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Dehumidifier in the garage is the way to go honestly. I had the same issue after a show last summer and left a few cakes in the garage with a dehumidifier running for like 3 days. Worked perfectly fine after that. Just dont leave em in direct sunlight – the heat can warp the tubes and mess with the lift. Basement or climate controlled storage is ideal if you got it.
Late to this convo but honestly I just light em all. I had like 6 cakes left over after the 4th this year so I invited some buddies over the next weekend and we did a mini “encore” show. Was honestly more fun than the actual 4th cause it was just a small group hanging out instead of the whole neighborhood chaos.
That said, Tina’s right about storage. I ruined a whole case of 200g cakes one year leaving them in a hot shed from July to Labor Day. The tubes got all swollen and half of em didn’t even fire. Learned my lesson.
I went down that rabbit hole a couple years ago. Short answer: black match is doable but you won’t save much money unless you’re going through a LOT of it. The consistency thing is real — getting a uniform burn rate takes practice and good quality chems.
The moisture cure part is definitely annoying. You gotta hang the stuff for like 24-48 hours depending on humidity, and if it’s not dry enough you get erratic burns. Not ideal when you’re relying on it for timing in a show.
One thing that surprised me — it’s actually kinda dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing. Mixing and corning powder indoors is a no-go. I’d say learn it for the experience but keep buying pre-made for actual shows lol.
Man this is timely. I was JUST dealing with this last week. Found a module that was giving me intermittent connection issues.
First thing I do after a big show is test every single module with a simple e-match to make sure they all fire. I label them with colored tape so I know which ones got heavy use and which ones were barely touched.
Biggest thing I found – check where your cables plug into the modules. The connectors get dirty and dusty, especially if you’re shooting in a field. I use contact cleaner on all of them before every show now.
Also +1 on the battery clips. Those spring clips lose tension over time. I replaced all mine with screw terminals this season and its been way more reliable.
Curious what module brand you’re running?
My clean-up this year was brutal lol. It rained the next day so everything was a soggy mess. Note to self: don’t leave cardboard boxes out overnight if there’s any chance of rain.
But honestly the worst part is finding the unexploded stuff. Found a 200g cake that never went off sitting in a corner. Had to carefully dispose of it. Anyone else deal with duds regularly?
Other than that it was a great 4th. Already looking forward to next year.
Dude I feel you on the mortar tip-over lol. Had one go sideways into my neighbor’s fence last year. He was cool about it but man was that embarrassing. This year I used a rack instead of individual tubes and it made a huge difference. Everything stayed put. Best thing I shot was probably this big 6-inch shell I got from a buddy — gold willow with crackle. Took like 5 seconds to bloom. Gorgeous. Spent way too much money this year but honestly worth it.
Yeah what Jim said is pretty accurate. One thing Id add – if youre ordering for July 4th next year, order in like January or February. June is way too late for anything this year.
Also make sure the supplier actually has the stuff in stock. Some of them will say yes then take 6 weeks to manufacture. I had one incident where they said 2 weeks and it turned into 7. Tbf most are honest but you gotta ask the right questions upfront.
Danny if youre new to this, theres a lot of threads in the forum here about vetting Chinese suppliers. Worth digging through those before you wire any money.
Check your pasting consistency first. Uneven paste layers can cause weak spots that blow out before the rest of the shell. Also make sure your spiking is even. I had the same problem until I started being more careful about symmetrical spiking.
in reply to: How do you store your fireworks between shows? #5482I use a sealed plastic tote with a silica gel pack inside, stored in the basement. Keeps the humidity down and everything stays dry. Ammo can works fine too though – those things are basically airtight.
in reply to: Custom box printing – small batch options? #5502Thanks Michael, that would be great! I’m US-based so I’m a bit worried about international shipping costs eating up any savings. If they do FOB though it might still work out. What’s the usual lead time from your supplier in Hunan?
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