20 replies to this topic

[David]

Just as the title says- how loud are cat 4 fireworks? Is there a maximum volume limit?

I know it's a very vauge and open question, but how loud, on average, does a typical Cat 4 display get?

[Mortartube]

It is unlimited by regulation as far as I can ascertain. I have let off 8" aerial maroons in the dim distant past at Greenham Common airbase for their 4th July show. I can't recall anything louder than that. You feel them, don't just hear them.

[The Legendary Graham]

Set alarms off 5 miles away

This was evil a 12" bang

[teaboy]

Cat 4 doesn't necesserally (sp?) have to loud - I've had some Cat 4 fountains and small 18mm candles classed as Cat 4 before. They were crap! However, as said above there's (currently) no regulation. Cat 4 covers EVRYTHING outside of Cat 1-3 for whatever reason (fuse time, not been tested, etc), not just 120db+

[David]

Cat 4 doesn't necesserally (sp?) have to loud - I've had some Cat 4 fountains and small 18mm candles classed as Cat 4 before. They were crap! However, as said above there's (currently) no regulation. Cat 4 covers EVRYTHING outside of Cat 1-3 for whatever reason (fuse time, not been tested, etc), not just 120db+

Yeah, I know what you mean- Cat 4 doesn't NEED to be loud, but as a more general question, how loud does an "average" Cat 4 show get? I know its a vauge question.

[portfire]

The db's will go up and down most of the time so no real anwser. An 8" shell (standard) is loud but a 3" Ti salute..Well

[Spyrotechnics]

A typical "November" display will be larger and louder than retail items the public can purchase

[David]

Could anyone hazard a rough estimation of how loud (for example) a large November display would be at the peak of it's volume?

I saw somewhere mention that fireworks can reach 190db? Its hard to tell if that could possibly be accurate, or if it is way off.

[Spyrotechnics]

where did you see that?

[CCH Concepts]

i think one thing to bear in ind when talking about volumes of 190db is the pain threashold. as far as i was awear its around 140dB, but i have found a wikipedia reference.
pain threshold

[David]

where did you see that?

It's one of the anti firework sites- It was a Swiss site (I think) with an English translation. I can't find the link at the moment.

Edit here is the link : Stop Fireworks

Edited by David, 31 August 2009 - 12:07 PM.

[Arthur Brown]

The regs for cat 1,2,and 3 fireworks include terms for their loudness. measured as impulse levels and at the marked safety distance for the device category.

A cat4 device may be a small strobe pot with a professional fuse ( a cat3 strobe would have a time fuse!) which would be almost silent, to a 3+ inch Ti salute which certainly wouldn't be silent

[CCH Concepts]

your guys have mentioned Ti salute a few times, what is it exactly.

[Mixologist]

your guys have mentioned Ti salute a few times, what is it exactly.

In pyrotechnics a salute is a device primarily designed to make a loud report (bang), rather than have a visual effect. Most salutes will also have a very bright flash and may have titanium added for a cloud of sparks (titanium salute.) The salute may be fired on the ground (ground salute) or launched from a mortar as a shell (aerial salute). Due to the nature of the effect, large salutes are some of the more hazardous fireworks. Most of the "salutes" are made with flash powder. Flash powder has a very fast burn rate, unlike black powder. Flash powder also produces a flash and a bang because it burns so fast.

The amount of flash powder contained in any salute can vary widely, due to their bootlegging by different manufacturers. The vast majority of designations, with the exception of the true M-80, are made to suit and vary from maker to maker. In addition, due to varying powder grinds and formulation even firecrackers known to have the same quantity of powder can have widely divergent yields.

Though both news reporters and black-market dealers often make comparisons between the power of illegal salutes and a particular quantity of dynamite ("1/4 stick" or "as powerful as a fourth of a stick of dynamite"), such comparisons are not grounded in reality. Even a fractional stick of dynamite, with the requisite blasting cap needed for detonation, releases far more energy than any normal salute. For reference, a typical stick of dynamite contains over 10 times more explosive material than an authentic M-80 (35 grams of nitroglycerin versus 3 grams of flash powder). Furthermore, dynamite is more powerful than flash powder (compared by mass or volume), and it is denser. Thus the physical size of a flash powder salute is several times larger than its "equivalent" chunk of dynamite. Subjectively, the quantity of flash powder required to approximate the noise and shockwave of a stick of dynamite is several hundred grams.

pinched from Wilko

Very american but gives you the jist...

The titanium gives the big flash, you can now also buy black powder salutes, but they really really do lack the punch, although still made a mess of my tube in rack testing!!

Edited by Mixologist, 31 August 2009 - 07:00 PM.

[digger]

the quantity of flash powder required to approximate the noise and shockwave of a stick of dynamite is several hundred grams.

Interesting, a typical 3" spherical Ti Salute has anywhere between 70g and 130g of flash. One UK manufacturer makes 5" cans with 1Kg of flash in them. They will make a bit of a thump!