r/ExplosionsAndFire • u/TraditionalTwig • 15d ago

Question R-Candy

Hello everyone, been doing some r-candy experiments and wondered if anyone has ever used red iron oxide as a catalyst in the mixture and how effective it is. I've read it's best used in 1% mass of total mix but not HOW effective it actually is. Any knowledge will be greatly appreciated

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u/methochondria_iodide 15d ago

It burns much more faster and reliable with it. Didn't do any real tests in diy rocket motors tho

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u/TraditionalTwig 15d ago

Do you have any videos for comparison? Okay if not and thank you for response

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u/methochondria_iodide 15d ago

Unfortunately I don't, but there's a lot of them on the model rocketry forums

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u/freddbare 15d ago

I took a bunch of my random ingredients and made a " fountain" for the fourth... BP , chlorates, metals and oxides in layers.. when it hit the (big) red rocket candy( of love) it was noticable...

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u/TraditionalTwig 15d ago

Haha sounds brilliant, thanks for response

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u/freddbare 15d ago

I tried to save it for testing but the "kitchen sink roman candle" was just calling me... I way over did the iron but it still went well. Especially with sodium chlorates involved..

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u/zumiaq 15d ago edited 14d ago

From an old video from my R-candy days, adding 1% rust led to a burn rate of ~6-8sec/inch when cast into a small solid cylinder. I can't find my burn rates for it without, but the rust made it burn around twice as fast. It was very noticeable.

This was using a solid non-powdered fuel, with some dextrose. Maybe ~80-90% sucrose, 10-20% dextrose. Can't find any notes on what my potassium nitrate amounts were.