cheap Homemade sparker

[trae08]

ok well i was just watching mythbusters and there were testing sparks with gasoline. so they made a leyden jar.. simple easy made an i was wondering if anyone think this is a good simple sparker for guns?

[LGM]

Naw, a camera flash works the same way, and better. And it wouldn't have a very strong spark.

[subterranean]

suprisingly yes i personally attempted to use leyden jar. the problem is the electricity is dificult to dicharge into the chamber.(i used treaded bolts into my chamber) i thinkit could work if you built the jar incorporated in the chamber. but yes this is just more work and not efficient at all. I mean first you have to set up your cannonwhere you want it to fire because you wont be able to control when the jar is full an will discharge. then theres charging the jar. ove all its not worth it

[zeigs spud]

wel i saa that ast week. did they ignight the gas fumes? (no.) gas is more explosive and easly combustibale then anyhtingi hope u r putting in ur cannon. if they couldn't get it then you wont. the show answered it for you.

[subterranean]

well not exactly the gas to air ratio was off. with the correct ratio it should work(very little gas)and yeah it didnt ignite on mythbusters but that was due to the nature of the myth ...how would an engine run if gas couldnt combust in an inclosed area?

ps nice post # zeig dang ....whats ur latest cannon ..we need to catch up

[spudthug]

yea i saw that mythbusters to and i havent made one but i agree that it wouldnt have a powerful enough spark to light anything other than gasoline. you can use gas but it corrodes the inside of your barrel and makes it easier to explode....so dont die...stick to spray deoderant or hair spray or watver ur using

[subterranean]

yeah i agree about gasoline corroding your chamber but not so much about the spark being insufficient in causing a reaction. the spark is not what is insufficient, it's the amount of oxygen that is insufficient. any spark will cause a combustion, it just helps to have a larger one when your fuel:air ratio is not so precise.

[Insomniac]

It would be very impractical, but homemade capacitors can give some pretty big sparks. I zap myself with a bbq igniter and hardly feel it, but I've only shocked myself with my homemade capacitor this a couple of times because its much more painful. At the bottom of this topic I posted my leydon jar type thing. It isn't actually a jar, but it works on the same principle.