Ignition types

Boom! The classic potato gun harnesses the combustion of flammable vapor. Show us your combustion spud gun and discuss fuels, ratios, safety, ignition systems, tools, and more.
Potato Demon
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Sat Oct 27, 2018 10:04 pm

Hi, I was wondering what the best ignition (other than a stun gun) is for spud guns. I generally use 2 nails and the piezoelectric thing from a bbq lighter but I have heard that grill igniters work better. So if anyone knows of any other (under $20 ideally) ignition sources please let me know.
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keks2033
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Sun Oct 28, 2018 5:29 am

Potato Demon wrote:Hi, I was wondering what the best ignition (other than a stun gun) is for spud guns. I generally use 2 nails and the piezoelectric thing from a bbq lighter but I have heard that grill igniters work better. So if anyone knows of any other (under $20 ideally) ignition sources please let me know.
Image it is a gas lighter, it works on 220 volts. This is the best initiator I have used, it ignites almost any mixture. I need a battery, a boost converter and a capacitor, I took this circuit from the old camera.price about 1.5 dollars
Image
Image there are still lighters. Powered by batteries, provides continuous spark while the button is pressed. Also a good initiator, but a spark is weak. Price 1 dollar
Potato Demon
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Sun Oct 28, 2018 3:55 pm

I might just go ahead and modify a cheap arc lighter.
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Labtecpower
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Tue Oct 30, 2018 5:05 am

jimmy101
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Thu Nov 01, 2018 11:34 am

Potato Demon wrote:Hi, I was wondering what the best ignition (other than a stun gun) is for spud guns. I generally use 2 nails and the piezoelectric thing from a bbq lighter but I have heard that grill igniters work better. So if anyone knows of any other (under $20 ideally) ignition sources please let me know.
"Work Better" is misleading. Either the spark works or it does not. Not working is a PITA but even a cheapo piezo, if setup correctly, will work basically all the time if the mixture is correct. A hotter spark won't increase the power of the gun.

The only times a more complex sparker might be needed is if you use multiple spark gaps or you are doing a hybrid.

For a combustion, the most important thing is getting the mixture right. Everything else is pretty much irrelevant if you can't get the right amount of fuel in the chamber.
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MDSpudderButter
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Mon Jan 28, 2019 8:03 pm



I use one of these in my combustion cannon. I've used both 2(AA) batteries for around 3v input, and now a 5v input from a USB power block. Both work very well and it is dead reliable.
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