RAPIER Overheating

[Collin Dow]

So I've got a decently workable SSTO. (Hell is likely freezing over as I type this.) However, it has a small problem...about 30km up, just before the switch from air to closed cycle, they explode from overheating. From about 20km up, they start to overheat, regardless of where I put the throttle.

http://imgur.com/HKTRm1b

My theory at present is that the presence of air intakes overlapping the engines must be causing it. However, I was under the impression that having things surrounded by parts didn't actually increase heat retention, and the intakes are not directly attached to the rapiers.

I'm in the middle of a flight now with the air intakes that overlapped the engine removed, and the heating problem is still present, and in full force.

I await the answer that points out the little thing I miss that makes me feel like a dummy.

Thanks!

Collin

[Soda Popinski]

Are you running Deadly Re-entry? If so, there was a bug in the previous version that lead to RAPIERs exploding.

[Dooz]

Lemme answer your question

Are your Rapiers touching or very close to each other or in a quad bi coupler Rapiers in closed cycle overheat very quickly when close to each other try putting them farther away from each other post a screen shot of the craft if you know how?

Rapiers like working alone

Edited January 18, 2014 by Dooz

[Collin Dow]

I've got an imgur link in the main post. The rapiers are on opposite sides of the ship, and I'm too bad at this game for deadly reentry!

I managed to push myself up to about 1600m/s before I was forced to switch to closed cycle (where the heat completely disappears, unless you switch back to air-breathing) and actually made a stable orbit, with literally 0 OX left. So I guess the design is feasible even with the heat issues, if one is super careful about managing thrust and altitude.

Still...I'm going to keep screwing with the design, see if I can find the issue.

E: I broke into orbit with the rapiers on the very verge of explosion. When I came back to the world, they flipped to air-breathing and immediately exploded upon application of thrust. Darnit.

Edited January 18, 2014 by Collin Dow

[thereaverofdarkness]

I don't see any reason this should be happening. Try uninstalling your mods 1 by 1 to see if any are causing it. The most likely culprits are anything that affects aerodynamics, physics, or structural effects. I don't think your B9 mod parts are at fault, but it is also possible. If you are using FAR, you might need to remove or update it. (If you're using FAR and only just barely made it to orbit, something is really wrong!)

[federicoaa]

I posted the same question a couple of days ago ^^

Problem surely is you are using an outdated version of deadly-reentry

[Taki117]

Rapiers, while in Air-Breathing Mode require Air to cool them down. No air, no cooling. This might be the problem you are running into (Even without DRE not as hard as you might think) So you can either switch to Closed-cycle sooner (And pack more Ox) or go faster lower in the atmosphere.

[Collin Dow]

The air thing makes sense. Unfortunately, this beast refuses to speed up while low...engineering time!