SpudFiles

I'm going to be making my first potato cannon and I just have some questions. What should I use for the igniter? I was going to use a electric grill igniter but I saw some places that they break easily and dont work well. If I do use the grill igniter is it better to have the igniter on the cap of the combustion chamber or on the top of it? Will it make a difference when igniting the fuel?

Thanks

you should look around the web site a little harder

The two best igniters for combustion are either a BBQ spark or a Lantern spark. BBQ sparkers are nice because you can set them up to jump multiple electrodes (create several sparks across some sort of metal object, i.e. nails). Lantern sparks are nice because they don't die, but you do have to replace the flint. My first combustion i made over a year ago still has the same BBQ spark in and it still works everyime. As for the placement, you probably want it in the center ot near the back but not in the endcap. Drill one screw in each side of your chamber so it looks something like this (-~-)

( ) Being the PVC, - Being the nails and ~ being the spark

dont use nails in your chamber, use screws, the nails can wobble and leak hot gas.

The best plase for the spark is the center.

most people say 3/4 way toward the back is the best, but i dont think there is really any evidence of where the best spot is exactly, i usually use a sparkstrip for multiple ignition points throughout the chamber

I just took the wire that comes off the BBQ lighter, cut the end a bit and then bent it so it's by the bottom of the sparker itself. Might not make sense but I can't get a picture. To hell with nails or screws.

its not safe to put the ignitor right into the gun, theres barely any threads on them, and it might rocket out of the socket

go Pnumatic! more powerful,one with a ball valve is very easy to make

if you go pnumatic who wants to carry around an air compresser