memo Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 i pumped some 1 inch comets n1 glitter a couple of hours after pumping they are hot and smell of amonia ... what caused this reaction ?and how do i stop it. i moved the stars away from everything else. memo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garydee Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 Did you use Boric acid when you pumped them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nater Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 Soak them down quickly to stop the reaction. Potassium nitrate, certain types of aluminum and water have the potential for this type of reaction. Boric acid can be used in the water you dampen the comp with. Care to share more details? What kind of aluminum did you use and how much water did you use to dampen the comp before pressing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memo Posted June 10, 2015 Author Share Posted June 10, 2015 i used the dirty 325 bright al from skylighter, i used 75/25 alcohol water. just enough to pump. they were not wet. they are taking a bath right now. memo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andres1511 Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 You should use atomized Al for most glitter stars, as for N1. Flake Al is much more sensitive to the ammonia reaction during the higher surface area. Boring acid and atomized Al will prevent this in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wiley Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 Yeah, I use 425 mesh atomized in my N1, and I cut all my stars. No reactions to report. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogeryermaw Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 there was also an article concerning firefly stars in skylighter about a possible reaction between p. nitrate and flake aluminum when the ph of the nitrate (in solution) is too low. this may be of interest: http://www.skylighter.com/fireworks/making-fireworks-projects/firefly-aluminum-fireworks-stars.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 Compositions containing flake aluminum, potassium nitrate, and a base (such as sodium bicarbonate) are quite prone to these sorts of reactions. Boric acid usually greatly diminishes or eliminates the deleterious reactions. Some add it as a powder to the composition, and some add it as a solution in the dampening water. It's more effective if pre-dissolved, but it's more convenient to add it as a solid so as to not need to keep special water around if you don't make use of it regularly. It should be noted that boric acid will attack magnesium, and magnalium so it's not a universal catch-all for glitters. I really only use it when a reaction has been noted in the past. Basic nitrate (high pH) is more likely to make this reaction happen, not acidic (low pH) as the skylighter and PML conversations describe. Anyway, this batch composition is ruined. You should burn it or dispose of it. If you catch the reaction really early on, and didn't previously use boric acid, spraying a solution of it onto the stars can sometimes save them. You would need to catch them as they begin to warm and slightly off-gas, probably in the first 30minutes or so before things get out of control. Some formulas do give off some odors, most notably some gold glitter and streamer compositions. A little odor is fine, a lot is not. I'd use the formula as written next time, or take better precautions to avoid reactions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogeryermaw Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 (edited) mumbles, perhaps you can help me. i made a kilo of those gold twinklers we had been kicking around a few months ago. i may have overwet by a couple percent when cutting them. i noted no smell and no reaction. i triple checked my proportions and am certain it was measured properly. they dried super hard. can't even break a 1/2 star by hand. they burn easily on the ground and take fire out of the gun just fine. the problem is that they didn't glitter. they became a slaggy ball of burning crap flying through the air. it looked as if there was a double portion of sulfur almost but i even check the remaining weights of my chems to make sure i used them all properly without doubling anything. could it be that they were still too wet for testing? or have i over wet them and killed the glitter effect? sorry for posting this here but it was a thread concerning reactions in glitter so i felt my question wasn't too off topic. Edited June 11, 2015 by rogeryermaw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richtee Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 I dated her. Oh COMETS..not comments. Nevermind. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memo Posted June 12, 2015 Author Share Posted June 12, 2015 it looks like I caused my own problems by substituting 325 bright flake for the 325 spherical al. or I could have a high acid content kno3 or both…I didn’t use any boric acid which could have added to the problem. mumbles mentioned special water made with boric acid how would I make this ? for 600 ml of water how many grams of boric acid ? making a 100 gram batch of n1 how much water/boric would I use ? I want to prevent any more problems. memo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xtreme Pyro Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 (edited) it looks like I caused my own problems by substituting 325 bright flake for the 325 spherical al. or I could have a high acid content kno3 or both…I didn’t use any boric acid which could have added to the problem. mumbles mentioned special water made with boric acid how would I make this ? for 600 ml of water how many grams of boric acid ? making a 100 gram batch of n1 how much water/boric would I use ? I want to prevent any more problems. memo Dissolve 2% boric acid into your water/alc solution. As far as the water content goes, do not exceed the percentage of charcoal in water weight (10% in this case). Edited June 12, 2015 by Xtreme Pyro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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