Page History

•  

  Piston

•  

  1/4 in torque wrench

•  7/16 in wrench (labeled with dark blue tape)
•  2x Integrated Firebolts
•  Multimeter
•  1/2 inch Teflon tape
•  2 1/8 NPT female tee fitting
•  1/8 NPT male elbow fitting
•  2x 1/4 NPT plugs 8 NPT plugs (pref. brass plugs)
•  Safety goggles
•  Black Powder
•  Gloves
•  Weigh boats 
•  Popsicle sticks
•  Elbow joint
•  Tee fitting
•  Adjustable wrench
•  Vice grip/pliers
•  Small scale
  
  

Procedures

1. Using a 1/4 inch torque wrench, ensure that the bolts holding the piston together are tight (100 inch-pounds of torque). If the bolts are loose, the piston will lose pressure as it extends. (torque wrench adapter in piston box)

2. Integrate Firebolt into NPT Plug

   1. Use multimeter to check continuity of Firebolt (should be about 1.0-1.4 ohms) and twist the wires to short it. Two people should visually confirm that it is shorted. 

   2. Wrap the Firebolt with five wraps of Teflon tape. 

   3. Use the

   appropriate

   1. 7/16 wrench to screw firebolt into the NPT plug as far as possible. Highly recommend using the threaded brass plugs since it is threaded all the way.

   2. Repeat steps a through c for a second firebolt and plug

3. Integrate black powder

   1. Everyone put on safety glasses. From now on, everyone within the vicinity of the pyrotechnics must wear safety glasses.

   2. Measure

   and pour

   1. out 0.2 g of black powder and pour it into the other side of the plug, holding over a weigh boat to catch any fallout. This

   will probably

   1. should be

   enough

   1. close to

   completely fill

   1. filling the plug and may overflow slightly if you screwed the firebolts all the way in. 

   2. Seal the opening by wrapping over the head and opening three times with Teflon tape. Make sure Teflon tape is flush on the inside.

   3. Repeat steps a through c for a second fully integrated plug

4. Screw a fully integrated plug into the left side b-dScrew the plugs into the bottom and left sides of the tee fitting (relative to the tee fitting orientated like a "T"). Tap the tee fitting several times and make sure no black powder falls out after screwing in each the plug. If there are any leaksany black powder falls out, remove the responsible plug and re-make it.plug and repeat the integration of black powder.

5. Repeat step (4) for the second fully integrated plug, but screw it into the bottom side of the tee fitting (again relative to the tee fitting orientated like a "T")

6. Compress the piston completely!

7. Screw an elbow joint into a side female end of the tee after adding Teflon tape. Tighten it until it is reasonably secure but make sure it can still be tightened a half rotation.

8. Screw the entire fitting assembly into the piston NPT hole. Make sure that the fitting assembly is pointed up (in the direction of the bore) and rotate tee fitting until the side plug is as close to the body of the piston as possible.

9. Screw anti rotation plate into the top of piston using the short 1/4-20 screws

10. Screw god nut on piston

11. Slide diaphragm on (lip facing up), with anti rotation rod attached and slid through hole of anti rotation rod holder

12. Screw eye nut on and line up with hole

13. Put cotter pin in and bend ends

14. Put gaff tape over cotter pin ends

15. Pull piston up and tighten god nut with wrench (check that diaphragm doesn’t wobble)

16. Wrench the elbow and tee assembly into the inlet hole of the piston with 5 wraps of Teflon tape until extremely tight and turned upright.

17. Put the 2 assembled plugs into two remaining female ends of tee fitting

18. Clock the tee fitting close to the body of the piston so the piston fits better into AV bay

19. Test the piston by pulling up rod for 5 secs and checking that it is sealed
20. Log Firebolts