--- title: "Water-cooling A 3D Printed Rocket Isn’t Quite Practical" url: https://daily.dev/posts/water-cooling-a-3d-printed-rocket-isn-t-quite-practical-8rhatmpdo source_url: https://hackaday.com/2026/05/23/water-cooling-a-3d-printed-rocket-isnt-quite-practical type: article source: "Hackaday" published: 2026-05-23T11:29:10.236Z updated: 2026-05-23T11:29:29.122Z reading_time: 2 upvotes: 0 comments: 0 language: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Water-cooling A 3D Printed Rocket Isn’t Quite Practical **[Hackaday](https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday)** · 2 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary An experiment using FDM 3D-printed plastic parts to build a propane-burning rocket engine, relying on water cooling to overcome the material's low heat tolerance. The uncooled combustion chamber melted quickly, and a redesigned water-cooled version failed when the water jacket leaked into the chamber and extinguished the flame. The approach is deemed impractical for flight use due to the excessive water weight required for sustained cooling. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [You Wouldn’t Download A Combustion Engine](https://daily.dev/posts/you-wouldn-t-download-a-combustion-engine-rhu5lqdlx) · Hackaday · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Thermoforming Printed Parts With Hot Water](https://daily.dev/posts/thermoforming-printed-parts-with-hot-water-hzzfdw3or) · Hackaday · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Building A Rim-Driven Jet Engine](https://daily.dev/posts/building-a-rim-driven-jet-engine-f9brhdo9u) · Hackaday · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/water-cooling-a-3d-printed-rocket-isn-t-quite-practical-8rhatmpdo)