MJG/Electricmatch starters

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Joshua F Thomas said:
I've been using the Estees ignitors with QuickDip. I can make a lot of improved igniters that way and they have less of a failure rate. Wish there was a DIY solution for small composite igniters, like for the Quest Q-Jet motors.
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Do you think the new BP Rocket starters (igniters), from MJG, would work in the Q-Jets? Or could you make your own with the Nichrome E-match kit they sell?
 
ksaves2 said:
I've elaborated on this before. Don't bother trying to do home made ematches. A real pain to get consistency. When I did it many years ago, the commercial blanks sucked and I had to make my own. The instructions are out there on the internet on how to start with PC board strips, wire wrap with nichrome and make your own blanks but you better have a shear that can cut them. I was able to get an old shear that wasn't being used anymore from a family business because it was too small. The chems to do ematches are also out there but I will say only mix up a teeny-tiny bit as the primary is very friction and impact sensitive. If not completing the dipping process in one session, it's imperative NOT to get any of the chem on the threads of the container or the lid. If one twists the lid off, it could go pop. Unlikely the liquid chem would go off as long as it wasn't dried out.
I successfully did dipping sessions over a few days with great care. Added solvent when needed.
I made a bunch of them and the consistency is o.k. but I've never flown them. Only reason I attempted to make them was back in the day, they were getting hard to get due to the ATF thing and I wanted to have something to fall back on. Now they're easier to buy and I immediately gave up on making them. I still have some of them hanging up in the basement. They actually do better after they have aged for a few months in a cool, dry place and I occasionally take one out and pop it on a 1.5V AAA battery.

Kurt Savegnago
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I can get about 90% success but only use them for motor lighters. My first batch was much less reliable. I made them from a skylighter kit and your have to be very precise in you manufacturing techniques. I certainly would not make my own blanks.

I bought few kits from skylighter a couple years ago. I would say the only way yo go is a dip kit, but I would not trust your rocket or risk the crowd to a homemade match.
 
TigerHawk said:
Do you think the new BP Rocket starters (igniters), from MJG, would work in the Q-Jets? Or could you make your own with the Nichrome E-match kit they sell?
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I wouldn't try the BP ignitors for the Q-Jets. I think the ends are too big to fit inside the Q-Jet nozzle, and afaik you need a hotter flame to get composite propellant going.
 
Joshua F Thomas said:
I wouldn't try the BP ignitors for the Q-Jets. I think the ends are too big to fit inside the Q-Jet nozzle, and afaik you need a hotter flame to get composite propellant going.
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I think you ok with they fit well and can be removed easily. If not, choose a different igniter. For QJets, I make my own.
 
cwbullet said:
I think you ok with they fit well and can be removed easily. If not, choose a different igniter. For QJets, I make my own.
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The MJG BP ignitors do not fit inside a C6 nozzle. I know because I bought a hundred. They still work reasonably enough if I tape them to the outside of the nozzle.
 
Joshua F Thomas said:
The MJG BP ignitors do not fit inside a C6 nozzle. I know because I bought a hundred. They still work reasonably enough if I tape them to the outside of the nozzle.
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Reading through this thread, there appears to be a variety of BP igniters that MJG has sold and they may have different sizes, shapes, etc.

I am not sure which igniters you have, but I just received a box of BP igniters from them last week (the version with the 3 foot wires) and the ones I received definitely fit inside C6 nozzles. Here are some photos of the igniter head, a C6 motor, the wire inserted and some other motors with the igniter inserted. It even fits inside the very small nozzle of a 13mm 1/2A3-4T with no problem.

I tested them out yesterday on my Cluster Duck with 6 x C6-0's and an E9-6 in the center. I will try to post a video below, but these igniters were awesome - probably the best I have used for a cluster. The leads are long, which made it so much easier to get a neat and orderly wiring job for the cluster, the igniter heads fit easily in the nozzles, and I had 100% motor ignition and, better yet, all motors fired almost exactly at the same time. Hopefully the video is clear enough show that.

PXL_20210705_210226312.jpg

PXL_20210705_210232885.jpg

PXL_20210705_210434650.jpg

 
mtnmanak said:
Reading through this thread, there appears to be a variety of BP igniters that MJG has sold and they may have different sizes, shapes, etc.

I am not sure which igniters you have, but I just received a box of BP igniters from them last week (the version with the 3 foot wires) and the ones I received definitely fit inside C6 nozzles. Here are some photos of the igniter head, a C6 motor, the wire inserted and some other motors with the igniter inserted. It even fits inside the very small nozzle of a 13mm 1/2A3-4T with no problem.

I tested them out yesterday on my Cluster Duck with 6 x C6-0's and an E9-6 in the center. I will try to post a video below, but these igniters were awesome - probably the best I have used for a cluster. The leads are long, which made it so much easier to get a neat and orderly wiring job for the cluster, the igniter heads fit easily in the nozzles, and I had 100% motor ignition and, better yet, all motors fired almost exactly at the same time. Hopefully the video is clear enough show that.

View attachment 471514

View attachment 471515

View attachment 471516

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Nice and thank you for the pictures and video!
 
mtnmanak said:
Reading through this thread, there appears to be a variety of BP igniters that MJG has sold and they may have different sizes, shapes, etc.
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These look like the composite igniters I recieved, excepting the head color. If you look under post #4 in this thread, you will see pictures of the composite (left) and BP (right) which I have been using from MJG.
 
Joshua F Thomas said:
No. I have been using these for months. I am the original author of this thread. I ordered both BP and composite igniters over 6 months ago.
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I think what I am gathering from this thread and from MJG directly is that they stopped making certain igniters months ago and solidified their product line on the current BP igniters. Those I can confirm will fit in just about any motor I have seen (I do not have any QJets, so I can't test those).

It looks to me like the ones you bought when you started this thread are no longer available. So, it doesn't look like anyone is "right or wrong" here - some people have an older version that does not fit and some people have a newer version that does fit.

Once you burn through your original hundred, at least you know the ones you buy in the future will work.

Then again, they have changed things in the past, so I am stocking up now. Just ordered another 50. Considering I fly clusters up to 12 motors at a time, I go through these things quickly. May bump that order up to 100.
 
Honestly I would prefer composite igniters in bulk over BP, as it's pretty easy to improve the Estes ones with some QuickDip; but the composite igniters are all much more expensive from the big vendors.
 
Looks like the new BP starters are like the mini head ematches that come with CTI F30 and similar reloads. With the blue and white leads they should be ATF compliant like the FireWires.
 
Have to agree on the composite igniters - I make my own with CAT 5 twisted pairs or Shooter's Wire and Rocketflite pyrogen. Never had one of those igniters fail.
 
The MJG starters will not fit at least the A and B Q-Jets. For those, I use my home made 18 mm starters.
 

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The new bp starters are a chip, and it's what we use in the fireworks as a mini, so there should be no more changes. We will be making these in 1 foot, as we were told the 3 foot was just too long. 3 foot is popular in pyro, so we were hoping to have 1 less inventory part, and the price isn't much different. however we are hearing the extra wire is really a pain. Thanks for your feedback, especially with what size the new bp starters fit in, as we will start to list them to help future costumers purchase the correct parts. the picture is how the standard and mini sizes should be. mini vs regular.jpg
 
electricmatch said:
The new bp starters are a chip, and it's what we use in the fireworks as a mini, so there should be no more changes. We will be making these in 1 foot, as we were told the 3 foot was just too long. 3 foot is popular in pyro, so we were hoping to have 1 less inventory part, and the price isn't much different. however we are hearing the extra wire is really a pain. Thanks for your feedback, especially with what size the new bp starters fit in, as we will start to list them to help future costumers purchase the correct parts. the picture is how the standard and mini sizes should be. View attachment 471681
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Can you clarify - Are you going to stop making the 3 foot length? I ordered a bunch of them today along with a new spool of Shooter's Wire, but if you are not going to make the 3 foot length anymore, I will stock up now. That length is superb for clusters.

Not sure why people want a shorter wire. I would much rather have the longer wire and cut as needed. Seems trivial to cut off wire, but it is a lot harder to put more back on!
 
mtnmanak said:
Can you clarify - Are you going to stop making the 3 foot length? I ordered a bunch of them today along with a new spool of Shooter's Wire, but if you are not going to make the 3 foot length anymore, I will stock up now. That length is superb for clusters.

Not sure why people want a shorter wire. I would much rather have the longer wire and cut as needed. Seems trivial to cut off wire, but it is a lot harder to put more back on!
Click to expand...

3 foot won't go away. it is too popular in the pyro industry. we will make 2400 of the 1 foot, and see how they sell.
 
mtnmanak said:
Can you clarify - Are you going to stop making the 3 foot length? I ordered a bunch of them today along with a new spool of Shooter's Wire, but if you are not going to make the 3 foot length anymore, I will stock up now. That length is superb for clusters.

Not sure why people want a shorter wire. I would much rather have the longer wire and cut as needed. Seems trivial to cut off wire, but it is a lot harder to put more back on!
Click to expand...
3 foot won't go away. it is too popular in the pyro industry. we will make 2400 of the 1 foot, and see how they sell.
 

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