recovery ignitors with lipo

I have a ton of lipo batteries that I use for running my flight computers as well as GPS. They work great. However I keep leaving a 9v onboard for the firing of my ignitors. I would like to try firing ignitors with my little lipo batteries, definitely replacing the dedicated 9v and maybe even as the sole power supply for extreme flights.

Who else has been doing this, and to what degree of success, with which lipo batteries? I imagine 1S 3.7v ones are not a great choice regardless of capacity. Or maybe! I use Jtek and MJG style ignitors, lose track of who made which batch but it has not mattered with the 9v onboard.

I just started using 2S-180 mah nanotech Turnigy lipos for my DD flights. All successful thus far.

People still use 9v batteries?

I use the smallest available LiPos (1S, 130mAH) with Raven altimeters and either Q2G2 or Crazy Jim lighters. 100% success rate across dozens of flights.

For low ohm lighters (i.e., most of them) a low voltage/high current battery like a LiPo is a much better choice than a higher voltage/lower current battery like a 9 volt. That rule of thumb gets trickier when you've got electronics with big storage capacitors, but in general it holds true.

Just about any LiPo will fire a standard ematch. I've used 100 mAH 1S LiPo's with the Quark, they fire the unregulated MJG ematches just fine.

I use a 1S 350 mAh 25C lip for both the StratoLogger CF and SL100 no issues at all even with dual e-matches per channel. I have also done back to back bench testing firings and they show very little signs of discharge after testing. As posted above, 350 mAh is high for 1S, you can likely get away with much less.

Well this is good news. Thanks all!

CORZERO said:

People still use 9v batteries?

Click to expand...

Yes, install it at the start of the season. No charging, no muss, no fuss. Don't even have to open the av-bay some seasons. Next year, put a new one in.