SpudFiles

Hi I just built a combustion gun that uses a BBQ igniter for ignition and it just doesnt seem to have the power that it should at all and a lot of the time it just gives a thud and the potato only goes about 20 feet. I think its my fuel because im using hairspray right now and from what ive heard its the worst thing to use plus it seems to gum up the electrodes from my BBQ igniter and make them not work. Can anyone suggest a good CHEAP fuel that i could use?? i tryed starting fluid but i couldnt get it to ignite for some reason. Also would a flint lantern igniter work better than a BBQ igniter for ignition?. Any advice is much appreciated thanx

From what i've seen here in spudfiles the modified stun gun is the best ignition. DON'T USE STARTING FLUID, YOU WILL BLOW YOUR HANDS APART!!!! A lot of members say they use Axe (body spray i think). I have used Final net and Aqua net hair spray. Click on the Home link here and read all the combustion cannon threads and you will come across one that ask What Fuel Do You Use, (i think thats it). You can allso try spudwiki. Make sure you ammo fits snugly in your barrel, try useing a little less fuel, sometimes less is more when dealing with combustables!!(NO FOOLING) Lets use know how it turns out.

FOR REAL ABOUT THE STARTING FLUID!!!!!!

Here is the link to the thread about fuels, i had the name wrong, here's the link http://www.spudfiles.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=860&

thanks a lot for the advice, today i got some axe from a friend its almost empty but it worked for a couple shots and it seems to work extremely well, problem is axe is 5 bucks a can and i shoot my gun ALOT so its kind of expensive but i think what im gonna do today is head over to wal mart and spend a good amount of time sorting through all the aerosol cans reading the ingriediants till i found a good one.

im also wondering if butane is a good fuel it sure seems like it would be and ive got plenty of it aorund here for my micro torch but the problem is that i cant seem to figure out a practical way to get it into the dman chamber easily seeing as its a bitch to push down the little plastic stem and ive yet to find a sprayt nozzle thatll fit...perhaps i could take a butane filling nozzle from torch lighter and fit it into the chamber??

I use butane refill sprays. Just attach one end of a small hose to the spray nozzle and the other to the chamber. I put a nut on the hose so I can press on it to spray. It's a little more complicated, but that's the basic idea. You could also drill a hole in the chamber and push the nozzle through there.

I use Axe as well. I shoot one of my combustion's at least every other day and it lasts about a month or so. Jr's right, less is more

thanks a ton for the help guys i just dirlled a hole in the back of the end cap and pushed a small air fitting through it the end of the butane can fits perfectly through it but the problem is its not a lighter valve so that means gas can flow through it either way so when i fire it im imagining its gonna shoot a little flame out the back but thats why its on the back i dont think itll cause any power loss really cause for the igniter on my very frist gun alls i did was drill a small hole in the back of the end cap and after it was full of aerosol id just hold a lighter flame up to the hole and it worked great you guys think my design will work ok?? thanks for all your input

jrrdw, where the hell did you hear that you shouldnt use starting fluid? i use it almost every time i fire my cannons and it works fine

i just got back form shooting my gun and the whole butane thing didnt work so i put another end cap on and i used axe...axe works real good but my gun is SO INCONSISTENT!!! sometimes it fires real good and sometime it can barely lob the potatos 3 feet, i managed to get kinda consistent results from a 3 second spray of axe but its stil sucks sometimes, i think its possible my combusti nchamber is to big or something i dunno ive got a 14" long 4" diameter chamber with a 2" diameter roughly 4 foot long barrel ARG i wish my gun was consistent

just try 2 short sprays,like a second each thats wat i did on my first combustion and it was a 4000cc combustion chamber and it worked really well,just try alot less fuel.

thanks a lot will try man my gun just really seems to be lakcin in the power area i mean sometimes itll shoot great i jsut wish itd shoot that way everytime but i think if i mess around with it long enough ill get it dialed in

Also maybe you arnt airing it enough between shots and there is a lack of oxygen in the chamber,that also produces poor shots.

I use white rain hair spra and it works great, just sand the electrodes when the spark gets weak. At $2 something a can, it's not bad at all.

yeah white rain is what i was using for awhile its not that bad maybe im just expecting more power from my gun than it is really capable of i was thinking of taking the barrel size down to 1 1/2" from 2 inch and shortening the combustio chamber a bit an adding a chamber fan i was thinking this would give the gun more power but i really dont know if it would but id imagine it would

First you should use axe. It costs a bit more but worth the money or even WD40 but maybe you should make the cannon smaller would give a greater amount of push. It depends on how big the cannon is in length and what kind of "fuel" you are using. Ummm searching google is the best way to figure out answers like what liquids and gases can I mix to make the best flame but just find an answer and try it out WITH A FUSE!!!!! I've learned my lesson with that before. but I use axe a bit more effective and more cost but when it's shot it smells good