Micro-Maxx Motor Ignition

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it should indeed glow red hot at the "V" (and if the battery is REALLY fresh it will melt the wire in half). If only the tip glows and it does so slowly, then the battery is either low or the connection is poor. make sure the battery is making good contact at the battery clip and only use a fresh 9 volt ALKALINE battery.

i think Bob Kaplow swears by Sanyo rechargeable Nicad 9 volt batteries, but let's get the troubleshooting done first before we go off on a battery tangent...



Originally posted by Justin
The light and beep did work. The igniter did not however get redhot. I have never used MMX, so I didn't know what it supposed to look like. Was the battery I bought dead? I will get another battery today. That would be great if my problem was a silly thing like a low battery. I'll let you all know later.
Thanks-Justin
Click to expand...
 
Originally posted by Justin
The light and beep did work. The igniter did not however get redhot. I have never used MMX, so I didn't know what it supposed to look like. Was the battery I bought dead? I will get another battery today. That would be great if my problem was a silly thing like a low battery. I'll let you all know later.
Thanks-Justin
Click to expand...

Justin:
I've spoken with both the eveyready and duracell folks about 9v battery make-up. Seems the very worst thing that one can do to a 9volt battery is short circuit it. What are we doing with a nichrome igniter? creating a short circuit. This process destroys the 6 little 1.5v batteries inside the 9 volt shell in very short order.
Use only ALKILINE batteries, they will at least hold up a little longer then carbon batteries. Experimentation has shown the fairly new E2x Energizer 9Volt is a hotter battery then my personal favorite Duracel Ultras. If you have a dead 9volt and a soldering iron I'll suggest making an external drop that can be hooked up to ANY 12v system without harm to your existing controller.. NO lamps to change Nothing to rewire. I've used one of the silo systems is way for about 3 years at demonstrations with no damage to the controller. Hope you can read the instructions on the pic, if not e-mail [email protected] I'll send you the pictorial how to in high res:)
Hope this helps
 
Originally posted by Micromeister
If you have a dead 9volt and a soldering iron I'll suggest making an external drop that can be hooked up to ANY 12v system without harm to your existing controller.. NO lamps to change Nothing to rewire. I've used one of the silo systems this way for about 3 years at demonstrations with no damage to the controller. Hope you can read the instructions on the pic, if not e-mail [email protected] I'll send you the pictorial how to in high res:)
Hope this helps
Click to expand...

I don't understand why you use the connector from a dead 9V battery instead of using a 9V connector from Radio Shack or somewhere.
 
JR:
You could but the wire are so thin, you'd end up resoldering to the connector anyway. It's just a little easier to solder to the strips inside the 9v. after cutting off the battery string. The RS 9V connectors have like 24 or 26gage wire which is just not heavy enough for what were doing. the only caution I'd throw out here is if you decide to desmantle a 9Volt battery take care with the needle nose pliers the aluminum casing will be sharp.

OBTW, those little lightweight 1.5v sub AAA batteries can be used to power low voltage (red) Leds. We used to use them to power wing lights on Night launch Gliders until I discovered the 3V lithium coin cells;)
 
Thanks to you guys I got it to work.:D

Here's what I did-
Most importantly replaced the panasonic battery I had with a new duracell. Then I popped apart the plastic igniter housing and just used the igniter itself. I stuck a little piece of wadding between the leads at end of the of the igniter. Then I stuck it in and held it there with a tiny strip of masking tape. All together a 30 second operation. I'll bet it will get faster. Then I slid it on the rod/pad that came with it, then WOOSH! Well, a tiny woosh.:rolleyes:

I understand how to make this work now...Heh..Heh...I'm hooked.. I have plans..

Thank you Shredvector and Micromiester....I have many more questions.I knew these little guys were cool...;) I told my buddy, he's gonna pull his out now.
 
You're welcome and I'm glad you're able to launch.

If you need a few extra igniters, I have some 2 inch lenghts of 32 ga nichrome on eBay now. You get 32 of the 2 inch lengths and that's enough for 32 standard motor igniters or 64 MicroMaxx igntiers.

https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2567&item=5934459546

If you fly 10,000 per year, then check with a wire wholesaler and buy a 1 pound spool. I estimate that I've used about a pound so far, but I've been flying since 1970 (and I've done thousands of school/youth program launches). I use the stock igniters when speed of installation is necessary, but otherwise I pre-install the nichrome wire. It is static electricity safe to pre-install and it gets HOT when you dump a good battery through it. For small grooup launches I've used 6 V alkaline lanrtern batteries, but I prefer a minimum of 2 lantern batteries in series (for 12 Volts) or a car battery for huge launches.


Originally posted by Justin
Thanks to you guys I got it to work.:D

Here's what I did-
Most importantly replaced the panasonic battery I had with a new duracell. Then I popped apart the plastic igniter housing and just used the igniter itself. I stuck a little piece of wadding between the leads at end of the of the igniter. Then I stuck it in and held it there with a tiny strip of masking tape. All together a 30 second operation. I'll bet it will get faster. Then I slid it on the rod/pad that came with it, then WOOSH! Well, a tiny woosh.:rolleyes:

I understand how to make this work now...Heh..Heh...I'm hooked.. I have plans..

Thank you Shredvector and Micromiester....I have many more questions.I knew these little guys were cool...;) I told my buddy, he's gonna pull his out now.
Click to expand...
 
Shredvector-
I've been getting the 12 volt laterern batteries from radio shack for my modified electron beam. There like 18 bucks! I know, I should shell out the cash and get a gel cell and a charger....A pair of 6's from walmart is much cheaper. What method do you use to wire 2 6's together. Is it as simple as ity sounds, just link 'em like a cluster and clip to one + and one -?
-Justin
 
Justin:
Save yourself some money! if you're paying 18 bucks for a non-rechargable lantern battery from RS. Take the money for 2 of those throwaways to buy yourself a 7amp/hr Hobbico gel-cell and a 500ma 120/12v wall adaptor. I purchased a new hobbico battery in Feburary for about $20.00 bucks last I saw the wall adapters were about $12.00, add a pair a alligator clips might bring it up to $13.00. To convert the Adapter to a charger, cut off the plug supplied, on one of the wires will be a white stripe, that is the positive lead. solder or crimp the Red alligator clip to that lead, black to the other. We've used these little chargers for many years. I usually charge the battery overnight before a launch. 12-14 hours. My last Hobbico 7amp/hr gel-cell lasted 11 years:D
Hope this helps.
 
Justin:
Heres a photo of one of the many converted wall adapter/chargers I use. Any 300mA or larger 120/12volt adapter will do. If your like me you may have a bunch laying around from other home electronics doing nothing. Just be sure to identify the positive lead.
Hope this helps.
 
6 and 12 volt lantern batteries with screw post contacts/connectors were once more common and therefore more reasonably priced. Now the only "common" lantern battery - and therefore reasonably priced - is the 6 volt with springy contacts - as found in Wal-Mart sporting goods departments (get the alkaline).

Connect them any way you like - twist on a wire or use a jumber with clips. I prefer to tape them together to hold them as a unit.

A lot of adults simply use the Estes Command controller, which is expensive, but it can accommodate one or two nicad packs and it delivers a huge amount of current and voltage. If you are launching clusters or Aerotech motors, that is a good way to go since it's simple and readily available. If launching only one motor at a time, the Quest controller is great as is - just use fresh batteries and keep a spare.

Originally posted by Justin
Shredvector-
I've been getting the 12 volt laterern batteries from radio shack for my modified electron beam. There like 18 bucks! I know, I should shell out the cash and get a gel cell and a charger....A pair of 6's from walmart is much cheaper. What method do you use to wire 2 6's together. Is it as simple as ity sounds, just link 'em like a cluster and clip to one + and one -?
-Justin
Click to expand...
 
Estes command console. I think a guy I knew when I was in college had one of those. I didn't know they made something like that now. Where do you get one?
 
I'm completely mistaken. That's not the gizmo I remember. I'm gonna check it out though. It looks really cool. Thanks for the link cjl.
 
Originally posted by Micromeister
Justin:
Save yourself some money! if you're paying 18 bucks for a non-rechargable lantern battery from RS. Take the money for 2 of those throwaways to buy yourself a 7amp/hr Hobbico gel-cell and a 500ma 120/12v wall adaptor. I purchased a new hobbico battery in Feburary for about $20.00 bucks last I saw the wall adapters were about $12.00, add a pair a alligator clips might bring it up to $13.00. To convert the Adapter to a charger, cut off the plug supplied, on one of the wires will be a white stripe, that is the positive lead. solder or crimp the Red alligator clip to that lead, black to the other. We've used these little chargers for many years. I usually charge the battery overnight before a launch. 12-14 hours. My last Hobbico 7amp/hr gel-cell lasted 11 years:D
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

micromiester-
I dug around, but I couldn't find that smaller personal gel (7amp/hr) you mentioned. Granted, as my girlfriend will tell you gladly, I'm horrible at looking for anything. Do you have a link to anyone selling one of those now? I searched around on Hobbicos site for batteries, and under hanger 9 ( I think that's what it said on the battery on one of your pics), and still no dice.

Any help would be cool-Justin
 
sorry guys - newbie Scott here. Could you clarify:
solar igniter?
30gage bare nichrome wire? - can I use this wire as an igniter by itself? Can I buy this at local harward store?

I would love to have a solid launch system that doesn't move around so my childeren could go out and use it without frustration, but the clip holding the ignitor in place comes off, the igniter is to short for some of the plastic rockets and right now the record is 3 ignitors to 1 launch. Can you buy just igniters for these engines?

Lastly! Most importantly, are you making custom rockets which are the platic flying lugs? What sort of body tubes do you use? any one have a same kit they want to share the plans for (something VERY simple - where do you get the parts and what sizes)? Only thing I can think of is hollowing out a pencit and adding a few fins. : )
thanks!
--Scott
 
I just ordered some 34 ga .005 wire for my micro engines. Will these also work with the estes engines?
Thanks!
--Scott (the newbie)
 

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