Igniterman gap

Have you considered Googling on "Igniterman Instructions"?

A pdf version of the instructions appears as if my magic. :-)

Reece Talley wrote:

I've tended to use cores from CAT5 network cabling and have the stripped ends about half a millimetre apart but it's not that critical.

Chris

I think it is 0.01-0.02" for big ones and 0.01" or a hair smaller for the small ones. The procedure sequence is something like

1. dip them in conductive primer, wait 20 min.
2. dip them in the sealer, wait 20 min.
3. dip them in the pyrogen, wait 30 min.
4. dip them in sealer and wait overnite before use.

For the big ones I use the leads from ematches 20-22 gauge and small ones I use 28-30 gauge or something like that. I think that you only need step 1-2 for the small ones but I'm not sure. They are pretty reliable, I figure only

2 or so out of some 50 ignitors have failed me. You may need to put a teaspoon of acetone into the pyrogen to make it liquid, it dries up sometimes.

THX, John

Igniterman says 0.010 to 0.020" gap. I am emailing instructions to you. Murray

that can be subjective to tell.

use zip wire and the gap is the difference between the wires when stripped.

the resistance will change with the AWG of the wire, but they still work consistant.

if using say wire wrap, I try to use a width of paper for the gap.

That's true. I made a load of igniters last night... Igniterman and homebrew with nichrome. The Igniterman igniters all lit (except for a couple that I fiddled with and did not expect to lite) using a heavy duty 14 VDC launch controller but did not light with a simple 9 V battery. On the other hand, the igniters that I made using nichrome bridgewire all lit using a simple 9 VDC battery.... but a bit slowly to be honest. It took a second or two for the pyrogen to get cooking.

I have modified how I am making the igniters with bridgewire... to use a shorter length of bridgwire. It takes a wee bit of experimenting and practice but after a bit making igniters using nichrome is a piece of cake. To be honest, I tore down one that I purchased through Performance Hobbies (Sorry Ken) and found their secret to construction without using solder. Works like a charm. No need to solder. No crimping. The trick is to keep the length of nichrome that is carrying the current as short as possible. Less resistance. More current. Hotter wire.

The gap on the Igniterman conductive primer varied from paper width to about

1/8 inch. No difference. They all lit with 14 VDC source. And lit quickly.

Murray Lampert

July 1 - 6, 2004 Geneseo, NY

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