SpudFiles

Hey guys,
So, I'm starting to build my first advanced combustion gun, named 'em Big Bird... But thats not what this is about. I wanted to use a camera flash ignition so I bought the camera, took it apart, and now have a problem. I hadn't really realized that I would need to put a piece of steel wool in the chamber everytime I want to shoot. So, Is there a way of doing this without the wool? The only thing that I could really think of was maybe figuring a way to use a spark plug or something... and then having the camera flash go into the spark plug, to make the spark in the chamber.
1- What in the world should I do for the Ignition?
2- Would a spark plug work like I described?
2a- How would I have to wire it?
3- What else do recommend using to create a spark? I don't want to buy a stun gun so thats out of the question.

Thanks guys!- Tedder

just the flash circuit will not give you a arc.

if you just simply run the camera capacitor through an ignition coil you get a nice fat orange spark at about 1"

Where could I get the coil? and how much would it cost?

http://www.angelfire.com/80s/sixmhz/camera.html

This guy managed without the coil.

Coils can be expensive and aren't exactly lying around everyone's "everything" drawer. A junkyard would be a good place to find a cheap one.

i payed $20 for a good one

I managed without the coil as well. I just screwed two bolts into the chamber that almost touched at the end, I could screw the bolts in or out to adjust, sometimes they would slightly weld together, just needed to wiggle em apart. I didn't use the third wire either, just wired the 2 main ones into the bolts.

Ok- so I go tall that... but now theres a new problem... I was working on it and it had charged... so i took a piece of metal and put it across the capacitor... big spark... but now it won't recharge. Any ideas?

brogdenlaxmiddie wrote:Ok- so I go tall that... but now theres a new problem... I was working on it and it had charged... so i took a piece of metal and put it across the capacitor... big spark... but now it won't recharge. Any ideas?

Where was the big spark at? If it was between the two wires on the big-ass photocap then the circuit should be OK. If the spark was between one lead of the cap and something else on the board then there is a good chance the board is toast.

Ask for a couple more cameras from your local grocery store with an in-house photolab. They usually throw them away after they take the film out.

You might want to read the SpudWIki pages on photoflash ignition.

EDIT: BTW, in the long run, a BBQ piezo or stungun is probably a better bet for an advanced gun.

I think thats what im just gonna wind up doing... this crap is too confusing

Ya. That seems like the easiest idea. The problem you had before is probably a blown capacitor. They do it all the time. Camera capacitors typically aren't very reliable. A peizo electic ignitor would seem to be fine for an advanced. Is there a reason why you want a battery based circuit? A BBQ ignitor is simple, reliable, and cheap. I would just use that.

i only tryed the camera flash thing because it sounded cool.