First Cato - ejection charge (but nothing else) fired at ignition - how possible?

[ericm541]

Just out of curiosity what kind of igniter did you use?

 

[billdz]

Just out of curiosity what kind of igniter did you use?

The one that came with the reload, a standard AT igniter.

 

[ericm541]

The one that came with the reload, a standard AT igniter.

Right the first time, did aerotech send another igniter with your parts, if not then you would of had to find another igniter or open another reload for one. I'm just saying there's different size igniters out there, some people make their own and they can be powerful.

 

[afadeev]

[FONT=&amp]I finally had the opportunity on Saturday to retry the J800 with the replacement parts sent by Aerotech in December, but unfortunately the result was even worse. The first time, there was just a blow-by and the propellant did not ignite. This time, the rocket lifted a few feet off the pad, started to descend, then the motor fired and the rocket went up 176' before cocking sideways and crash landing, starting a fire.[/FONT]

So, what are the facts on hand this time around?
Did either aft of forward enclosures separate (got ejected from) from the case?
Any other obvious signs of something failing?

The motor, eventually, ignited, came up to pressure, and burned.
Eventually being the operative word, and why it did not burn linearly is the puzzle.

Without any further data to go on, my guess is that there was something not right with the top motor grain. Which may, or may not be, related (caused by? correlated with?) the earlier aborted flight.
:confused2:

a

 

[billdz]

Right the first time, did aerotech send another igniter with your parts, if not then you would of had to find another igniter or open another reload for one. I'm just saying there's different size igniters out there, some people make their own and they can be powerful.

It was not a home made igniter, it was from AT, they sent me a fresh one along with the new parts.

So, what are the facts on hand this time around?
Did either aft of forward enclosures separate (got ejected from) from the case?
Any other obvious signs of something failing?

The motor, eventually, ignited, came up to pressure, and burned.
Eventually being the operative word, and why it did not burn linearly is the puzzle.

Without any further data to go on, my guess is that there was something not right with the top motor grain. Which may, or may not be, related (caused by? correlated with?) the earlier aborted flight. You may be right, also perhaps falingtrea's idea that the nozzle was damaged during the first flight. I did not see any sign of damage on the nozzle or the grains, but something must have been wrong.
a

The case was closed and intact. The nozzle was damaged, as Karl from AT noted, see the photo. Yes, once it started flying straight up after the initial drop, I had some hope that things would turn out OK, but no such luck.

 

[Steve Shannon]

I would pack it all up and send it to Karl. As is. Let him do the post mortem on it.