Perchorate Quick match the new standard? more groans..

[yoshisbar]

So I posted some info in another thread of the shells I got this year with this "CRAP MATCH" (as I call it) Dave says Piccolo Pete, but I say crap!!

I got more finale chains, 3" NEW STOCK, right off the boat (dated march 2017), guess what! PERCHORLATE QM with visco and a port! And these things were so fast the smoke can't get out of the way to see the shell. I mean like an all at once slice cake times sixty, TERRIBLE, I boom and 10 shells go off.
And also ended up with a 150FT roll of this crap match also! (stupid me)

So, Getting ready for a Labor day show and I am trying to find a way NOT to sky puke 120 3" shells in 4 seconds...or use half my firing system for the finale..

Little time today to do some testing..
First I took a page from one of dave's videos on putting a knot in the QM to slow it down, (have done this and works good)
BUT NOT ON CRAP MATCH! It doesn't work!
Put string,tied in a clove hitch, and at the other end a plastic zip tie pulled tight as I could get it, I think it actually made it quicker! I heard 2 firecracker pops where I had them tied and it blew the paper apart.
Time to try something else.
Now I peeled away the paper and try half exposed and half wrapped... It did slow down when I lit it but NOT nearly as much a blackmatch. If you lit it by hand you would have less than a mili-second MAYBE...

So now I am stuck with these and am trying to figure them out. If this is the "New standard" match china is sending, (and I have seen a lot of reports it is) everyone will need to learn to handle it SAFELY, and find ways to make it work. JUST MY GROAN..

[PyroJoeNEPA]

What brand shells did you get [if you don't mind me asking]?
If you have access to 1/4" time fuse you can cut the chains between #3 & 4 & #7 & 8 and insert a 2" piece of time fuse--slit 1/2" on each end so it is actually 1" [3 seconds] but you need the extra little bit of length to tie into the quick match. That will give you 3 shells, 3 sec delay, 4 shells, 3 second delay, last 3 shells. I know it is a pain in the butt but there isn't much more you can do. You are, in effect, building your own version of the "pyro clock" that was available a while ago.
The perc QM is very "violent" so you have to tie & tape the splices very tightly. And you are correct---you can not choke the perc QM to get a delay out of it.

[yoshisbar]

pyrojoe they are listed "shine MFG" and some I got are jeter also. Not going to say the place I got them. I do have time fuse and I was thinking that, but I used to make all my stuff before I got my ATF license, LOTS of work, for 20 min show, and now MORE work because a cheap cost factor for the distributors.. makes no sense..
Like back in the old days, people made soap, yea I could make soap, but this guy at the store already made it, so I can save the hassle.. Convenience not lazy just the American way...

[PyroJoeNEPA]

Didn't want to know where they came from--just was wondering if they were one of the "big name" shells . I've seen Dun Pai come thru with both perc & black match in the same case!!!
It is really difficult when dealing with the Chinese. We got quite a few cases of "delay chains" that were not made the way they were supposed to be. Instead of running the delay buckets the length of the chain so the shells would light one after the other after the appropriate delay--they made them with a common piece of quick match the length of the chain and dropped each shell off of the trunk with its own piece of time fuse--so all the shells lit at one time & were in the guns waiting for their time fuse to light them. Not an ideal way to do things--if a shell blew, all the lit shells in the rack could possibly go flying around where as a failure if they were made the correct way would not pass fire to the rest of the chain. We bought a case of the raw time delay chain quick match from Fire Art a year or two ago & have been using that to redo some of the chains. Lots of work that shouldn't have to be done!!! I feel for you!

[Kenny East]

My wizard 3" shells came with a mix of black and crap match... I chained them all up with a few different speeds of fuse. Broke the chains down into 1-3 shell flights with one fuse running down to all the flights... Spread it out a bit, wasn't perfect but saved cues on the firing system as well as extra cost of more ematch...

I usually cut off most of the ematch ports to keep the yard a little cleaner, as well as recycling them for consumer cakes later... But most had crap match as you call it, so I'm not sure they would pass fire to a consumer cake unless i put the grey match right into the lift on the first tube of a cake... Seen Dave's trouble with the grey match to visco on consumer. Going to try it on some for labor day.

[yoshisbar]

Beating a dead horse but, I think we will run in to this more and more now with the prices going up from china.. because seems this crap fuse is cheaper to use...
New Years I said I was going to shoot 3" shells, Well I did. Had a few shells from before that didn't fire, perfect time to fix and shoot them, and tests a few theories.
First shell, didn't fire (wet I think) quickmatch went out about 1 in. before lift, Second shell, damaged lift cup and quickmatch crimped and almost cut about half way down to the shell..

So the fix, Take my trusty! Crap RED quickmatch, and put a new leader on both shells, tape them well, and fire them.... NOT

Both shells DID NOT FIRE, I Taped the one, overlapping the strands (crap match to blackmatch) OVER 1" AND added some regular fuse in the bucket I made for more fire, and the other same way BUT also clove hitched tied it also..
Now I have 2 unfired shells that still have the blackmatch on them just as I taped them. It WILL NOT TRANSFER fire accurately. Blew it right out..
I also had 2 shells with this that had a straight strip of 100% crap match (cut from a finale string blew right out of the lift cup and stayed in the mortar...)

Just not impressed, and hope this is not going to be the norm for the future, and I will be watching what I buy this year....

[Fire Art]

Wonder if this has to do with the black powder shortage in the Behei region. In China you cannot transport bp or fuse from one province to another so when there is a shortage in a region, it is crippling.