3" - 10 or 12 in a rack?

[Aodhfin]

Am getting ready to build some new racks for 3". I have noticed that a lot of people build racks that have 10 tubes with spacers. However a lot of 3" chained shells come 12 in a chain. Plus, with the spacers the shells at the end of the chain don't rest at the bottom of tube as the fuse isn't long enough...
So my question is: what do you prefer? 10 with spacers or 12 with spacers and why?

[Aodhfin]

Sorry, meant 12 without spacers...

[pyroM!KE]

My 3in racks are 12 tubes. 4in are 10. 5in are 4. 6in are 4...

[PyroJoeNEPA]

10 3" guns in a rack with spacers works out good for 48" racks. Not too difficult to manage & make for neat "pods". Also economical when cutting your wood--less waste.

[Bighorn]

I have 10 in a 3 inch rack. All finally chain I have ever seen and all suppliers around me have 10 in 3" 12 in 2.5"

[PyroManiacs]

In our racks... 10 - 3", 6 - 4", 5 - 5", 4 - 6". All racks use spacers that run the full length of the rack top to bottom in between each tube. It does make them weigh a lot more though.
I do however think that if a shell were to burst in the tube, those full length spacers would just cause more wood shrapnel.

All our chains are in 10s for the 3".

[algrant1]

3" racks - 10 guns...spacers at top and bottom...48" racks
I have seen 12 shell chains. It a PITA but 5 chains will fit in 6 3" racks.

[Pyro Nation]

for 3" use 10

[Blam Blam]

All our chains are in 10s for the 3".

Number of shells in a chain should dictates how many tubes should be in a rack of 3s. Spacers give gases someplace to go if you blow a tube, instead of just pushing against the next tube.

[PyroJoeNEPA]

Chains--like rules--are made to be broken. Just because a chain has 12 shells in it instead of 10 doesn't mean it can't be made into a 10 shot chain. If you are qualified to do so & know the proper safety procedures it is not a big deal to take 2 shots off of a chain & use them elsewhere in the show--or reconfigure the loose 2fers into another chain.

[displayfireworks1]

Most three inch racks I know of are 10 shells.
For a reference I remember Zambelli racks would always equal 10 in four , five and six inch shells let me explain.
Four inch shells always had six mortars.. Four plus six =10
Five inch shells always had five mortars.. Five plus five = 10
Six inch shells always had four mortars .. Six plus four = 10
.
In United States I do not believe there is an industry standard on mortars except for shells size. On three inch shells racks of 10 are the most common. With Zambelli for example, the racks may been designed to match up with the PyroMagic firing system rail, which was common in use for them.
If you are currently using a fireworks firing system, you would want your rack to match up with whatever system you are using. Perhaps Pyroboom can give you some advice on mortar rack design.

[Aodhfin]

Most three inch racks I know of are 10 shells.
For a reference I remember Zambelli racks would always equal 10 in four , five and six inch shells let me explain.
Four inch shells always had six mortars.. Four plus six =10
Five inch shells always had five mortars.. Five plus five = 10
Six inch shells always had four mortars .. Six plus four = 10
.
In United States I do not believe there is an industry standard on mortars except for shells size. On three inch shells racks of 10 are the most common. With Zambelli for example, the racks may been designed to match up with the PyroMagic firing system rail, which was common in use for them.
If you are currently using a fireworks firing system, you would want your rack to match up with whatever system you are using. Perhaps Pyroboom can give you some advice on mortar rack design.

Thanks for that advise. I see that a lot of chains come in chains of 10, but the local importer that I will eventually be buying from has them in chains of 12 so I thought that I would get other's opinion.
As for Pyroboom :) Nice thing is that he local to me and I have been e-mailing back and forth with him to build some racks. Seems that he wants to get out of the display side and only do consumer size for now, but I'm hoping that we can get something worked out.
Thanks!

[CTPYRO]

Thanks for that advise. I see that a lot of chains come in chains of 10, but the local importer that I will eventually be buying from has them in chains of 12 so I thought that I would get other's opinion.
As for Pyroboom :) Nice thing is that he local to me and I have been e-mailing back and forth with him to build some racks. Seems that he wants to get out of the display side and only do consumer size for now, but I'm hoping that we can get something worked out.
Thanks!

Building out your own racks will be much cheaper my friend.. trust me. If your making 3's you have to options for your bottom and sides... either start with ripping a 2x6 down to fit the width of the tube or use 2x4's with shims all on one side to make up for the overhang on the tube. A 2x4 is just shy of covering the width on a 3" gun. For your bottom rails use 3/4" plywood and a 1x4 for the top rails. Here in New England we use 2x4 spacers on all 2.5 and 3" racks. Cut all your wood first after you got your measurements down and then it's like an assembly line.... two people can knock out a couple three's in an hour easy

[wizard7611]

Whenever I build racks, I buy the tubes by how many shells are in the shell assortment. 72 shells come in a 3" case, so I'll order 80 tubes, having 8 special shells. The racks are all 10 shot racks with spacers in case something goes horribly wrong.

[tntrealty1]

our 3" racks are built with 5 tubes and spacers. Easy to carry & store and our Thunderbird & Yung Feng finale chains come in 1-60-2 per case so it works out perfect.

[a9a1c1]

We have a few different styles of racks, Philly racks, connecticut racks, and vineland racks. They refer to what the local township/city needs/wants in racks

Philly racks are all fiberglass, with spacers (ok but heavy)
3-10 shot
4-6 shot
5-4 shot
6-3 shot

Connecticut racks are way different then any I have ever used, (meaning they suck) all hdpe
3-12 shot with one spacer between
4-6 with spacers
5-5 with spacers
6-4 with spacers

Vineland Racks can be HDPE or Fiberglass (prefered) no spacers
3-10 shot
4-6 shot
5-4 shot
6-3 shot

The only difference is we have california racks in 3in that are 15 shots.

[SCPyrotechnician]

This is how our racks are

3" - 12
4" - 9
5" - 7
6" - 6

Never seen a chain of 3" with 12 shells, only 10.

[PyroManiacs]

The only difference is we have california racks in 3in that are 15 shots.

The only thing I dont like when using those 15 shot 3" racks is having to fuse the chains of 10 end to end and "S" pattern them along the mortars to fill them all up. Its even worse when all the leaders are Visco, lol. Had that happen this year. That finale took a long time to put together, hah.

[PGH_Pyro]

you could just splice/chain them together by cutting the visco part off and joining the black match together with a poke and some tape ?

[PyroManiacs]

you could just splice/chain them together by cutting the visco part off and joining the black match together with a poke and some tape ?

Exactly what I did.... finale was pretty big, thats why it took so long, lol.

[CTPYRO]

[QUOTE=a9a1c1;24751]We have a few different styles of racks, Philly racks, connecticut racks, and vineland racks. They refer to what the local township/city needs/wants in racks


Connecticut racks are way different then any I have ever used, (meaning they suck) all hdpe
3-12 shot with one spacer between
4-6 with spacers
5-5 with spacers
6-4 with spacers




CT racks do not suck my friend... who builds 3" racks with 12 guns??? Your making more work for yourself on that end. And I shoot with Bay and we use Fiberglass tubes. Spacers are a requirement in many states as well.....it's a good safety feature even though it's more time consuming to build....

[PyroManiacs]

Hey, "we" didnt make them, lol. They just make us use them, haha.

[CTPYRO]

Hey, "we" didnt make them, lol. They just make us use them, haha.

I'd consider talking to your lead then.. maybe he can talk to the chain of command.... CT racks yes are spaced....and racked as 2.5/10...3/10....4/5.....5/4 and 6/3.... we use 8's in some shows and use steel grid racks. The only HDPE racks are the 3's with a few 2.5's however most of the 2.5 are FG

[PyroManiacs]

Yea, we recently did a show with those CT 2.5" racks in the finale. Our chains were just long enough to make it across the tubes.

I dont think a9a1c1 or myself can really say anything anyway..... I think they were just working with what they had left in the yard. SMH! :confused:

[CTPYRO]

Yea, we recently did a show with those CT 2.5" racks in the finale. Our chains were just long enough to make it across the tubes.

I dont think a9a1c1 or myself can really say anything anyway..... I think they were just working with what they had left in the yard. SMH! :confused:

I hear ya barking pal... lol

[PyroManiacs]

Haha, what can ya do? :rolleyes: