clustering

[Rob Fisher]

I am thinking about getting a deuces wild but know nothing about "clustering". Can someone please tell me how you ignite both motors at once? I have a standard estes porta pad/ electron ignitor set-up and was wondering if I could somehow use this? -or is there some other ignition system that you have to build to do this?-thanks.

 

[BlueNinja]

Well, you have to have a 12-volt battery or you have a chance of not igniting at all. The electron beam won't work, but you can get a 12volt battery at Batteries Plus for 20 dollars, and other than that all you need is 15ft of wire and a doorbell switch for a very simple launch system. YOu will probably need about 5ft of wire for "clip whips". What you do is split each wire so you have two sets of 2 wires.solder one set together at one end, and solder microclips on the other end. Do the same with the other pair. Someone else probably has a diagram of this (sandman?) but if ya search around a bit you will probably find some already posted.

 

[nomopbo]

You may find some good data at "Info-Central" Look under "Ground Support". There is a good "clip whip" diagram.
https://www.info-central.org/infocentral.shtml

 

[sandman]

Hope this helps.

A clip whip!

sandman

 

[jflis]

wow

Welcome to the world of clusters!
Welcome to the "Deuce - A - holics" club
Welcome to FlisKits (via the Deuce's Wild!)
and a *most* hardy welcome to TRF!

If you purchase the Deuce's Wild! kit you will also get a "Hints and Tips" sheet on clustering (I've attached it to this message so that you can review it ahead of time)

Also, I recommend that you do a search here on TRF for CLUSTER, CLUSTERS & CLUSTERING in the LOW POWER forum for more information on doing such cluster ignition.

Basically, here is what I recommend:

1) read the manufacturers liturature
2) All motors in the cluster must match (use the ones recommended by the manufacturer)
3) Place a small ball of recovery wadding in the top end of all motors in the cluster. Should you have one motor that doesn't ignite, this wadding will protect that motor from the hot ejection particles of the burning motor, at the time of ejection. This ejection material can actually ignite the unlit motor in reverse, gutting your model in the process.
4) Make sure all motors are tightly secured in the rocket.
5) Select 2 (in the case of the Deuce) ignitors that look to be of the same size and condition.
6) Install your ignitors and either twist the leads together (this is how I prepare MY Deuce's Wild! for flight) or use a clip whip.
7) use a 12VDC power source for your launch equipment. This could be as simple as two 6 volt lantern batteries or even your car battery

I would not recommend the Estes Electron setup as it does not have enough *power* to properly launch a cluster.

If interested, here is a link to a very simple launch controller that you can build for about $10 with parts from Radio Shack: https://fliskits.com/products/free_dl/simple_pad.pdf

And, lastly, PLEASE ask more questions if you have any! Our goal is to help you be as successful as possible!

hope this helps!
jim

 

[Rob Fisher]

WOW!! -I sure didn,t think I'd be hearing back from one of the owners of Fliskits himself! Thanks for all the helpful info.-thats what I call customer service! I just stumbled upon your site a few days ago and was blown away by the deuce-just ordered one. What an awesome company, thanks.

 

[jflis]

You are most welcome

Oh, I come in here from time to time. Post occationally.

You'll see me 'round

 

[OKTurbo]

Rob,

If you don't want to build your own launch controller, I'd recommend the Pratt Hobbies SurefireII system. It's not cheap, but you get what you pay for. The rechargeable batteries are nice and it all fits into a neat little tool box. It has enough power to launch pretty much anything until you get up to high power stuff.

https://www.pratthobbies.com/

Here's a pic of mine.

https://img11.photobucket.com/albums/v33/OKTurbo/Rockets/MVC-247F.jpg

Welcome to TRF. You're going to love the Deuce's Wild....

John