New to RMS, Piecing together 2nd hand hardware

[danielhv]

So I bought a box full of stuff from a guy getting out of the hobby. Several cases, and quite a few reloads. I've inventoried everything, but this is a new endeavor for me so I'm not well versed on RMS stuff. I just need to know what I need to get started so that I have everything available when I bother someone to guide me through the process lol.

As for cases, all are either Aerotech or Monster cases... several are missing the little disc inside (seal disc?), and some of them are missing closures... So, I see many different types of closures... and nothing so far explains the difference to me.

For cases, I got:



And for reloads I got:



From my math, there is almost $1200 in reloads there, and I picked it all up for $600 so I there is some "savings" in there to replace the hardware that's missing, just not sure what is needed. Should I be ordering standard closures? Or something else?

 

[Antares JS]

So I bought a box full of stuff from a guy getting out of the hobby. Several cases, and quite a few reloads. I've inventoried everything, but this is a new endeavor for me so I'm not well versed on RMS stuff. I just need to know what I need to get started so that I have everything available when I bother someone to guide me through the process lol.

As for cases, all are either Aerotech or Monster cases... several are missing the little disc inside (seal disc?), and some of them are missing closures... So, I see many different types of closures... and nothing so far explains the difference to me.

For cases, I got:

View attachment 641919

And for reloads I got:

View attachment 641920

From my math, there is almost $1200 in reloads there, and I picked it all up for $600 so I there is some "savings" in there to replace the hardware that's missing, just not sure what is needed. Should I be ordering standard closures? Or something else?

Closures and seal discs are interchangeable between motor cases of the same diameter. It's not at all uncommon to have fewer sets of closures and seal discs than you have tubes. Also, not all reloads require seal discs, mostly shorter ones do. The reload label should tell you exactly what hardware you need.

Using a plugged versus a standard forward closure is down to whether you are using motor ejection or electronic recovery. Other than that, I think that J135 long burn motor might need a special forward closure, but I don't remember for sure. None of the other ones look like ones requiring special closures.

 

[bad_idea]

The 38/360 case isn't sold with a forward seal disk, so I suspect none of the loads that use that case need it. In any event, you have two of them.
You can find assembly drawings here:

RMS Motor Assembly Drawings

From this you can see that of the 38mm reloads you bought, only the 38/720 loads will need the forward seal disk. All the 38mm loads take standard forward and rear closures.

You will need a 54mm FSD for the K700. You will need a plugged forward closure for the K700, and an extended forward closure for the J135.

(Doublecheck all of this, because I may have missed something.)

From the M & L nomenclature for delays on some of these loads, they sound like they're pretty old. You may need to clean oxidation from the grains, and the delays may burn unpredictably. It's probably best to fly older loads without motor ejection (either used plugged closures or fill the ejection well with wadding or similar and tape down) and on electronics.

 

[bad_idea]

Re. various forward closures, they are generally divided as follows:

Nature: fixed (standard) or floating (for the Reload Adapter System (RAS) that allows you to run smaller loads in larger cases via a set of spacers)

Ejection: standard, electronic (38mm), plugged, or plugged and threaded. I believe all the current-production plugged closures for the high power RMS cases are also threaded, but some of the older ones are not.

Length: standard, extended (54mm), or endburn (38mm)

There are many combinations of these, but not every combination is available.

Re. aft closures, there are two nozzle sizes of 54mm aft closure, but the small one is only used with the 54/426 and 54/852 cases. I believe older 38mm aft closures had a smaller nozzle size than newer ones, but I believe the loads you bought all use the larger size.

 

[MikeT]

Some good info here.

 

[kramer714]

It doesn't sound like you have much experience with reloads, is there a local club you can connect with find someone to help you with them?

Plus, it sounds like these reloads may be old. I have flow many old reloads, having said that, depending on the formulation, and how they have been stored they may have 'changed'. Delays on old reloads can be very unreliable, you need to look at them closely to see if there are any signs of aging. If you use old reloads, and a flight computer for eject, dont use the motor eject for backup. Again, someone with experience may be really helpful in assessing the delay grains.

Relative to the propellant, grains may have swollen, and or have surface oxidation on them. This can usually be 'fixed', best to look at all that before trying to load them into a case.

Mike K

 

[danielhv]

It doesn't sound like you have much experience with reloads, is there a local club you can connect with find someone to help you with them?

Plus, it sounds like these reloads may be old. I have flow many old reloads, having said that, depending on the formulation, and how they have been stored they may have 'changed'. Delays on old reloads can be very unreliable, you need to look at them closely to see if there are any signs of aging. If you use old reloads, and a flight computer for eject, dont use the motor eject for backup. Again, someone with experience may be really helpful in assessing the delay grains.

Relative to the propellant, grains may have swollen, and or have surface oxidation on them. This can usually be 'fixed', best to look at all that before trying to load them into a case.

Mike K

Thats the plan. Already a member in local club - just trying to make sure I have enough hardware for the reloads I got.

I won't be using motor eject.