launch question ,quick important ?

ok my silo set up and q2 igniters arrived,i tried the silo set up and it didnt work,not surprised,so can i either break apart old igniters and or use q2 igniters with my regular a-c yellow estes controller ? if so i think i will use the launch pad silo thing but with my yellow controller ? can i do this ? with like the spitball or toothpick method ? thanks

Any controller with fresh alkaline batteries will be able to heat up the original QMX igniters until the wire is red hot, but the wire should touch the propellant inside the motor AND the bottom wire contacts must make a good solid electrical connection with the contacts inside the silo launcher. you can bend the contacts upward inside the controller to provide more positive contact.

Q2 igniters can be used with any controller with good batteries. With the Q2 igniters, it is easier to make contact with the propellant.

Test a Q2 ignitor with the Estes controller before you load one in a motor. If the continuity check current is too high, it could fire the ignitor.

i fired the motor w the estes controller,it worked great,but the silo launch set up stinks,tried it twice w no luck,the tape and toothpick method worked great

KennB said:

Test a Q2 ignitor with the Estes controller before you load one in a motor. If the continuity check current is too high, it could fire the ignitor.

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ABSOLUTELY BAD INFORMATION.

The igniters sold with MicroMaxx II-1 motors are Q2 igniters and look similar to Estes igniters except there is no pyrogen on the thin bridge wire.

The Q2G2 igniters are a twisted pair of insuated wires with a tiny dark match head of pyrogen on the tip. THOSE are the igniters that are very sensitive to current and can be fired by the continuity lamp of an Estes controller.

The Q2 cannot be fired by the continuity lamp current of an Estes controller.

The QMX igniter is the older type that was designed to plug into the silo.

genzod said:

ok my silo set up and q2 igniters arrived,i tried the silo set up and it didnt work,not surprised,so can i either break apart old igniters and or use q2 igniters with my regular a-c yellow estes controller ? if so i think i will use the launch pad silo thing but with my yellow controller ? can i do this ? with like the spitball or toothpick method ? thanks

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Yes to all; you got it. That's how I did it when I was still using a Silo as the launch pad. The controller doesn't matter, as long as it puts out enough amps. A standard 6 volt Estes Electron Beam launch controller will work fine. So will the standard 9 volt Quest Futuristic controller. In my experience, 4 AA batteries can fire dozens of LPR motors. The old QMX igniters and the newer Q2 igniters for MicroMaxx have comparable resistance to Estes igniters, so the Estes controller will work fine with them with no caveats. You can get an accessory from Quest that enables you to connect either one of their launch controllers to an external lantern battery. (I think it's called an EBC, or external battery connector, and it's very inexpensive.) That arrangement too will give you enough juice to keep firing motor after motor until they are all gone. That's handy to have because the Quest controller's 9 volt battery gets rather pokey after just a few firings. Even though the set carries less voltage, the 4 AA batteries in the Estes controller seems to have a lot more reserve than a single 9 volt battery has and can fire a lot more motors. But connecting the Quest controller to a lantern battery with the EBC will greatly extend its performance and enable it to keep working all day too. For even more power in an all-in-one handheld launch controller, though, check out this one.

test it with an estes controller

genzod said:

ok my silo set up and q2 igniters arrived,i tried the silo set up and it didnt work,not surprised,so can i either break apart old igniters and or use q2 igniters with my regular a-c yellow estes controller ? if so i think i will use the launch pad silo thing but with my yellow controller ? can i do this ? with like the spitball or toothpick method ? thanks

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Just to confirm what Shread and others have already posted.

The newer bare nichrome Quest Q2 micro igniter is Very different from the very low current Q2g2 pyrogen Quest igniters.

Q2 micro igniters are completely continuity safe with any 6 to 12volt controller system. You can use any controller set-up you happen to have without fear of continuity ignition.
Hope this helps.