protecting igniters

TJ · 2005-05-09T21:38:27+00:00

Hi,I have recently started dipping my own igniters. I have been usingdaveyfire or similar low curent electic matche and dipping it inpyrogen, but realized how fragile the cured pyrogen is.Does anyone have any easy suggestions of how to protect the pyrogenfrom cracking?I have heard that you can dip them in lacquer but wasnt sure what kindto buy. I tryed dipping them in slow curring epoxy after the pyrogenhad cured for a few hours. I decided to test them in my back yard usinga 9Vt battery, (I will be using an altimeter to set off the e-matches)and found that the electric match popped, but the pyrogen remained. Iam 100% sure that the epoxy was what kept the igniters from lightingbecause I have used these dipped igniters the same way, but withoutthem being dipped in epoxy.Thanks for your help,Tom Sak

protecting igniters

May 09, 2005 23 Replies

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Reece Talley 21 years ago

Dip the dried igniter in clear nail polish. That will harden the surface but will not harm the igniter.

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Dean 21 years ago

I do not know what went wrong, but no pyrogen I've used has done that.

Dean

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TJ 21 years ago

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll have to try that.

Tom Sak

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David 21 years ago

What was the temperature? In order for the mixture to dry properly, the binder (usually nitrocellulose) must dissolve in the acetone. If the temperature is lower than 90 degrees, it can take many hours for the nitrocellulose to dissolve. If you dip the igniters before the binder is dissolved, the nitrocellulous will remain powdery, rather than forming a smoothe kind of glue/binder.

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