burst charge question

[laser200]

Could someone tell me if its ok to sprinkle a little 70/30 flash on the burst charge in my shells (coated rice hulls) . ?

Thanks...

[dagabu]

Could someone tell me if its ok to sprinkle a little 70/30 flash on the burst charge in my shells (coated rice hulls) . ?

Thanks...

 

I use a full teaspoon in my 6" ball shells to boost the rice hulls. It works well to help break the shell and create a circular pattern. If I were a better shell builder I may not need the booster but with a few grams of "F", I can make up for my short comings pretty easily.

 

-dag

[Xtreme Pyro]

I almost always use a bit of 70/30 for my shells. As dag said it gives the shell a nice round break, I use approx ~2g in 3" shells, and a gram for every inch in all of my other shells. (So 4" shells I use ~4g).

[Ferret]

I just fired my first boosted shell last night, it was a 3" with 1.5g flash. The difference flash makes is incredible. boosted shells break with a nice sharp crack as opposed to a low-pitch boom, and the stars travel faster and farther and appear much more symmetrical. so yeah, there's nothing wrong with putting flash in your break.

[pyrojig]

Not to mention whistle can be used in the same fashion. Boosters are very helpful when using plastic shells. The breaks need a sharp kick to do the trick. I usually have a small tub of bp ricehulls that I dump in several grams of boost , roll it around till all hulls are dusted well and put these into the shells as a boosted charge.

[Potassiumchlorate]

Hm, maybe one should start to use BP and flash in the shells instead of H3. It would be cheaper and maybe even more powerful. I'm just concerned about the flash being spread on the hulls in such a way that the burst is still symmetrical. But it seems that a very powerful burst is more symmetrical anyway?

[MondoMage]

I almost always use a bit of 70/30 for my shells. As dag said it gives the shell a nice round break, I use approx ~2g in 3" shells, and a gram for every inch in all of my other shells. (So 4" shells I use ~4g).

 

Do you spread it around any when you add it? I know Ned over on Passfire has mentioned several times that he adds his booster by tumbling it onto the break charge (BP on rice hulls, etc), but I'm not sure if this is really necessary or just one of many ways that all work similarly. To my mind it shouldn't make much of a difference, but then again there tends to be quite a difference between theory and reality

[dagabu]

Do you spread it around any when you add it? I know Ned over on Passfire has mentioned several times that he adds his booster by tumbling it onto the break charge (BP on rice hulls, etc), but I'm not sure if this is really necessary or just one of many ways that all work similarly. To my mind it shouldn't make much of a difference, but then again there tends to be quite a difference between theory and reality

 

Ned actually adds the booster (slow flash, nitrate based) to the rice hulls when he makes them. That makes them a one trick pony, meaning that the rice hulls will work well in a certain range of shell sizes but will not provide any boost in *small cylinder shells. Yes, you can just sprinkle the "F" on top of the shell half and then put both hemi halves together or just add it to your burst when making a cylinder shell.

 

The booster will get integrated throughout the entire shell when you are spiking ot taping the shell, no worries.

 

-dag

 

*Appleton Wis. The rain ruined my burst and I borrowed Ned's for my shells. I did not add booster since it was already mixed in. The shells popped but did not break hard.

[cogbarry]

I use it in my 3" shells (about 1.5 grams) but started using straight BP coated hulls on my first 4" shells I made last winter. I shot some of these this spring and they broke OK but I don't think a little boost would have hurt. Many pyros avoid using flash as they claim it creates an unwanted visual effect (bright flash) and use whistle mix or slow flash instead. Honestly, I haven't noticed the difference in the visual flash between my shells with flash booster and without.

 

Obviously, the need for a booster will vary depending on the performance of your burst. i.e, BP made from hardwood charcoal will not burn as fast as BP made from softwood charcoal such as Willow.

[Bcorso85]

I've recently switched from flash to whistle mix. I guess its my new phase,whistle boost and glitter shells, if you want to try whistle I've tested two different catalysts with the perc-sodium salicly formula. The copper oxychloride was just a bit better then the iron oxide for breaks. It was just a hair faster it seemed ( unconfined). If your interested give it a shot. Its just like an enhancer to the burst charge itself. Nothing crazy nor does it distract the focus of your eyes ( like some flash can)!

[Pirotecnia]

I think that if we use more layers of kraft paper over the shell, a simple BP burst charge works well for the most purposes.

Everytime i done that, and my shells break powerfull.

The problem is the time i spent to pasting the shell.

[NAC]

Not to mention whistle can be used in the same fashion. Boosters are very helpful when using plastic shells. The breaks need a sharp kick to do the trick. I usually have a small tub of bp ricehulls that I dump in several grams of boost , roll it around till all hulls are dusted well and put these into the shells as a boosted charge.

 

yep- I've used whistlemix many times to break shells- and as a launch powder.