SpudFiles

I'd have to say: it depends on your fueling and chamber details.

If you're using a combustion launcher with metered propane and a chamber fan, then I wouldn't even use a BBQ sparker (for a single gap), I would use a little Aim n' Flame piezo element (smaller and easier to press). There is just no need for anything bigger, because any spark will do.

If I didn't have a chamber fan, or I wasn't using metered fueling, then I would have to go with the majority of everybody else and suggest a lantern sparker. They're cheap, easy to install, and easy to use. You can even use Zippo flints if you're worried about getting the stock flints wet and having the cannon out of commission for a few minutes.

biggsauce wrote:

Eddbot wrote:is there a reason that sounded extremely hostile?

I hope they know each other personally... otherwise its less than tasteful and uncalled for. ...

That was a joke. I was being Sarcastic. But anyone new to posting should expect that type of reply (unfortunately) because it's pretty common to get a reply like that.

@Mr. taytayswims, I am sure that since you're clever enough to read and understand the material here you are clever enough to do great stuff.

As far as the ignition, flint seems more reliable.
But a friend of mine had a tennis ball combustion with one and it worked great, but was awkward to hold the barrel with one hand and spin the flint in the other.
Then hang on with one hand during recoil.
Some kind of mechanism to spin the flint would have been much better. Or a more ergonomical bbq ignitor.

Sorry if you misunderstood my joke.
People who are familiar with my personality would know that 8)

well all i've used is BBQ ignitors in my metered propane gun, and they work fine but they are so damned touchy to spark gap and everything else. One night a couple weeks ago my buddy was over and the thing wasn't sparking, so i unattached the wires, looked at the bolts in the gun, and found a tiny piece of plastic stuck to one of them. I removed that, and reattached the wires, and sure enough the thing started to work again.

Personally they spark forever, but they are a pain up the ass a lot of the time. I'd upgrade to stun gun, but my funds are going to other projects right now.

Go with the BBQ piezo.

Yes, the electrodes will gum up with hairspray and the like, but a flint sparker will gum up just as bad. The common way to prevent gumming up a flint sparker is to mount it in the cap. That is a very bad idea. It puts you hand in line with the part of the gun that is most likely to fail. In addition, setting a loaded gun down on it's breach can fire the gun.

If gumming is a problem then don't use a crappy fuel like hairspray. Get a $0.50 butane lighter from the local bodega and use that.

BBQ Piezos can be easily mounted in a pistol grip handle. No "rats nest" of wires and it looks much more professional than the gunner standing their trying to balance a 5 foot long gun with one hand while he spins the flint sparker with the other.

I've been using the same generic BBQ piezo for about 5 years. To make it easy to swap between my guns I put aligator clips on the ends of the Piezo's wires (you can see a green aligator clip in the photo). I don't think I've ever had a sparker induced miss-fire.

they both work and both work great. flints are probably the most strait forward and probably best for a starter, as less things to go wrong. on the down side you have to occasionally replace the flint, but its like 99 cents for a pack of 10, so its no big deal. on the up side a flint is about half the price of a bbq ignitor.

Use both =) find which you like, and the other can be back up =)

what i used to do on my first basic combustion (with flint sparker) was wrap a string around the top of the knob for remote ignition...then when ready, i would pull fast and hard, making the flint wheel spin against the steel and spark.

might settle the debate a little bit and help you're reasoning towards what to use.

I'm partial to the BBQ sparker just because it has a big red button. I mean, what's a cannon almost as big as you are without a red button?