How Long Do Engines Stay Good?

[supertaco]

I have an E5-6 Flight Systems International [Raytown Missouri] motor from 1985, unused on my desk. Maybe I should test fire it? I bet it would work quite well.

 

[Toyguy]

I flew a Rocketflite H220 Silver Streak BP motor at NERRF5 that performed wonderfully. I'd guess that motor had to be 10-15 years old. Always stored indoors but never sealed up in anything other than my range boxes.

 

[MarkII]

I have Estes A10-0Ts and A3-0Ts that are almost 20 years old; they work just fine.

MarkII

 

[shreadvector]

If anyone is firing old decertified motors, be sure to take part in the old motor testing program to get them recertified for testing purposes and then report the results.

I tested a bunch of FSI motors a few months ago and the data was useful. After I sent in my results i got the following response:
"First E5-0s and D20-3s in the pool. Estes C5-3s are now 3 bad out of 24 tested, although yours were the only ones from those lots tested. Glad you could burn some old ones for us!"

Note that C5-3 motors were definitely prone to "bad lots" which is one of the reasons they were discontinued. Here are my test results and you can see the good vs. bad lot effect on the C5-3 motors that I had.

Decertified motors:
Mfg designation (qty) date code: Date flown Results
FSI E5-0 (6) AUG 1987 5 flown 8/1/2009 1 cato - blow through just past top of launch rod.
1 flown 12/5/2009 1 cato - blow through just past top of launch rod.

FSI D20-3 (3) FEB 1988 2 flown 8/1/2009 2 catos - blow through just past top of launch rod. 3rd motor not fired yet – will destroy via underground firing.

Estes B4-6 (3) 31 T 7 3 flown 8/1/2009 all worked perfectly
Estes C5-3 (3) 16 T 10 2 flown 7/25/2009 2 catos – split casing at ignition. 3rd motor not fired yet – will destroy via underground firing.
Estes C5-3 (3) 20 Y 7 3 flown 7/25/2009 all worked perfectly

Certified but old motors: (since these were all working, I folded the rest of them into my ‘normal’ motor supply and stopped recording any special data. If I notice anything bad, I will fill out a M.E.S.S. form and you will get that data through normal reporting channels.)
Estes D12-0 (3) 5 U 2
Estes D12-0 (2) 10 R 8
Estes D12-0 (4) 15 Q 9
Estes D12-7 (2) 25 T 9
Estes D12-3 (3) 14 T 8 3 flown 7/25/2009 all worked perfectly
Estes D12-3 (4) 30 T 10 1 flown 7/25/2009 worked perfectly

 

[shreadvector]

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Expired Motor Testing Program​

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Do you have old rocket motors in good condition that are no longer on the list of certified motors because they have been out of production for a while? The NAR has a program called the "Expired Motor Testing Program" that can permit you to fly them under certain specific conditions and have their flight be within the NAR Safety Code and insurance.

This program only applies to motors that were previously NAR certified and whose certification was removed due to going out of production, not for safety reasons. It requires that you provide a list of the motors to be flown, with date codes, and with the date and place where they will be flown, in advance to NAR VP Ted Cochran. Ted will review the list to make sure the motors were previously certified and issue an approval with certain specific additional safety requirements. This constitutes temporary certification for that day (not for contest use). Post-launch, the flier must report back how the motor(s) performed so we can accumulate reliability data on old motors.
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[shreadvector]

"Calling Trip Barber. Your wife wants to ask you what happened to the toaster oven..."

I thought we all agreed never to speak of that again? :y:

 

[shreadvector]

I wonder how this went and I wonder how the firing at an extremely low temperature went. Considering "space" is a lot colder than the temperature that the motors ever experienced on Earth. unless they warmed them up by pointing the motor side toward the sun....

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2008/11/endeavour-re-entry-edwards-landing-possible/