Pulse Sparking System

[Binder17]

Today I put together a circuit that I am going to use in my cannon. I used an ignition coil out of an old car, condensor, and 12 volt power source.
After shocking the crap out of myself several times I got it set up right. When pressing and holding the firing button it sparks repeatedbly until you let off. This was achieved by wiring a strobe circuit to it. A capacitor controls how much of a spark I get each time. I will post a diagram as soon as I can.

[medievalman]

that sounds interesting, i would like to see exactly how it works, but what is the point of having multiple sparks, AFTER the fuel is ignited, wouldn't one be enough?

[Binder17]

It was an easy modification so I went with it. I guess just incase the first spark fails for some reason. It could also lead to an automatic one day when I figure it out. You can also take it off the cannon and shock someone if they are bothering you.

[Insomniac]

And I suppose it looks cooler when you show off the ignition system to your friends.

[Binder17]

Of course. You wave them over and tell them to hold the insulated end of the wire and when you spark it it arcs from the metal part to the victims finger. It can arc about an inch.

[Insomniac]

How bad does it shock you??? Like a bbq sparker or worse. I made a capacitor out of alfoil and a flat piece of plastic, gives a short, bright spark, and even though it is short it HURTS. lol

[Binder17]

Its much worse than a bbq igniter. About 10,000 volts in one spark.

[benstern]

How did you come up with that number?

[Binder17]

According to information about automotive ignition coils on various websites.

[Binder17]

I checked today and found out that as much as 20,000 volts can be released directly from the coil using a 12V power source. AS long as it is wired right it will be safe. I need to get some good insulated wire.

[mark.f]

I've got some flyback wire, (40kv rated), you can use. Not much, but all you have to do is use it near the high-probability contact areas, right? 8)

[frankrede]

How bad does it shock you??? Like a bbq sparker or worse. I made a capacitor out of alfoil and a flat piece of plastic, gives a short, bright spark, and even though it is short it HURTS. lol

how would you make that?

[mark.f]

All a capacitor is is two pieces of conductive material separated by a non-conductive material.

[Insomniac]

Here it is. The spark is small but it has a fair bit of power to it. I trigger it by pushing the alfoil tab down to shorten the spark gap. It is actually 2 capacitors stacked on top of each other.

Edit: whoops forgot to attach all the pics

Edit Edit: all the pics are there now.