A percentage of these reload grains manufactured between 5/1/02 and 7/4/02 may have been compromised by environmental conditions, during manufacture, which may lead to failure shortly after ignition. An indication of this condition would be grains that are excessively soft or "spongy".

The two options consist of:

1. Grain replacement with new grains as they become available from our Utah facility later this summer.
2. Field modification of the (harder) grains. This procedure has been field tested at LDRS and has been formally submitted to Tripoli as a manufacturer approved modification.

For those grains which are deemed suspect and are not felt to be hard enough for the field modification, AeroTech will ship replacement grains to high power dealers for distribution from their stores or at launches.

Consumers wishing to have the grains replaced need to contact AeroTech warranty at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it or (fax) 702-641-1883. Please include the following information: number of reloads, date purchased, purchased from, to which dealer should be the replacement grains be sent to and any other information deemed pertinent to the warranty.

The field modification consists of the following: Older (harder) grains may be modified by the end user by drilling, with a 1/2" diameter twist drill, BY HAND ONLY. This is performed by twisting the drill bit half way through from both ends of the grain and then reaming through to completion. All grains for the motor should be drilled to the same 1/2" diameter although field experience has shown that only one or two grains , drilled to 1/2" and placed at the nozzle end of the motor resulted in no failures. Shavings generated by this operation should be disposed by burning (using electric ignition) in an isolated area, observing prudent fire precautions.

The White Lightning™ propellant currently being cast in Texas has been reformulated to increase hardness and the new J350W grains will be machined to .500" (1/2 inch core diameter). New J350W grains made after July 16th will be identified for use with J350W motors only and will have distinctive new labels on the grains and on the 12-pack box of grains.

The new propellant facility in Utah will be climate controlled and will provide the permanent solution to this issue.

AeroTech sincerely regrets any inconvenience to it's customers due to this situation.

Any questions with regards to this e-mail can be directed to Mike Martens at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it or by phone (702-) 641-2301.