When I buy engines at Hobby Lobby (with the 40% off coupon) I look for older engine packages with the black tipped, pyrogen igniters.
As those are sold out only the newer clear tip starters are left.
I haven't used a "Starter" until the last schoolyard launch.
On the left is a used old, black pyrogen igniter. On the right an new clear tip starter after use. All of the clear tip is still left.
With the new starters, I did notice a short pause between pressing the launch button and ignition. That doesn't help much when I'm trying to coordinate the pressing launch button and taking a picture with the other hand. Granted I'm using a 6 volt Estes "Electron Beam" controller and the batteries probably need changing.
I'll save the older black tip igniters for the schoolyard launches and my old 6 volt controller.
The new clear starters are best used at club launches with their 12 volt system.
I have used a number of the new starters with no problems. Many times the thin wire does not burn through so I recycle these ones by painting them with some old thick nail polish and they work great. I have used some three or four times, I've never tried them in a cluster though.
ReplyDeleteHi Jim,
DeleteI can probably blame the older batteries for the ignition delay. I was using old and new igniters the same day an noticed a difference between them. To me, the new igniters are a little like using plain nichrome, there will be a slight delay. With the thin bridge wire they are still better than the old style nichrome.
I've re-used the Quest MMX igniters many, many times. On a six volt system they don't seem to burn through.
Thank goodness Q2G2's are back! I like cluster rockets, and I don't trust the new Estes starters to be reliable for those.
ReplyDeleteOf course, I'm speaking from inexperience - I haven't had the chance to launch a cluster since getting the new Q2G2's. But I've read that others have tested them and they seem to work well.
I agree!
DeleteRoger (JonRocket.com) had some from a new shipment this past Saturday at the NEFAR launch. They look like the old style Q2G2s with the black tips. I didn't try any of the new batch. I wanted to try them to see if they "popped" or flamed like the old ones did.