plastic plugs for Estes Engines

[accooper]

Anyone know which plastic plugs go with which Estes engines? I just had a load of engines given to me but all the plugs are all mixed up. Or do you know a site which has this info?

TIA
Andrew From Texas

 

[Donaldsrockets]

Anyone know which plastic plugs go with which Estes engines? I just had a load of engines given to me but all the plugs are all mixed up. Or do you know a site which has this info?

TIA
Andrew From Texas

1/4A3, 1/2A3, A3 - Orange

A10 - Green

1/2A6, A8, B4 - Yellow

B6, C6 - Magenta

B8, C5 - Blue (these motors have been OOP for several years)

D12 - White

C11, E9 - Black

 

[MarkII]

The little folded set of instructions that are inserted in every pack of Estes motors contains a chart that shows which color igniter plugs go with which motors.

MarkII

 

[hcmbanjo]

Here's the copy from a tip I sent in to EMRR.

"After all the years of using the Estes style igniter plugs, I've never memorized the color code. Many times I'll find a loose plug without that power tag on the end.

I keep all plugs (all colors) in a snack size ziploc bag. Cut out the plug color chart off the engine instruction sheet. I taped it to the outside of the igniter baggie. Now I know what color to look for before opening the bag or trying to find and read the power tag ends."

 

[MarkII]

I sort my plugs into small individual snap-top boxes. The color of the top corresponds to the color of the plug. (And yes, I even have one lid that I painted with tiger stripes for a box that holds - you guessed it - my Quest Tiger Tacks. ) Then I used a Sharpie to write the motors that use that color of plug on the tops of each container. The boxes fit right into my motor case.

MarkII

 

[GuyNoir]

I keep my plugs in an Altoids container (empty of Altoids, of course!) with the color chart taped to the inside of the lid. It takes up less space than your quite excellent, but somewhat bulky color coded solution.

 

[accooper]

Thanks. That helped a lot. I had a person give me about fifty different motors and everything was loose.

Andrew

 

[mjennings]

nice 50 free motors!

My set up is similar to GuyNoir's I bought a travel soap box from walgreens, with the id card taped to it. Best part about the plugs is if you can find them they are reusable.

 

[spacecadet]

When you get them in complete sets, just use them from the far end so you always have a tag attached. Mind you, I can't always read it even with glasses.
We always have to pick ours up otherwise the sheep would choke on them. They're good for a few launches if you run out.
So is a small plug of wadding or a bit of cocktail stick.

 

[georgegassaway]

FWIW - when I have run short or misplaced engine plugs, I have simply used a bit of clay. Roll it into a short cylinder with a point at one end. Insert the igniter into the nozzle. Then insert the pointed end of the clay cylinder into the nozzle and press it to “squash” the clay into shape to conform to the nozzle shape. Works great.

- George Gassaway

 

[The EGE]

I just keep em all in one container. I pretty much only fly mini motors, A8, B6, C6, and D12s, so I just know that orange is all the minis except A10s, green is A10, yellow A8, purple B6 and C6, and white D12.

Also: has anyone ever had plugs that don't fit? For some reason, about half my C6s lately don't fit their plugs, and I have to use smaller plus to fit.

 

[MarkII]

I keep my plugs in an Altoids container (empty of Altoids, of course!) with the color chart taped to the inside of the lid. It takes up less space than your quite excellent, but somewhat bulky color coded solution.

Well, I have about a ton of them, so multiple containers were pretty much a necessity anyway. Or I could put them all in one larger container, and have yet another thing to tote around when I go to a launch. I got the little snap lid containers at a dollar store, and they fit perfectly in my motor case.

MarkII

 

[luke strawwalker]

Anyone know which plastic plugs go with which Estes engines? I just had a load of engines given to me but all the plugs are all mixed up. Or do you know a site which has this info?

TIA
Andrew From Texas

If you have any of the instructions from a pack of engines, the ingnitor plug colors and engine type chart is printed on the instructions. I cut one of these off a set of instructions and taped it inside my motor box right above the area where I store the plugs, for easy to read reference when prepping rockets.

HANDY!!! OL JR

 

[Queeg500]

If anyone else has 50 or more engines they want to give away just PM Queeg500. thanks.

 

[shreadvector]

I just keep em all in one container. I pretty much only fly mini motors, A8, B6, C6, and D12s, so I just know that orange is all the minis except A10s, green is A10, yellow A8, purple B6 and C6, and white D12.

Also: has anyone ever had plugs that don't fit? For some reason, about half my C6s lately don't fit their plugs, and I have to use smaller plus to fit.

There was at least one run of C6 motor packs about 2 years ago that had the A8/B4 (and 1/2A6 but it does not say so on the tab) plastic plugs that had been molded with the purple plastic. So, they read A8/B4 and were sized for the larger nozzles, but since they were purple, the packaging folks stuck them in the C6 packages.

The only other reason a purple plug would not fit a B6 or C6 motor is if you has an old motor from the 1970's when the nozzles were even tinier. They used a different brand of black powder back then and so they were engineered differently.

 

[shreadvector]

By the way, we had a scout group that just bought a bunch of A8-5 (new production) 3 packs off the peg at a hobby shop and they had the igniters in the upper blister compartment but were missing the plugs. Lots of packs.

Note to Estes lurkers: wake up the QA folks.

 

[NjCo]

Note to Estes lurkers: wake up the QA folks.

They have QA folks!! :eyepop:

 

[MarkII]

In the past five years since I became a BAR, I have never seen purple igniter plugs. Which sounds like a good thing. I was quite surprised to see igniter plugs in engine packs when I started back up with the hobby; previously, I had always used either tape or the old technique of a small ball of recovery wadding. I was concerned at first that they might block the nozzle exit, but that has never happened, and as you (Fred) outlined previously on one of the forums, it cannot happen with igniter plugs. I also worried that I would forever be running short of them, but in fact I have almost always had an overabundance. And that would be the case even if I didn't scavenge around the pads for used plugs at the end of the launch day.

MarkII

 

[Peartree]

FWIW - when I have run short or misplaced engine plugs, I have simply used a bit of clay. Roll it into a short cylinder with a point at one end. Insert the igniter into the nozzle. Then insert the pointed end of the clay cylinder into the nozzle and press it to “squash” the clay into shape to conform to the nozzle shape. Works great.

- George Gassaway

George,

Have you tried this with MMX motors? I've tried Micromeister's tiny ball of wadding method with limited success.

 

[The EGE]

George,

Have you tried this with MMX motors? I've tried Micromeister's tiny ball of wadding method with limited success.

I just use Estes igniters with MMX stuff. Sure, they aren't cheap, but I fly more booster motors than MMX so I always have extras. Just pick the smallest ones out of your range box so they fit in the nozzle.

 

[evil ed]

George,

Have you tried this with MMX motors? I've tried Micromeister's tiny ball of wadding method with limited success.

I use the wadding spitball method with all 15mm, 18mm and 24mm motors. I have a lot fewer misfires with this method than I do with the plugs

 

[georgegassaway]

Have you tried this with MMX motors? I've tried Micromeister's tiny ball of wadding method with limited success.

Previously I had the ignitor mounted to the pad and the model sitting on it. but for NARAM in 1/8A Copter, I had a different launch set-up and due to the wind it was not practical to just let the model sit on top of the ignitor. So, I did use clay to hold the ignitor in the nozzle of the MMX motor. That worked fine.

- George Gassaway

 

[Mikus]

Here's the copy from a tip I sent in to EMRR.

"After all the years of using the Estes style igniter plugs, I've never memorized the color code. Many times I'll find a loose plug without that power tag on the end.

I keep all plugs (all colors) in a snack size ziploc bag. Cut out the plug color chart off the engine instruction sheet. I taped it to the outside of the igniter baggie. Now I know what color to look for before opening the bag or trying to find and read the power tag ends."

Instructions at point of use. That's very Deming of you.

 

[Mikus]

They have QA folks!! :eyepop:

Yup, us. :bangpan: