Cheap Spudgun Ignition

[Mr.Tallahassee]

I have come up with an ignition system for combustion OR hybrid cannons. It's made from an electric fly swatter and an ignition coil from a car. If you look around you can probably find an ignition coil from an old junk car. If you open the fly swatter there are two wires leading into the electrified racket piece. You can cut the racket end off and leave the two wires exposed. Connect these wires to the posts of the ignition coil having the ground connected through a very small spark gap. The required gap depends on the brand of racket although it will certainly be less than 1mm. The wire leading to the inner mesh is positive. Sorry for not having pics or video but my camera is on the fritz. Here's an example of an electric fly swatter from Harbor Freight Tools.

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

http://www.spudfiles.com/forums/electri ... t5083.html

Only 6 bucks posted on eBay, good to bring this up again. Ordered one just to see how it compares

[jsefcik]

I like the good old twist flint igniters, flints are really cheap,

The BBQ ones I went to so many of them and too many clicks for it to ignite

[Mr.Tallahassee]

I found out just now that the resistor next to the large Mylar capacitor closest to the mesh burns out easily. If you run a bypass wire across it, it ups the voltage and amperage enough to double the 2.5cm arc with out burning anything out. I would guess around 75KV stock through a Ford V8 ignition coil. I think it was from a 350 small block.

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

The BBQ ones I went to so many of them and too many clicks for it to ignite

A correct spark gap and fuel mixure should ignite first click, I don't think ignition source was your problem.

[Crna Legija]

I like the good old twist flint igniters, flints are really cheap,

The BBQ ones I went to so many of them and too many clicks for it to ignite

wont work in a hybrid tho.

[Mr.Tallahassee]

My camera is fixed. This is the rig. I will have a full kit as soon as I buy my own electric fly swatter.

[jackssmirkingrevenge]

Nice spark! Also, interesting youtube channel comments

[Mr.Tallahassee]

I honestly didn't notice the comments. I also seemed to have gotten hacked before Google took over Youtube so all my stuff was changed. Oh well. About the comments, who knows. I'm too busy with my life to worry about them.

[Bias_P11]

I used one of these once for a really large and stationary cannon. I removed the actual swatter and was left with the handle and electronics. It doesnt make a large spark, and hurts when you get zapped. It also seems to corrode electrodes because they have to be very close for a spark to fly. I ended up making it into an taser sword.


If youre not good with electronics, I reccomend you get an electric grill igniter from home depot. It makes an inch long, reliable and powerful spark that doesnt hurt. Costs 30 dollars, but it lasts a long time and you could modify your spudguns so that you could use 1 igniter to be removable and fit onto any one of them.

[Mr.Tallahassee]

If you read my post from 7/19, you would be seriously surprised. Watch the video then tell me what you think. The initial power from the swatter is 1500 volts whereas my final output voltage from the ignition coil is upwards of 100-150Kv. This will ignite the fuel/air mix.
Actually, I'm excellent with electronics. I built a feedback Flyback transformer Driver. I was pulling 6'' arcs inside of 10 minutes of soldering. I actually put it in a junk plastic toolbox I found and turned it into a portable battery-powered spudgun ignition.

[Bias_P11]

Oh wow. Im not good with electronics but I did remove the resistor. It did improve significantly but I think the ignition coils really helped with your giant spark there.

[Mr.Tallahassee]

Yeah. I thought about the HV output on the racket and looked over at my bank of ignition coils. Such fun toys they can be.