Composite Quest motor Red Plastic Ejection Caps & Ejection Baffles?????

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Paul Howard

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Hi, I recently got my first Composite motors from Apogee Rockets, B6-4W's and C12-6F's and they will be used in rockets that have Ejection Baffles. The motors have a dinky Red Cap on Top of the Ejection charge, I'm under the impression those should be removed or they will get trapped and clog up an ejection baffle. So, once I remove the Red Caps, Should I replace them with something that will burn up quickly and completely such as a small wad of toilet paper or paper towel?
Thanks!
 
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Hi, I recently got my first Composite motors from Apogee Rockets, B6-4W's and C12-6F's and they will be used in rockets that have Ejection Baffles. The motors have a dinky Red Cap on Top of the Ejection charge, I'm under the impression those should be removed or they will get trapped and clog up an ejection baffle. So, once I remove the Red Caps, Should I replace them with something that will burn up such as a small wad of toilet paper?
Thanks!
I think a bit of tape usually does the trick.
 
Are the rockets already built? If not, you might consider building the motor mount in such a way that the tube barely extends beyond the forward centering ring. That way, you can shake the red cap out of the lower body tube after removing the motor casing.

The motor mount below is for 29mm motors. The tube extends just 3/32" beyond the forward centering ring. That's enough to get a good epoxy fillet on the CR, but short enough that the red cap will drop back through with a little shaking of the rocket. I built it this way specifically to avoid the problem of caps getting trapped.

03.jpg
 
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Are the rockets already built? If not, you might consider building the motor mount in such a way that the tube barely extends beyond the forward centering ring. That way, you can shake the red cap out of the lower body tube after removing the motor casing.

The motor mount below is for 29mm motors. The tube extends just 3/32" beyond the forward centering ring. That's enough to get a good epoxy fillet on the CR, but short enough that the red cap will drop back through with a little shaking of the rocket. I built it this way specifically to avoid the problem of caps getting trapped.

View attachment 504655
Yes, the rockets are already built and one is being built and so far, all have motor mounts similar to what you have pictured. I'm picturing the shaking movement similar to the toy commonly known in the USA as a "Mexican YoYo" which I believe to be of Aztec origin (catch the tethered ball in the top of the cup on top of a handle) to get the cap back down the tube. Good idea.

The one possible problem might be the holes in the baffle being close enough in size to have the Red Caps get stuck in one of the holes with a good ejection blast. But good idea. Thanks!
 
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The one possible problem might be the holes in the baffle being close enough in size to have the Red Caps get stuck in one of the holes.
Depends on the type of baffle. Mine is an Apogee baffle, with seven small holes in the center of the aft baffle plate, all of which are quite a bit smaller than the ejection charge cap.

28.jpg
 
Depends on the type of baffle. Mine is an Apogee baffle, with seven small holes in the center of the aft baffle plate, all of which are quite a bit smaller than the ejection charge cap.

View attachment 504657
Some of mine are Apogee brand like what you have pictured, some are home-made, some are Apogee that I've modified too. Thanks!
 
Leave the ejection cap on. First, it almost certainly would be considered modifying the motor, violating NAR safety code (Check with AT). Second, the caps are small enough to not pose a problem. I’ve flown a cluster of 3 with caps on, and a baffle. Caps fall out when the motors are removed.
 
Leave the ejection cap on. First, it almost certainly would be considered modifying the motor, violating NAR safety code (Check with AT). Second, the caps are small enough to not pose a problem. I’ve flown a cluster of 3 with caps on, and a baffle. Caps fall out when the motors are removed.
The only place I've had AT caps get stuck is in AT steel wool baffles.
 
Are the rockets already built? If not, you might consider building the motor mount in such a way that the tube barely extends beyond the forward centering ring. That way, you can shake the red cap out of the lower body tube after removing the motor casing.

The motor mount below is for 29mm motors. The tube extends just 3/32" beyond the forward centering ring. That's enough to get a good epoxy fillet on the CR, but short enough that the red cap will drop back through with a little shaking of the rocket. I built it this way specifically to avoid the problem of caps getting trapped.

View attachment 504655


Addendum to this idea (Which is a good one) The other reason this is good is when you fly a short motor like an "F" the ejection charge does not char up the top of the motor tube. After a few flights, a longer mount tube will be so crusted up that you will have a tough time getting that H motor in there later. This is from direct experience not speculation. I then realized, Why waste all that extra motor tube anyway, use it for other rockets.... Just remember to put the baffle up far enough for whatever longest motor you may want to put in there, leaving enough room for the recovery device. (Which also moves CG forward, a good thing.)
 
Depending on the baffle type you should be fine. If you have the 1/2 moon shape then it's just a matter of shaking out the rocket until it falls out. The Apogee baffles don't have holes large enough for them to get into the baffle so generally not an issue. If you have the twin tube style then I would absolutely remove the plug as getting anything out of those is a royal PITA.

While I don't use Quest motors any longer, I use to remove those plugs all the time on rockets with the twin tube baffles. I'd replace it with a small piece of wadding and thin scotch tape. Worked perfect every time.
 
Depending on the baffle type you should be fine. If you have the 1/2 moon shape then it's just a matter of shaking out the rocket until it falls out. The Apogee baffles don't have holes large enough for them to get into the baffle so generally not an issue. If you have the twin tube style then I would absolutely remove the plug as getting anything out of those is a royal PITA.

While I don't use Quest motors any longer, I use to remove those plugs all the time on rockets with the twin tube baffles. I'd replace it with a small piece of wadding and thin scotch tape. Worked perfect every time.

Thanks for the info, I have both the home-made and Apogee "1/2 moon" types and the Apogee ones with offset holes only. Everything you said confirms what I thought. I could swear I read or watched a youtube where somewhere someone talked about removal of a plastic or paper cap from composite motors when using ejection baffles and doing basically what you mentioned.
 
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