Q-Jet Follies

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Hmmm, I've only flown a handful of e26s (about 5 or 6), but I've flown a bunch of other 24mm Q-Jets and I love them (prob about 20-30 in total, I really like them). They tend to "stutter"/chuff a bit and then fly off, but I've never had a full-on ignition failure. I've flown them from the two clubs I frequent, Which for ROCC we just use a car battery, and the other is Dalzell. I've also flown them from an Estes PS-2 pro controller (I think that's what I had), and a circuit breaker to a 2s and 3s. Never any problems.
 
I flew a Quest E26-7 today and it ignited normally but at about 400 ft up, it chuffed 3 times and only went about 700 ft total. It simmed to 1600 ft. The LSO said he had never seen or heard a 4 speed rocket motor before.😂
The motor, at recovery, had a small blown out side near the nozzle that burned through the end of the motor tube only. I will file a MESS report if that is required. I am also going to email pictures and report to Aerotech.
 
rdrown said:
I will file a MESS report if that is required. I am also going to email pictures and report to Aerotech.
Click to expand...
I would say based your description of the motor case, motor tube; Yes file a mess report. Or at least post photo here, and we'll let you know thoughts.
 
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The following pictures are of the Q-jet E26-7W that faulted on me yesterday. (See post number 32 above).
I assume that the number 052621 is the lot number.
Should I post a MESS report? I am planning on sending an email to AeroTech to let them know also.
 

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Most of my club has stopped flying QJets of all kinds because they fail to ignite more than Estes and even when they do ignite, they chuff, vary wildly on propulsion from one to another and just overall bad luck. I never bothered with the white lighting ones because the black ones were just down right pitiful on lifting power, even with Estes kits.
 
Tractionengines said:
YES. A fully charged 4S is 16V with LOTS of current capacity. It could easily be heating the wire too fast and popping it off the tip, with only some of the pyrogen burning.

Try a 12V battery and see it it doesn't work better. (Or a series resistor to limit current, so the wire heats a couple milliseconds slower.)
Click to expand...
Armed with a three-pack of spare FirstFire Micro ignitors and a 6.6 v 2S LiFe battery, I tested the above theory this morning. None of the ignitors were "enhanced." Yes, they were inserted all the way, and secured firmly with the supplied Q-pic.

I really wanted to report some good news. Unfortunately, not.

 
I have a busy day, but will try to light off a couple of E26's tonight, and record what happens. (I HAVE some older ones with questionable nozzles, that I was going to fly in possibly "expendable" rockets.) For this I will just secure them in the ground nozzle up and set off with a PS2 controller with either 6C batteries, abd/or a 3S lipo.

What is your date code? ( I will see if I have equal or close.)
 
Have you tried them without using the Q-pics? Using wadding and masking tape for example or even poster putty? Maybe that would give better contact with the propellant.
 
This is my "Questionable Motors" bin. Note these are mostly Pre Q-pick. The E's have White heatshrink tubes. The bin IS sealed case, and each compartment has a couple small desiccant packs.
20231011_124908.jpg

The E26's are dated 052621, and a D22 I will fire is dated 052121.

I'll check my other motor storage bins for your date codes tonight.
 
We had a couple of chuffs at the launch over the weekend. One was pretty scary and close to becoming a landshark.
 
Ok. Phone died, so I only got a little testing done. I DID have motors with the exact same date code as one of yours (062222-01), so I used that pack for testing.
20231011_182949.jpg
20231011_183038.jpg
20231011_183206.jpg
20231011_183318.jpg

Controller was my Estes PSII with Duracell "C" batteries. No prep work, or enhancements. Just took the motors out of package, install starter, hook up leads, and let my son countdown, and push the GO button.

1st motor, 1st Starter = Large chuff, failed to light motor.


1st motor, 2nd Starter = lit very quick, with a good burn. No other prep work. Just install another First Fire Starter.


2nd motor, 1st Starter = a couple small / quick chuffs, and lit. This is what I typically see with the E26 motors.
 
sr205347d said:
So that is what the Q in Q-Jet stands for? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Not really... all the motors in that case are EARLY production Q-Jets. BEFORE they changed the clay used for the nozzle. Even with storage that way... About 50% will have a nozzle failure of some type, (partial crumbling, off axis thrust, or blow out completely, the ones that "fly well" will still show considerable erosion.

So they are just "play motors for low value rockets"... still fun, and we'll burn thru them eventually.
 
rdrown said:
The following pictures are of the Q-jet E26-7W that faulted on me yesterday. (See post number 32 above).
I assume that the number 052621 is the lot number.
Should I post a MESS report? I am planning on sending an email to AeroTech to let them know also.
Click to expand...
Ah, the dreaded Columbia Space Shuttle burnthrough. Been there, done that. I gave up on Q-Jets after numerous issues; about 1 in 3 launches had a major problem.
 
I haven't had major ignition issues, but I've sure had a lot of reliability issues - CATOs of various manifestations. Some made it off the pad, other just blew on the pad. The E26's have been the main offenders for me. Here's my Lil' Nuke which barely cleared the rod before turning into a Roman Candle.

1697122775466.png
 
So ...

I just last week received one-pack each D22-10W ( Batch 052221-01 ), E26-10W ( Batch 033123 ) and E35-11W ( Batch 051723 ).

Are the problems described in this thread limited to the E26 Q-Jet or are all of them subject to the same caveats ?

Thanks

-- kjh
 
kjhambrick said:
Are the problems described in this thread limited to the E26 Q-Jet or are all of them subject to the same caveats ?
Click to expand...


In my experience the E26's have the most issue with a Chuff, before going. It really seems like all E26's do it, usually mine go on the 1st starter.

I DO use at least a 6ft rail [preferably 8ft] to fly them. 8ft seems to give enough length after the chuff, for almost anything to have stable flights.

I will NOT launch E26's off a 36inch rod. Way too high a chance of a landshark.
 
kjhambrick said:
So ...

I just last week received one-pack each D22-10W ( Batch 052221-01 ), E26-10W ( Batch 033123 ) and E35-11W ( Batch 051723 ).

Are the problems described in this thread limited to the E26 Q-Jet or are all of them subject to the same caveats ?

Thanks

-- kjh
Click to expand...
Personally I've had problems with all varieties of Q-Jets. In my experience they're been about 75-80% reliable. But I've talked to folks who've never had a problem. Maybe your best perspective will come from club RSO's who've seen these used by a cross section of fliers.
 
Rob Caswell said:
Personally I've had problems with all varieties of Q-Jets. In my experience they're been about 75-80% reliable. But I've talked to folks who've never had a problem. Maybe your best perspective will come from club RSO's who've seen these used by a cross section of fliers.
Click to expand...
That is the experience I have at the local launch. I have had 2 bad Q-jets but some have had a bit more while others have had no issues. Failure to light is first, followed by CATOs and least is chuffing. I don't have hard statistics buy it may be possible, although a long task, to go through all flight cards (If LCO marked motor issue).
 
Thanks, all'y'all ...

If it was just ignitor issues, it would be a good time to test my QuickBurst craftsmanship ( thanks for the instructions and online feedback there, @waltr ) :)

But since there have been chuffing, snuffing, and CATOs too, I imagine I'll stick with RMS 24/40 D15T, E18W and F24W for now and wait to see what's what.

Thanks again !

-- kjh
 
The chuffing and difficult ignition I can understand, since it’s white propellant. With reloads you can at least inspect the grains, and do some remediation. Can’t really do that with a Q-Jet. The CATO more of a material/manufacturing failure.
 
Just wondering about how the Q-Jets with ignition problems are being stored. How the vendors store them is beyond anybody's control and most likely not in an air-conditioned room. High humidity is not good especially for the WL motors. I have single use and reloads 20 + years old that are always stored in an air conditioned room with never more than 50% RH. Never have a problem when using one.
 

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