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My tiger tail star comp wont light?


SSHPyro

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I just milled my first star comp tiger tail, I used 44% KN03 44% Charcoal airfloat 6% sulfur and 6% dextrin. I milled this for about 5 hours and went to test it today in its powder form and it will not light no matter how hard i try, I hold my torch to it and it looks like tiger tail when I'm torching it but it will not combust. I'm using charcoal from hardwood. Should I mill it more?

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I’m no expert but seems a bit high on the charcoal..or light on the oxidizer. Poh-tato Pah-tahto.

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Tiger tails need a little wind to compensate for the lack of oxygen get. Usually this comes from flying thru the air. Once you make some stars with it try shooting some out a small paper tube and see what happens

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Also- that. a 90MPH breeze helps.

 

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Make pumped star out of it using 75/25 water alcohol and dry it out then test It will work well.

 

 

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Make a star or ten. DRY them to constant weight, then launch one into the air conventionally.

Many compounds fail because they are 5% water that hasn't yet dried out.

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It's a common phenomenon. Make star from the mix, dry them well. then test.

 

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The tiger tail effect comes from it being an under oxidised mixture totally reliant on the star being travelling through air. To make it function with it's odd mixture proportions it needs to be a properly formed star completely dry, and launched from a tube. Once you have a successful star, try to select the best available charcoal. Willow and Red Alder make good BP, try some under milled for making effects.

Form your star and weigh it (or ten) then leave it to dry. It's actually dry when it remains the same weight for two weeks. Gentle heat will assist with drying.

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