Piston System Kit
The operation of the piston system is quite simple. The piston sits in the airframe "over" the motor and "under" the parachute. It is attached to the motor mount via the nylon strap which is epoxied to both the motor mount and the piston itself. When the ejection charge goes off, the pressurization between the motor and the piston bottom pushes the piston upward, which separates the rocket and pushes the chute out. That`s all there is to it. No special prep needed, nothing to do...just push in the piston, load the chute, and you`re done.
I absolutely love the piston system. I do use the for Dual Deploy on the PML Kits with Quantum Tubing using a LOC Phenolic Altimeter bay. They work fantastic. Main thing to remember is to follow PML's Guidelines on Black Powder Charges. It doesn't take very much. I see folks using way too much black powder for the ejection charges. The Quantum tubing is a breeze to clean and makes the piston ejection work like a charm. No chute protector is needed and i even run a Jolly Logic chute release on some of them as well.
First, I want to say that the piston system isn’t for all rockets. Cardboard rockets and dual deploy rockets I would rather not use the piston system. Cardboard doesn’t clean up well, alcohol soaks right into it. However, quantum tube and fiberglass are a breeze to clean BP residue after a deployment. I reiterate, the piston system doesn’t lend itself to dual deploy rockets where the electronics are placed in the coupler; you can’t run your ejection charge past the piston, though, you can easily use the piston system in the payload section to deploy the main chute.
