Mr.Dan Posted June 9, 2006 Posted June 9, 2006 I tried to make an electric igniter today by using 3 nine-volt batteries hooked up in series. I had this connected to about 50 ft of wire and I used two different igniter’s .5mm graphite and steel wool. Just hooked up to the wires the graphite, it turned red and the steel wool became molten and fell apart but when I took a piece of tape put some pyrodex in the middle put the igniter with it and tried to set it off. All it did was get a little warm, after I cut open a piece of the tape so oxygen could get inside of it. The steel wool would then light and set off the pyrodex. What is going on here should the wire not need oxygen to create heat because of the resistance?
FrankRizzo Posted June 9, 2006 Posted June 9, 2006 The resistance of that small piece of steel wool is not high enough to reliably ignite your pyrodex. Use a low voltage light bulb filament instead, such as the 2.5-3V lights used to decorate Christmas trees. If you score the outside of the bulb with a triangle file, you can easily snap the top of the bulb off, leaving the filament exposed. A small section of drinking straw (colored party straws work best) will fit over the bulb snugly and provide a more durable vessel for your ignition comp. Plug the end of the straw with a bit of nitrocellulose/BP slurry.
Mr.Dan Posted June 9, 2006 Author Posted June 9, 2006 It would ignite in the air just fine but when touching the pyrodex in the tape nothing. It can ignite but not in the tape but I will try the light bulb thing if I can fin some.
Swany Posted June 10, 2006 Posted June 10, 2006 In my experiences, pyrodex doesn't ignite easily. Simply firing it without a wadding in a shotgun shell will not ignite it, it needs pressure there. I second the x-mas lights.
RUUUUUN Posted June 10, 2006 Posted June 10, 2006 The wires shouldn't need to be in oxygen to heat up and melt and they would have O2 even when buried in pyrodex. are you sure that the ends of the wire weren't touching, because, you said you cut it open, which implies you moved them apart with what ever you were cutting with, and then it worked.
Mr.Dan Posted June 10, 2006 Author Posted June 10, 2006 Nope the wires where not moved but that doesn’t really matter anymore I tried the x-mas lights and it worked. So you just put pyrodex in or do you have to get it wet first. Also how shock sensitive are they(before they break) and where do you cut the glass off the light?
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