weknowpyro Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 Recently i have been having problems with my lift powder and i do not know why. I make my lift by wetting meal into a sludge then leaving it to dry and then putting it throught a sieve this worked before and sent a comet i had really high but for some reason recently it hardly lifts it out of the same tube. anyone suggest why its going wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justanotherpyro Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 Try not making it into a sludge. Your KNO3 may be leaching out in the excess water. Try wetting it to where it will press between your fingers but still be a little crumbly. The goal is to get it to this point and then grate it through a food strainer. If its too wet it will glob up in the strainer, to dry, it won't become granulated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVR Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 Maybe you used to much water? I have messed up a batch by adding to much water, the KNO3 re-crystallized leaving the mix overfueled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psymon Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 Either that or you have not let the mixture dry out enough. Even with a little heat from a radiator my lift takes about 4- 5 days to dry out and sometimes even longer than that. Best way to have an idea if it is still wet is to weigh the mixture and then the next day weigh it again. If the value has dropped then the mixture is still wet. If the value stays the same its dry. Also the granules will rattle when shaken in a jar or plastic pot when dry... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teknix Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 Did you buy any new chems recently? I know I had a problem when I got a differnt kind of sulfur and it turned out to be not pure enough. Maybe you are using a differnet charcoal now? Charcoal makes a big difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weknowpyro Posted March 31, 2006 Author Share Posted March 31, 2006 No doesn't seem to be my chems but i think i have just been getting it to wet and making it go dud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocket Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 With my lift it doesn’t take 4-5 days to dry only 2hr I just sit it on a sheet of paper and put it on top of the computer screen works well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weknowpyro Posted April 1, 2006 Author Share Posted April 1, 2006 Does it matter that i don't use dextrin cause i don't have any at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquaman Posted April 1, 2006 Share Posted April 1, 2006 Personally I don't (to lazy) but if you want nice hard granuals then you better use dextrin (or you can press your BP into pucks with a press). If you have corn starch then you have dextrin. Just place the amount of starch (dextrin) you want and cook it in a oven at like 250°F- 300°F (forgot what temp I used) and stir it around like every twenty minutes. In about three hours or until a golden/yellowish color (not brown) and you'll have dextrin. Also doesn't the dextrin slow the BP down a little? I can swear that I heard it from somewhere before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty green flame Posted April 1, 2006 Share Posted April 1, 2006 Dextrine does indeed slow the burn rate down especially if it's not incorporated in the BP well enough, dextrin should be milled together with the BP to get a better product. And it also doesn't slow it down by that much, so nothing to worry about, unless you follow UN's instruction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoony Posted April 1, 2006 Share Posted April 1, 2006 I use SGRS as a binder, and it works fine. I like it because I get it in 1kg bags for about 50p. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PyroJoe Posted April 1, 2006 Share Posted April 1, 2006 Well I just made my first batch of black powder pucks. I think I used a little to much water, but they still seemed to turn out nice. I made 2.5 pounds of black powder and compressed it all into about 7 pucks that are about 3/8" - 1/2" thick. Does anybody know about how long it takes for these to fully dry? I just did it yesterday and they are still pretty moist and break apart without a lot of effort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frozentech Posted April 1, 2006 Share Posted April 1, 2006 Well I just made my first batch of black powder pucks. I think I used a little to much water, but they still seemed to turn out nice. I made 2.5 pounds of black powder and compressed it all into about 7 pucks that are about 3/8" - 1/2" thick. Does anybody know about how long it takes for these to fully dry? I just did it yesterday and they are still pretty moist and break apart without a lot of effort. How much pressure did you use to press your pucks, out of curiosity ? I usually dry mine for 4 days before I try corning them, but mine are thinner than yours. I weigh them a couple times a day and when it stops decreasing they are ready. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PyroJoe Posted April 1, 2006 Share Posted April 1, 2006 im not sure how much pressure i used. I used a 20 ton bottle jack which was way over kill, but thats all I had. I pressed 4 at a time and kept pressing them till no more water was seeping out the bottom. I was scared because with each pump of the jack my press would crack. Its only made from 2x4's with 3/8" bolts holding it together. Im sure that jack could easily destroy it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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