pillyg Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 When reading the ingredients of the small air activated heat packs, i found the main ingredient was iron fillings. i opened one up and it was a brown color but was still magnetic. Has anyone used this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonny Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 When reading the ingredients of the small air activated heat packs, i found the main ingredient was iron fillings. i opened one up and it was a brown color but was still magnetic. Has anyone used this? I've never heard of this being used as a supply of iron. What is added to it to produce heat on exposure to air? I'd try to find that out first before using the iron. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pillyg Posted January 15, 2011 Author Share Posted January 15, 2011 There is iron powder, water, cellulose, vermiculite, activated carbon, and salt But you cant just open it up b4 it heats up because it will heat up. its AIR activated so i dont know what to do. Im going to try adding some to a rocket today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonny Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 There is iron powder, water, cellulose, vermiculite, activated carbon, and salt But you cant just open it up b4 it heats up because it will heat up. its AIR activated so i dont know what to do. Im going to try adding some to a rocket today How are you going to add it to a rocket without it heating up? I'd just go down to any auto shop and see if you can get some brake turnings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pillyg Posted January 15, 2011 Author Share Posted January 15, 2011 i first used it, then opened it up. Then poured it on a piece of kraft. Then i went over it with a magnet. Everything that it picked up was good. There was about 5-10% or so of non magnetic junk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagabu Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 Used heat packs consist of iron and the remains of the salt, water and rust that is created in the oxidization process that creates the heat. If you use a coffee filter and rinse the salt out, I see no reason why you couldn't use the remaining iron in pyrotechnics. There is nothing harmful in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pillyg Posted January 15, 2011 Author Share Posted January 15, 2011 I tried filtering it but the mush clogs up the filter. The granuals are pretty big (size of sand) The iron doesnt really dissolve to well in it HMM i guess i could use ^ to seperate soluble stuff from unsoluble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagabu Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 Strange that you have insolubles other then rust in the package. I winder if there is a retarder in there as well? Looks like a magnet is the way to go then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pillyg Posted January 15, 2011 Author Share Posted January 15, 2011 I made a KNO3/sugar rocket with the iron and i will film it soon do you know anyway to clean the iron. Its kinda a dark brown so i dont know about iron oxide/rust Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 He posted the ingredients above. Everything but the salt and water are insoluble. I'm sure it has something to do with the packaging, but it does take a little while to heat up. I would open them and dump them into a fairly good sized quantity of water. Put a magnet on the bottom of the container, swirl the mix, and pour off the other stuff. Repeat this a couple of times, removing the magnet to allow trapped material to get free, add the magnet again and pour off. I'd guesstimate that 3 or so times should get it pretty clean. You'll probably need something stronger than a refrigerator magnet to make this work viably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pillyg Posted January 16, 2011 Author Share Posted January 16, 2011 mumbles, thanks but actually, just using a magnet works just fine. Im sure your plan would make a but better sparkle but its pretty good. here is a video of it. Its the second rocket in there (its not me in the vid. Im filming.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcsJWerUi68 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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