Speaking of igniters (for small motors)

I'm guessing that a lot of people using BP motors don't have access to black powder. I was wondering if you could crunch up match heads and use the same way. (Obviously care must be taken in the crunching stage.)

And BTW I haven't launched any BP motors in quite awhile. I wanted to launch some yesterday so went by the local hobby shop and bought some B and D motors. 4 new igniters launched 4 rockets very quickly.

In the old days BP motors came with nichrome wire to use, no fancy shaped wire and no fancy coatings. I've never had a failure using nichrome, even 3-motor clusters.

Well if you already bought BP motors you could take the paper off one and crush the black powder motor up and you will have fine black powder to glue to the igniters. Just a suggestion, but match heads also might work.

bjphoenix said:

I'm guessing that a lot of people using BP motors don't have access to black powder. I was wondering if you could crunch up match heads and use the same way. (Obviously care must be taken in the crunching stage.)

And BTW I haven't launched any BP motors in quite awhile. I wanted to launch some yesterday so went by the local hobby shop and bought some B and D motors. 4 new igniters launched 4 rockets very quickly.

In the old days BP motors came with nichrome wire to use, no fancy shaped wire and no fancy coatings. I've never had a failure using nichrome, even 3-motor clusters.

Click to expand...

Once I figured out the difference between the non-pyro estes igniters and the older black-tips, I haven't had any issues whatsoever. People are just used to the instant-on of the black-tips and haven't adjusted to the change gracefully. In their defense, the new non-pyro igniters do make clustering trickier

bjphoenix said:

I'm guessing that a lot of people using BP motors don't have access to black powder. I was wondering if you could crunch up match heads and use the same way. (Obviously care must be taken in the crunching stage.).

Click to expand...

Gerald said:

Well if you already bought BP motors you could take the paper off one and crush the black powder motor up and you will have fine black powder to glue to the igniters. Just a suggestion, but match heads also might work.

Click to expand...

Generally speaking, please do not attempt pulverizing flammable solids. Try these instead:

https://www.rocketmotorparts.com/Ejection_Charge_12-Pack/p1577809_16501630.aspx

slothead said:

John, I challenge you to tell me something that is sticky and NOT flammable. (Hmmm) Maybe the characteristic that you left out is that it needs to harden eventually (the quicker the better after a couple minutes).

Click to expand...

I believe a booger meets the requirements you have outlined.

You made me spit out my ice tea...from laffing so hard reading that.

Put a drop of thick CA on the igniter tip then dip in black powder

grouch said:

I believe a booger meets the requirements you have outlined.

Click to expand...

I can assure you a booger is flammable when placed on a red hot electric stove coil. Also it smells pretty bad.

Everything is flammable if you get it hot enough. Well, I guess some things sublimate. Never mind. I will go back to thinking about flaming boogers on stoves.

Ear wax will work better than boogers.

The coating on the current Estes starters is just there to protect the fragile bridgewire. Unfortunately it reduces heat transfer between the bridgewire and propellant. So even if it is in close contact with the propellant, it will slow down ignition.

I have found that soaking the igniter head in plain old distilled vinegar for a few minutes loosens the coating (hide glue?) so it is easily brushed off. This helps some so long as you are careful to get good contact. Of course removing the coating means that you need to be more cautious in handling so that you don't break the bridgewire.

Or you can then dip in your favorite pyrogen which will work better thanks to being in contact with the bridgewire.

blackjack2564 said:

You made me spit out my ice tea...from laffing so hard reading that.

Click to expand...

Sweetened or Unsweetened....I live among the western heathens who know not the refined beverage of iced tea...SWEETENED!

But I too nearly choked on my beverage reading that line.

UhClem said:

I have found that soaking the igniter head in plain old distilled vinegar for a few minutes loosens the coating (hide glue?) so it is easily brushed off. This helps some so long as you are careful to get good contact. Of course removing the coating means that you need to be more cautious in handling so that you don't break the bridgewire.

Click to expand...

The tip coating is composed of corn starch, glue and water.
You can also soak the tips in plain water and the tips will dissolve and are easily flaked off.

https://modelrocketbuilding.blogspot.com/2018/08/estes-starter-igniter-upgrade-update.html

Does nobody use nichrome wire anymore? That's what we used to use with BP motors and with the amount of battery power most people use these days at big launches they seem to be very reliable.

Rainmaker said:

When I was a kid and an acolyte in church the ladies used to paint the candle wicks with clear fingernail polish so they would light quicker. Maybe I've missed it, but has anyone tried this with igniters, then in black powder. Easy to apply because it comes with a small paint brush.

Click to expand...

Sounds like a good idea because:

Nail polish ingredients

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nail_polish#Ingredients

"Nail polish consists of a film-forming polymer dissolved in a volatile organic solvent. Nitrocellulose that is dissolved in butyl acetate or ethyl acetate is common."

Like others. I hate the new Estes igniters and ran into issues where about 1 in 5 would fail to launch. After doing some research I decided to dip a few of the new igniters in Testors model paint and give them a try. The last outing we had 0 fail to launch. Doing a bench test they flame up much better than stock. I used Silver but I would imagine they are all the same. Best part is my local hobby shop sells small bottles for $1 ea.

I hadn't thought about using that, it has powdered aluminum in it, that is a great idea !

Gerald said:

I hadn't thought about using that, it has powdered aluminum in it, that is a great idea !

Click to expand...

If you live in a state that sells fireworks you could also stop and pick up a small bag of M80's and pop the plastic caps off the ends to empty the powder. You could then sprinkle a bit of the powder on the wet silver paint and let that dry. Might be overkill but keep it in your back pocket if you continue to have failures.