How does one snug up a loose FG nosecone?

[dhkaiser]

I have a 2.6" FG Madcow Tomach. The Tomach's FG nosecone is loose, so much so that it will fall out if held upside down. Any ideas on snuging it up?

 

[llickteig1]

I have a 2.6" FG Madcow Tomach. The Tomach's FG nosecone is loose, so much so that it will fall out if held upside down. Any ideas on snuging it up?

A small piece of masking tape. If that is too thick, use cellophane tape.

Better yet: shear pins.

--Lance.

 

[Bat-mite]

Yeah, no reason not to use shear pins, unless you are using motor deployment and are concerned about the charge size. The problem with tape is that you have to add and remove it depending on the temperature.

 

[dhkaiser]

Thanks guys, I will be launching without the forward BT/AV bay, so yes I plan on motor deployment. I will try some tape.

 

[FredA]

Caution using tape....in hot weather.
Tends to stick to both sides if left to "cook" in the sun.

 

[dave carver]

Shear pins really need a tight fit to shear off. Too much room and instead of cutting they try to pull out and can cause a jam between the cone and the inside of the body tube. When you do the tape put wraps just under the shoulder to the body tube and near the bottom of the cone so you have two bands around the base of the cone. This will prevent rocking of the cone.

 

[MikeyDSlagle]

Do a buildup with paint, filler or even epoxy then sand to fit. I've done it once with paint and again with epoxy. Of course the epoxy is harder to deal with but more permanent.

 

[neond7]

Caution using tape....in hot weather.
Tends to stick to both sides if left to "cook" in the sun.

I've had great luck with blue painters tape to snug up avionics bays - haven't had any issues with sticking, even in a very hot florida sun. I also put a light dusting of baby powder on it and rub it till it's a really thin coat.

 

[CORZERO]

I smear sufficiently thick layers of epoxy on the nose cone shoulder until over-snug then sand until desired tension is achieved.

 

[tomsteve]

seems to me that brushing on a laywr of epoxy or fiberglass resin would work good IF you can sand it evenly around the shoulder.
personally i use 1/2" panters tape used for auto painting- 2 rows- one at the top and one at the bottom of the shoulder. however much is necessary to make it so i can just lift the rocket by the nc without the nc coming out.
im not very familiar with fg in rocketry. does it expand and contract with heat changes? i ask as i remember back in the late 90's i hadda rocket with a plastic nc.flew it in the winter( sat in the bed of my truck, with a cap onnthe bed, for the 1 1/2 hour ride to the launch site) and had to addquite a bit of tape to get a snug fit. after sitting in my house for a week after i couldnt get the nc off and had to put it ouside for an hour to shrink the nc so i could get itback off.

 

[jd2cylman]

The other tape you can use is the aluminum foil tape. That you can burnish smooth and it never gets sticky on the outside. Works great. However the only width I've found is 2" or wider, so if you need a thinner strip, you'll have to trim it.

Adrian

 

[NateLowrie]

Shear pins really need a tight fit to shear off. Too much room and instead of cutting they try to pull out and can cause a jam between the cone and the inside of the body tube. When you do the tape put wraps just under the shoulder to the body tube and near the bottom of the cone so you have two bands around the base of the cone. This will prevent rocking of the cone.

You can always mitigate this by taking 2 small squares of sheet metal and installing them on the inside of the airframe and the outside of the nosecone shoulder. Drill your shear pin holes in the middle of the sheet metal squares. It will help the shearing action of the pin and should snug up the body tube fit. With motor ejection, 2 of the 2-56 shear pins should be enough.

 

[crossfire]

Just keep it simple. Use masking tape. Just use enough tape so you can lift fully loaded rocket up by the nosecone and give it a little shake. if nose cone moves just a small amount its perfect. Don't make this a big deal. We all have used masking tape for many years. I always run the tape length wise with the nosecone shoulder and run it a little past and fold over and press it down nice and tight.