Advance combustion doesnt work??

[cwazy1]

So i built my second advanced combustion for a friend and im debugging right now and it seems like its not lighting the propane mixture??

my chamber is 188cu-in including the elbows its a short stubby chamber.. i went on burntlatke and i used the fueltool and calculated for my 7" long 1/2" sch40pvc meter according to my chamber volume at a 4.03% ratio and it said 52psi in my meter...well now i have 2 questions, is the 1/2" specification on the calculator the same as the 1/2" on my sch40 pvc pipe?? and yeah i dont understand why its not working?? its like 43 degrees here right now and i am using a bbq lighter with a spark gap thats a little longer than 1/8"

[octane89]

The cold weather may not let enough propane thru to build enough psi. So you may not be getting enough of a mix.

[bluerussetboy]

Pete Zaria posted this link on a thread of mine.

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/propa ... _1020.html

you might try 2 shots of 27 psi instead of 1 shot of 52 psi or try to keep your propane bottle warmer.

[cwazy1]

hmm yes but my other advance combustion works fine right now with the standard psi gived on burntklatke. its just this new one that doesnt work.

[BigGrib]

where is your sparkgap located in the chamber please post pictures so i can get a good visual. are you using a chamber fan ...specs please

[sjog]

FAN? dumb question on my part...

[cwazy1]

yeah well its an under over type and theres a cleanout on the other side. i have my propane injection there and my spark gap is also there. i have no fan. i cant get a fan because im out of money. and im not going to spend of my money onto this project.

[octane89]

Your spark working fine?

[cwazy1]

yup its a very fat spark

[gwoloshyn]

Fans make a huge difference especially if your not igniting. Maybe a fan could help mix the air around after charging it with propane?

[cwazy1]

ehh but with my other cannon, the chamber is 3x longer and even if i dont mix it with a fan, it still lights.

[octane89]

If everything is working fine, and you have no fan I would assume there may be a rich propane mix and can't ignite. Try a fan, its the only other option I can think of.

edit-Seen your previous post. But I think its either to rich or to lean.

[cwazy1]

hehe read the above^^..lol

[sjog]

Not very advanced w/o fan

[BigGrib]

Definitely not what I'd call an advanced combustion, basic bbq igniter and no chamber fan all you have is just a step above spray and pray. A chamber fan is 10 bucks at office depot and get a couple connectors for 9v batteries from radio shack and maybe a little switch bingo now you're on your way to an advanced combustion. i would definitely try to use a leaner mix. over fueling is the main cause of a combustion not igniting. the second would be your spark gap but since you said it is 1/8" nice and fat i would like to see a little longer i know with those piezo igniters you can get a really nice 1/4" gap as well. other than that try a fan to mix the fuel, you will definitely see an increase in power with a nice and blended fuel mix. I know with my advanced (and it is fully advanced with metered propane, chamber fan and a 12kV ignition system with dual spark gaps) I can shoot a golf ball rough guess of 1/2 mile. All i know is that when it shoots you can't see it leave the barrel or in flight, and that I have never recovered a golf ball shot for distance.

~BigGrib