booom1

Hi,

Does anyone have a template for something like a TREM card, or other ADR-compliant document please?

Cheers
Keith
Booom! Fireworks

Hi all,

I was wondering what the consensus is on connecting electrical ignitors to pyro prior to transporting to site?

Is it generally considered to be a big no-no? Or, okay for some things like candles and cakes but not shells?

We buy 1kg and 3kg gerbs which come pre-wired, and I have read elsewhere on the forum about a manufacturer in China shipping shells pre-e-matched. So I'm slightly confused!

We've experimented in the past with rubbing an e-match-head vigourously inside a length of quickmatch and we couldn't set it off - suggesting a reasonable level of stability.

Any thoughts much appreciated.

Keith
Booom!

Hi there,

I’m new to the forum (though not completely new to pyro), so hello to you all, and apologies in advance for the lengthy first posting!

I’ve been co-running a small community-based fireworks outfit (Booom!) since 2000, alongside a street-performance company (Miniscule of Sound). I also worked for Walk the Plank in 2001-2.

We’re at the stage of renewing our mortar racks and I’ve been interested to read recently all kinds of things on the net and elsewhere about this subject and was wondering what experience others have had. Although we've always applied strict safety distances to our shows, I don't believe we've ever fully considered the issue of rack failure.

Obviously, there’s been the Kettering incident; EIG have published some tests, as have Pyrogear; and the question even arises in Roy Musk’s public liability insurance form, i.e. “When mortar tubes are in close groups / racks do you allow a gap all around each tube in a bid to avoid misfire explosive force dislodging the next tube and blowing the rack apart?” And: “Have you tested your typical rack to see how it performs under shell misfire / detonation conditions?”

We currently use Imperial Fireworks’ GRP mortars but we’re considering slowly converting to HDPE.

So I’m wondering what the general consensus is regarding: GRP vs. HDPE; construction and testing of racks; and best ways to avoid (those fortunately rare) accidents.

After a particularly gruelling day’s rigging for a show in Scotland at last New Year, I considered the use of a trailer to stack racks in – i.e. rig it all in a covered space and wheel out onto the site in one go. (I subsequently spotted a pic of such a set-up on a US website). But is this a big no-no?

Also, whilst discussing the Kettering incident recently with a fellow pyro enthusiast, he told me that he often sticks a door or such like in front of his racks when he lets stuff off in his (large) garden. Has anyone ever tried using such a blast wall? I was thinking in terms of 3 sheets of 8' x 4' ply lengthways to floor – to create a 24’ x 4’ wall, set up against some kind of a-frame. If a shell was lost through the side of a mortar, it would probably be moving less than 4ft above ground. With the main charge already dissipated through breaking the mortar and rack, the wall might help deflect the remainder of the shell, or at least slow it down, and would certainly deflect any mortar fragments. But I guess for a shell exiting a toppled mortar the wall would be somewhat less effective! Maybe I'm being too hopeful. Perhaps the wall would just collapse. There must be a point though, depending on material used, when this wall would become effective. It would be an interesting experiment!

Lastly (honest!) What’s the best way to destruction-test a rack, as per the EIG/Pyrogear experiments? Is an upside-down shell sufficient?

Many thanks and look forward to discussing further.

Keith
Booom!

Links to some of that stuff:
www.eig.org.uk/eig2002/documents/
www.pyrogear.net
www.theinsurancexperts.com
www.pyrouniverse.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=10&pos=173