Customer Reviews

Estes Hydrogen Fuel Rocket

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

OK, after reading the reviews, you might get a little worried about buying this. My son and I LOVE this rocket. In fact, we just did a little Hydrogen explanation and test fire for his entire 1st grade class. They LOVED it. Here's what we like:

Rocket goes about 100 feet high. Rubber end ensures it doesn't break on re-entry.
Reusable over and over. No engines to buy. Just wait 3 minutes and you're good to go.
Actually makes Hydrogen fuel, which is kind of cool to show off to the older observers.

Didn't like
Super design by Estes, terrible execution on Chinese manufacturing. Mine didn't work out of the box. I had to take off the screws and solder the battery wire in place!!!! Are you kidding me? Plus the chamber's contacts were not touching so I had to bend them to make it work. No wonder some don't ever work out of the box. Shame on Estes for not controlling the manufacturing process.

The faulty manufacturing aside, this is a big big hit.

My son absolutely LOVES this thing, but the battery life leaves a LOT to be desired.

It uses a set of 6 D-cells, which need to be alkaline types due to the high current drain (I measured about 4A while generating the hydrogen, and 5-6A to heat the ignitor coil). Using a fresh set of cells, figure on getting 12-15 launches before the batteries start to go flat, and when they do, misfires become the rule rather than the exception. At ~$8 for a set of batteries, this thing can easily cost as much or more per launch than the standard model rockets, but only achieves a fraction of the altitude.

I ended up modifying the launcher to run from an external 12 volt battery (motorcycle battery), and it will now run all day without draining the wallet. Estes should offer a rechargeable battery pack or 12V cigarette lighter cord as an option.

The other problem is the igniter system. It uses a nichrome wire coil that gets heated to ignite the hydrogen. If the launcher gets moved, liquid can splash onto the coil and prevent ignition until the coil gets heated a few times, or dried manually with a q-tip.

My son absolutely LOVES this thing, but the battery life leaves a LOT to be desired.

It uses a set of 6 D-cells, which need to be alkaline types due to the high current drain (I measured about 4A while generating the hydrogen, and 5-6A to heat the ignitor coil). Using a fresh set of cells, figure on getting 12-15 launches before the batteries start to go flat, and when they do, misfires become the rule rather than the exception. At ~$8 for a set of batteries, this thing can easily cost as much or more per launch than the standard model rockets, but only achieves a fraction of the altitude.

I ended up modifying the launcher to run from an external 12 volt battery (motorcycle battery), and it will now run all day without draining the wallet. Estes should offer a rechargeable battery pack or 12V cigarette lighter cord as an option.

The other problem is the igniter system. It uses a nichrome wire coil that gets heated to ignite the hydrogen. If the launcher gets moved, liquid can splash onto the coil and prevent ignition until the coil gets heated a few times, or dried manually with a q-tip.

This product is poorly designed. Assembly was very complicated and the pieces did not fit together well. Once assembled, it blew apart on the second launch. We returned the item and got our money back.

Didn't work at first, then realized that I did not fully lock down the fuel cell. Needs two clicks to lock, not just one.

A bit slow (about 3 min) for each launch.

Single charges aren't spectactular, but double charge and the rocket really flies!

NOTE: this is for a similar system that has only one rocket in the kit and one LED; maybe called the "1876"? Looks like the same thing...



I got one of these for Fathers Day, and had several unsuccessful launch attempts. If I'd written this last week, it would have gotten 1 star. But with the following caveats, it defied gravity 5 times today, although the first was only a 6 inch liftoff that left everyone rolling on the ground.



1) The orange battery caps seem to pop off their threads, sending the batteries sliding out. Fixed this with nylon cable ties (shouldn't have to do this- bad design!)

2) When screwing the tanklike thing onto the base, you have to turn it hard UNTIL IT STOPS. You have to turn it past the first detent that feels like the end; there is another! If you don't turn it to the FINAL "click" detent, it will run the LED, give you a launch beep, but there won't be any H2 to ignite :( Of course now I see that others have noted this here also... oops.

3) When making H2, bubbles will appear nearly constantly. When not working (in my case because of item #2, you may still get occasional bubbles as the pad gets wet, but don't get your hopes up until you see a nearly constant stream...



Now that it works, I like it! Still working on better range; I'd guess I got 60-70 feet today, but I don't think there was enough fluid in it...

I got one of these for the 4th of July and it works great! Coworkers and I discuss options on all types of alternately fueled vehicles, and there is always a discussion about "water engines". I had dismissed them until I saw this thing in action. You wont believe how little hydrogen/oxygen mix it takes to create a tremendous amount of energy. My rocket reliably went over 10 stories high again and again. I was impressed. Now I just need to figure out how to get this technology into my car engine...

We got this for our son's 7th birthday and tried to fly the rocket - put in a new set of batteries, made the citric solution, set the rocket, the bubble comes up from the bottom of container, and the launch beep comes. We stretch the launch code tout and push button after we make sure that we are not close to the launch system... Nothing happens. We repeated again and again over this process carefully re-reading the instruction, making sure that the filament is not wet, but we never got this thing to fly. I believe the bubble that comes out of the liquid is hydrogen (and oxygen), but the filament is never able to ignite it - either the filament temperature is too low or the hydrogen concentration is never high enough. After a several days of fruitless tries, it simply went into the garbage box. Waste of money and time!

We have launched this rocket around 50 times and each time neighborhood
kids come out and watch. It is most impressive at night. The only thing we do is we set up for the first launch without the kids knowing. The first launch seems to take quite a bit longer than the rest and often fails. Once we have a successful launch, the kids come running.

Why are there so many negative reviews on here?! This toy is great. I suspect the others who posted simply did not follow the instructions closely -- there are some strange caveats in the directions-- such as presoaking the generator in water and trying to keep the igniter dry (while pouring water at it...) but worked GREAT right out of the box for me. Had a fabulous time this past weekend launching again and again.
Agree that waiting 3 minutes between launches can seem long, but when you consider you don't need to buy any engines (water from the tap is all that is required for endless launches) it's really not too terrible to wait 3 minutes... patience is a virtue.