What is the Fingernail Polish or whatever it is that people put on Estes Igniters to toughen them up (and maybe burn better also?)????
Thanks -Paul
Thanks -Paul
Fingernail Polish to toughen-up Estes Igniters????
- Thread starter Paul Howard
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I used the cheap stuff from Dollar Tree that contains Nitrocellilose/.
I just started dipping mine in Testor's silver enamel ($1.99) ... they really flame big.
Five
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I think I will give that a try.
It is very cheap....$1. Red or silver improves strength and looks.
Hi, thanks for the tips/info! I actually tried/applied my Wifey's clear fingernail polish last night to one igniter and this morning before heading out to work (where I am now) and fired off the treated igniter and an untreated igniter for comparison and YES it made a very noticeable improvement. I'm henceforth going to do this on all my igniters now. I may stop at the local hobby shop "Trump's Hobbies" (nope, no relation and not owned by you-know-who) and buy some Testers enamel since they can always use the business. Otherwise there's cheap fingernail polish at Grocery Outlet or as mentioned above, the Dollar Store.
Great Idea!!!!!
Great Idea!!!!!
You can get a similar jump and equal protection from nitrocellulose fingernail policy for 1/2 the cost.
So, I took all my "spare" igniters (I had NO IDEA I had attained "this" many), and applied the Clear fingernail polish my Wife had sitting around doing nothing "Here, will this work?, I'm not using it at all so you might as well use it." she said. This is what I did the test with that I had mentioned earlier, so now I'm Set! I marked all the treated igniters with a Black Dot with a Sharpee marker on the paper at the base of each igniter to keep track of which ones have the fingernail polish.
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I look forward to the video from your tests.
Finger nail polish works but in my experience, Testors Silver hobby paint creates a larger flame that burns longer.
Of course this simply could have been the finger nail polish I was using.
Of course this simply could have been the finger nail polish I was using.
Buzzard
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I use the Quickburst pyrogen to "enhance" the motor make-burnie-thingies. The recent ones I put in a container labeled Starters and the old, but enhanced ones as Igniters. Old school. The new StarTech igniters will solve a lot of problems once they become prevalent in the supply chain.
Chas
Chas
Hi, Where does a rockteer obtain "Quickburst Pyrogen"? I order from Apogee Rockets, Erockets.biz, Sirius Rocketry, and Discount Rocketry US when I can't get what I need/want at the local hobby shop where I live. Thanks!
Good idea on the Silver Testers - that might be an easy thing to find locally. Thanks!
From Quick burst. Google will lead the way.
I would try black, red, or silver finger nail polish from Dollar Tree (if you have one local). It is 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of Testors.
Funny you mention it, but I tried to get to the Dollar Store Sunday after work but they closed early and I didn't get any fingernail polish there, so I went ahead with the leftovers from my Wife which I did actually test previously to this "batch treatment" in the photo ,and it was a significant improvement over the untreated igniter. I'll probably at some point get the Red or Silver at som
Yeah, I wondered about BP, I'll look around where I live. Thanks!
Supply Chain? Is that even a thing anymore?
I thought they changed that in 2020 to "Who's got the thickest wallet and will take the biggest chances"...
Which ends up being the end user.
Some of the guys in our Canada club take the booster motors and hammer out the engine compound, then use a mortar and pestle to crush it into fine powder, then use clear nail polish to "Wet" the crappy igniters and dip them into the powder and let them dry.
They now have a great igniter and no misfires ever!
They now have a great igniter and no misfires ever!
Good Idea! That sounds like great way to not-buy more BP than I would want/need assuming there is some smallest-package from a gun shop that is more than I want. Thanks!
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how do you tell the difference between the non-nitrocellulose and nitrocellulose polish?
Like the BP idea though...
Like the BP idea though...
The clear fingernail polish my Wife gave me has all the ingredients listed on the back, nitrocellulose was further down in the list but it was there. It's the stuff I used on a test-igniter compared to a non-treated control, and indeed, it did burn a noticeably bigger flame than the untreated control igniter.
I think an even better test would be to see if it is self-oxidized by trying it submerged in a glass of water, and warm water would likely be better than cold just because water is far denser than air, and by over-cooling with cold water, the filament in the igniter may not be able to reach "red-hot" and start the burn. So, "that" is another experiment I hope to get to soon-ish.
I read the ingredient label on the back.
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Thanks!
Found it at the local grocery store for $1.25. Already "painted" a few last night.
I will test today (including the water test Paul Howard suggested..... Darn you Paul! Now I am curious and can't resist!!!
Found it at the local grocery store for $1.25. Already "painted" a few last night.
I will test today (including the water test Paul Howard suggested..... Darn you Paul! Now I am curious and can't resist!!!
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To add to Halvey's response (which is only showing up in my email, and not here for some reason....)
ALWAYS WEAR SAFETY GLASSES!!!
And as required, a Face shield.
PPE isn't just for work.
Its so simple to just put them on and the consequences can be life changing if you don't.
No excuses like "oh, this will just take a second" or about them fogging, being scratched, etc.... WEAR THEM!!
Take the extra moment to identify risks, and then reduce them.
Accidents happen, but the consequences can, in most cases be reduced when they do. (Actually most accidents are preventable in the first place) I don't want to go so far as to say you get what you deserve if you don't wear your PPE, but you only have yourself to hold responsible, if your not.
And remember, The Most important Safety Device is a Careful Man!
"Know Safety, No Accidents. No Safety, Know Accidents."
ALWAYS WEAR SAFETY GLASSES!!!
And as required, a Face shield.
PPE isn't just for work.
Its so simple to just put them on and the consequences can be life changing if you don't.
No excuses like "oh, this will just take a second" or about them fogging, being scratched, etc.... WEAR THEM!!
Take the extra moment to identify risks, and then reduce them.
Accidents happen, but the consequences can, in most cases be reduced when they do. (Actually most accidents are preventable in the first place) I don't want to go so far as to say you get what you deserve if you don't wear your PPE, but you only have yourself to hold responsible, if your not.
And remember, The Most important Safety Device is a Careful Man!
"Know Safety, No Accidents. No Safety, Know Accidents."
Hmm . . . Thinking about dipping in Testor's silver paint and then coating with clear NC nail polish . . . Maybe roll it in some "BP dust" ( mortar & pestle ), too.
Dave F.
I picked up a pack of motors last week and they came with these new ignitors. Of course I had to pull one out and test it. With a fresh 3S pack in my pro controller I grabbed one of the new Startech igniters and went outside to test. It is a MAJOR improvement over the old ignitors and should do away with a bunch of the issues.
Out of curiosity I grabbed a random ignitor out of my range box that had been dipped in Testors Silver paint. The flame produced by the silver paint was still larger an burned longer than the new Startech piece.
I'll touch on my experience with adding powder to the tips. When I was still messing around with clusters I was looking for foolproof way to get 3 and 4 motor clusters to ignite consistently. I had some fireworks left over from the previous years and started by unrolling a couple of random fire crackers for the powder. I dipped the ignitor tip in silver paint and then sprinkled a bit of the powder on the tips. Later I opened up some larger M100's which had a ton on powder in them and began using that.
With those powder and paint dipped pieces, I don't recall ever having one fail to ignite. However, Just using the silver paint was giving me the same results. I can't say that it made any real world difference in my experiences so I just stuck to the paint method.
Another possiblility might be to use finely powdered material from fireworks Sparklers ( magnesium ).
Dave F.
Dave F.
That sounds like holding up your pants with belt, suspenders, and glue.
Looking for a bigger, hotter, longer duration flame . . .
