Hi,
We have an Estes orange launch controller. It worked fine for a while, but now it ignites the igniters but they do not launch the rocket. We replaced the battery with a brand new 9 volt, and still no launch. I tried 5 igniters in a row - they all burned but the rocket did not launch.
I then replaced the igniter in the engine and used the 9 volt battery directly on the igniter leads. The launcher controller was not used at all. Every single launch was successful. This tells me:
- it's not the battery
- it's not the way we are installing the igniters in the engine
It suggests to me that the launch controller itself is faulty "in some way". I say this lightly because when we use the launch controller, the safety light goes on, it *does* ignite the igniters, but it's as if they don't burn hot enough to ignite the engine. Using a 9 volt battery directly on the igniters worked every time.
What could go wrong with the launch controller? It's as if something in the controller is sapping some of the voltage out of the battery, which weakens the glow of the igniter.
Any suggestions?
Thank you,
Ed
We have an Estes orange launch controller. It worked fine for a while, but now it ignites the igniters but they do not launch the rocket. We replaced the battery with a brand new 9 volt, and still no launch. I tried 5 igniters in a row - they all burned but the rocket did not launch.
I then replaced the igniter in the engine and used the 9 volt battery directly on the igniter leads. The launcher controller was not used at all. Every single launch was successful. This tells me:
- it's not the battery
- it's not the way we are installing the igniters in the engine
It suggests to me that the launch controller itself is faulty "in some way". I say this lightly because when we use the launch controller, the safety light goes on, it *does* ignite the igniters, but it's as if they don't burn hot enough to ignite the engine. Using a 9 volt battery directly on the igniters worked every time.
What could go wrong with the launch controller? It's as if something in the controller is sapping some of the voltage out of the battery, which weakens the glow of the igniter.
Any suggestions?
Thank you,
Ed