Budget Igniters

I fly on a budget and try to save money where I can.
I think everyone agrees, igniter prices are too high.

Quest Q2G2 ingiters are now $7.19 for six or $1.20 each!
Estes Igniters are $5.99 for six or $1.00 each.
But, the Quest MicroMaxx igniters are $2.39 for six or $.40 each!
These are retail prices from the Estes and Quest websites.

The new MicroMaxx igniters are the older Quest G2 (18mm) igniters withought a pyrogen dip. One drop of pyrogen increases the cost by 60 cents each?


The picture shows the newer style MicroMaxx igniters.

I've been using MicroMaxx igniters over and over, until they break.
The igniter on the far right has been used twelve times launching MMX models! I'm keeping track just to see
how long it'll last.

Using MMX igniters more than once has left me with plenty of new, extra igniters.


Yesterday I used one Quest MMX igniter to launch the UP! Cup two times using Estes 13mm 1/2A3-2t and A10-3t engines. The igniter (third from the left) was used in both launches.
The uncoated MMX igniters worked in the Estes engines and saved me 60 cents per launch!

These uncoated igniters take an extra second to ignite the 13mm engine, much like every other MMX ignition. Pyrogen tipped igniters are more immediate. But, I can wait.
I wouldn't recommend using bare nichrome to ignite a cluster. But on single engine rockets, why not? I save my new Quest Q2G2 igniters for clustering.


Sure, you could always make your own from 30 or 32 guage bare nichrome.

When I started flying in 1969, we used bare nichrome wire for igniters.
It was wound around a thin wire or the small tip of a ball point pen barrel to make a tight coil that looked like a filament in a light bulb.

The picture at the left shows the small nichrome coil. You can bet there was plenty of shorts and misfires back then.

When the first coated igniters were released in the late 1960s, they were sold - six for fifteen cents!