Hi guys
I would like to know if any of you know, where can you buy ammonium perchlorate (spherical, 200 micron) for a good price. Are there any clubs or groups of people doing group buys straight from the manufacturer (American Pacific). If so does anyone have a contact of someone who can supply AP?
Why am I asking this? Last year my friend Denis and I went to the BALLS to fly a two-stage project. Since we are from Europe, we shipped everything we needed beforehand (disassembled rocket, launch rail and vacuum mixer) to Reno, NV. We also had HTPB premixed with plasticizer, aluminium, defoamer, etc. We only needed to add the AP, that we bought from RCS rocket motor components. I can buy AP here in Europe, but importing it to the US would be a major headache. We came to Reno a few days before BALLS, where we rented a small barn. There we mixed and casted both motors. Both motors worked as planned, but we had a structural anomaly during sustainer flight. That is why we are planning to try again at BALLS in 2021. Last september we paid $150 for one 20lbs pail of 200micron AP. Shortly after BALLS I noticed that the price of AP at RCS store skyrocketed and now the same 20lbs pail costs $490. That's more than 300% increase. I don't know what is the reason for this, or is this a RCS thing or something happened with regard to manufacturer. Whatever the case, now I have to find a different supplier. I already checked Firefox, but it seems their website is down. Skylighter and Pyro Chem Source have it, but it's expensive. I know that in the past sometimes people would buy a few drums straight from the manufacturer. Is this still happening? To who would I have to talk too?
Anyway I would really appreciate if someone can point me in the right direction.
If anyone is interested, I attached a few photos of our BALLS project and a portable vacuum mixer that I built for this project.
Andrej
I would like to know if any of you know, where can you buy ammonium perchlorate (spherical, 200 micron) for a good price. Are there any clubs or groups of people doing group buys straight from the manufacturer (American Pacific). If so does anyone have a contact of someone who can supply AP?
Why am I asking this? Last year my friend Denis and I went to the BALLS to fly a two-stage project. Since we are from Europe, we shipped everything we needed beforehand (disassembled rocket, launch rail and vacuum mixer) to Reno, NV. We also had HTPB premixed with plasticizer, aluminium, defoamer, etc. We only needed to add the AP, that we bought from RCS rocket motor components. I can buy AP here in Europe, but importing it to the US would be a major headache. We came to Reno a few days before BALLS, where we rented a small barn. There we mixed and casted both motors. Both motors worked as planned, but we had a structural anomaly during sustainer flight. That is why we are planning to try again at BALLS in 2021. Last september we paid $150 for one 20lbs pail of 200micron AP. Shortly after BALLS I noticed that the price of AP at RCS store skyrocketed and now the same 20lbs pail costs $490. That's more than 300% increase. I don't know what is the reason for this, or is this a RCS thing or something happened with regard to manufacturer. Whatever the case, now I have to find a different supplier. I already checked Firefox, but it seems their website is down. Skylighter and Pyro Chem Source have it, but it's expensive. I know that in the past sometimes people would buy a few drums straight from the manufacturer. Is this still happening? To who would I have to talk too?
Anyway I would really appreciate if someone can point me in the right direction.
If anyone is interested, I attached a few photos of our BALLS project and a portable vacuum mixer that I built for this project.
Andrej
