Ignitor Question

[John T]

I just inventoried my collection of motors, and discovered that I have one lonely B4-2 motor that has no ignitor. I have some plugs, but can't find the little wirey bit.

I have a ton of other size motors (1/2 A's through C's), and have some left over ignitors from those packs.

Is an ignitor an ignitor, an ignitor? Are these things interchangeable, or will I render the B motor unuseable if I try to light it with, say, a C ignitor...

I THINK I know the answer, but need some educating.

Thanks.
-John-

 

[MKP]

An Estes igniter is an Estes igniter, no difference. Heck, a Quest igniter works just fine in a Estes motor.

 

[Lamp]

Yep, as MKP says, any igniter will do. If you really are short, you can buy Estes igniters in a pack of 6 from most hobby shops that sell the motors, it is not a bad idea to have some spares for those times when the igniters break or misfire.

 

[John T]

Yeah - that's what I figured, but just wanted to be sure I wouldn't create some sort of rip in the space-time continuum if I used an A ignitor in a C motor.

Thanks again.
-John-

 

[BobH48]

Yep, as MKP says, any igniter will do. If you really are short, you can buy Estes igniters in a pack of 6 from most hobby shops that sell the motors, it is not a bad idea to have some spares for those times when the igniters break or misfire.

Actually, if the pyrogen burns and lights your motor but the bridge wire doesn't break, you can reuse the igniter. This is most common when using the Estes controller and the batteries aren't new but still have enough power for launching.

Just make sure the bridge wire is touching the propellant when you install it.

I have gotten up to 5 launches on a single igniter.

Because of that, staging (two motors, one igniter) and buying Blastoff packs(six extra igniters) I now have at least 100 more igniters than I have motors.