It then on to primer and more sanding. Stay tuned.
John

 

[sandman]

Stuff is soooo cheap! And works great!

Lifetime supply for about $6 or $7.

I use it for packing in shipments...I just put it into zip lock bags.

Better than packing popcorn...you can take it to your next launch in the ziplock bag.

sandman

 

[raw9jr]

pro's - Works great, is cheap, biodegradeable etc.
con's - doesn't hold shape as well as tp type wadding and can shift (downwards) during lift off.

I like it.

 

[n3tjm]

Regular wadding can do that too.... I usually stuff in some dog barf over the top of the motor mount, and old it in place with a paper plug made out of a piece of cardboard. For BT-60 and smaller rokcets, I use regular wadding to acomplish this goal.

 

[astrowolf67]

I love the stuff. You get an endless supply for about 6 bucks. It's environment friendly and it doesn't look like litter scattered about the field. The only con I can think of, is if you pack it down in too tight, it can prevent the chute from ejecting. I usually put in a single sheet of Estes wadding, and then drop some cellulose in. Rule of thumb is to fill the tube enough to equal twice the diameter. Be sure to "fluff" it up before you put it in.

 

[prowlerguy]

I don't know about anyone else, but I have found that I have trouble getting good protection from celluose in my 13mm and 18mm bodytubes. Of course, for the larger rockets, it just takes too much TP to seal, so I usually use a combo, with the TP serving as a "wadding bulkhead" of sorts.

 

[powderburner]

Yes indeed it works very well!

I hardly ever use Estes ejection wadding anymore. Dog barf (are we gonna abbrev this stuff as DB?) is just too easy to use.

I agree with astrowolf's recommendation to use two-diameter's-worth of protection, or even more if you have a long rocket and plenty of internal space. I don't bother to 'fluff up' the stuff very much, I just get it loose enough to fit inside the rocket and then I gently tamp it down a bit. I have not had any problems with failure-to-deploy, because the Estes ejection charges have a pretty good kick these days. Cons?---I can't find any.

 

[wwattles]

I've invested in a pair of nomex heat shields for each size, and they've worked great. I even cut a small one into a micro-shield that can fit into a BT-50. The only kit I still use Estes wadding for is my Gemini DC. It's hard enough packing the chutes in there, let alone any fluffy DB. (See, powderburner? I used it!)

WW

 

[Vance in AK]

It's all I use in anything from our smallest up to largest(Super Big Bertha). Have had one singed chute on a rocket my 10 yr old daughter prepped with out help, so I'm not thinking that was neccessacarily(sp) an equipment failure. That's out of a lot of flights.
It's the only way to go for me, although I may try baffles just for fun.

 

[rbeckey]

I have used cellulose wadding for about two years and have yet to have a singed chute. Baffle work equally as well in my experience. I build in baffles when possible. CW is very little hassle, baffles are even less.

 

[flying_silverad]

The only draw back is residue. But, if you take a papertowel to the inside of the BT once in a while, there isn't any problem.
It cheap, and seems to melt into the grass after a couple of rain storms. I think color helps it blend in as well.

 

[edwardw]

I had been looking for some of this stuff at my home depot - its hard to find. I asked two people before one knew what I was looking for. I love the stuff - you get a 22 lb bale (literally, a bale) for around $7. I just tried some out with ejection charges that were in the 4-6 gram range and I had no singe problems at all. I have always been a fan of cellulose - in the houses I build I spray it in in huge amounts. Far nicer if you ever have to go in the attic for any reason- you don't have to bath in fiberglass and be all itchy.