FIRESTAR INFORMATION
FIRESTAR ELECTRIC MATCH
"We
're the Light of your Rocket Motor"
Dear
Fellow Rocket Enthusiast,
The FireStar Electric Match has the highest Thermal Energy
per Unit Volume Igniter in the market place today!
We are the Mercedes Benz of igniters and you will see the performance
difference compared to other low cost igniters. The difference
between Advanced Development Engineering that understands size,
shape, and grain boundary interface problems versus just mixing
some chemicals together. If you are interested in High Performance,
this is the igniter for you!
Here's
why:
After ignition all electric matches produce a plasma ball of
relatively light atomic weight particles that slam into the
motor propellant. These particles penetrate several atoms deep
to start a secondary ignition. If there is not enough
igniter material then the flame front will not possess enough
energy to give an all surface burn. Instead, they only
produce random hot spots that will produce the "Chuffing" sound
heard in all composite motors.
The FireStar Electric Match produces the same plasma
ball but with one great difference! From within the plasma ball
there is a release of literally thousands of white hot metal
particles, (over 5900 Deg. F.). These particles are like miniature
shooting stars that slam into the surface of the propellant
creating a crater hundreds of atoms deep. The crater in turn
produces a large propellant debris field that is hurled upward
in the heart of the expanding plasma ball. This propellant debris
field immediately ignites adding its energy to the main plasma
burst. Thus, the FireStar Electric Match is a Volume Penetration
Burn. The chart below summarizes the results:
Wimp
Igniters -------------------------------- Surface Hot-spots
Igniter with more Ignition Material ------ Full Surface Burn
FireStar Electric Match ------------------- Full surface + Volume
Penetration Bum
With
Volume Penetration Burn your Rocket Motor will leap oft the
launch pad leaving your competition eating your rocket motor
exhaust gases!
FireStar
Electric Match sold as a Kit
FireStar
Electric Match will be sold as a Kit. The Kit will contain components
A and B that, when mixed as per the instruction sheet, will
produce the liquid igniter match head material for dipping.
We also include Bottle C which is a Lacquer Thinner.
The
wire hardware will be separate from the Kit and will have the
following wire lengths. In the small rocket motors category
the FS -12 will be a twisted pair of # 30 gauge wire with Ignition
Element wire soldered in position. This igniter will handle
Motors A through E.
For
midrange Motors F through H, the FS -18 a Duplex #22 gauge wire
will do nicely. The Ignition Element also soldered in position.
For
the larger motors, the FS -24 and FS -36 will use a Duplex #
22 gauge wire with Ignition Element also soldered in position.
Hardware can be a mix and match affair for each customers personal
preference. All igniters are a Dip, Dry & Fly affair.
Note:
All electric matches listed below require a I2V car battery
or equivalent source. For full vaporization of the ignition
element wire an 8.8 Peak Amp inrush (3.0 Amp. Ave.) for a Minimum
time of approximately 150 ms.
The
instructions will show the technique of making the match head
by dipping the element wire in the liquid igniter material.
The chart below shows the four kinds of igniters we provide;
Name
Length
Gauge
Max. Match Head Size
Remarks
FS-12
12 in. ( 30.48 cm) 30 Twisted
Pair 5/64
in. (1.984 mm) Ready Now
FS-18
18 in. (45.72 cm) 22 Duplex
9/64 in. (3.572 mm) Ready Now
FS-24
24 in. ( 60.96 cm) 22 Duplex
13/64 in. (5.159 mm) Ready Now
FS-36
36 in. ( 91.44cm) 22 Duplex
1/4 in. (6.350 mm) Ready Now
By
the way, the formula contains NO Thermalite
HOW MANY MATCHES WILL
I GET.
Adding
Bottle B to Bottle A will produce 40 grams of
liquid ignition match head material. This ignition match material
is formulated to be a Full Surface + Volume Penetration Burn
when fully dried. Assuming a 5% loss factor, (This is material
that sticks to the screw driver, the side of the bottle, etc.),
mathematically you should expect the following number of dips
as shown in TABLE 1 below for the various igniter wire sizes.
TABLE 1
DESCRIPTION
IGNITION MATERIAL IGNITION MATERIAL NUMBER OF
NORMAL
MATCH HEAD
WITH 25% WASTE
MAX. DIPS
FS-12
0.028 grams
0.035 grams
1143
FS-18
0.138 grams
0.172 grams
232
FS-24
0.247 grams
0.309 grams
130
FS-36
0.283 grams
0.354 grams
113
IMPORTANT
NOTICE:
Bottle (A) & (C) are now packaged in a glass jar with a
resealable Teflon lid. If the lids on either bottles (A) or
(C) are not screwed on tight and bottle (A) dries out ---- the
formulation is essentially dead and the Lacquer Thinner
in bottle (C) will evaporate out. With lids on tight,
place both Bottle (A) & (C) in the door of your refrigerator.
This will assure a longer shelf life for the liquid igniter
dip and Lacquer Thinner.
With
the FireStar Electric Match Kit you will no longer have to suffer
with Wimp Igniters.
Happy
Rocket Flying Time!
Sincerely,
Scott
T. Dyben
Scott
T. Dyben
President,
FireStar Electric Match
