Peter Riddel at Space Modeling Solutions in Arizona recently told me about a new igniter kit called IgniterMan. This kit lays claim to use just about any kind of wire and still be more reliable than anything else out there. That is a mighty big claim to make so I had to try these out. I ordered a kit from Peter and awaited it's arrival. The kit came in two days later and I couldn't wait to kick out a few igniters as I had a monthly club launch coming up.
 

Fig 1. Supplied Parts     Fig 3. Different Size Igniters	The kit comes in four sealed plastic vials. You start by mixing the powdered oxidizer into the pyrogen mixture. As soon as you have that mixed up, you are ready to start. To begin with, take some two-pair wire and strip off about 1/4" of insulation. You should have a spark plug gaper handy to help get the cap down to under .025". Basically, you want them as close as possible but not touching, the closer the better. That's right, no soldering or other wire preparation, just strip and dip. Fig 3. Dipping the igniter You start by dipping the wire into the conductive primer. After a few minutes you can check the resistance to make sure it is between 1.5 - 10 ohms. If you are over, try re-dipping the wires, usually adding a little more primer solves the problem. Once you are satisfied the resistance is good, you then dip the igniter into the vial of sealer. If you are using small wires, such as wire wrap wires, and you plan on using these to light some black powder motors, you are now done. The primer will get hot enough to light the BP without any problem.
If you are making these for composite motors, you next dip the igniter into the pyrogen. The pyrogen mixture settles quickly so you need to stir it up every few minutes. The mix can also dry out. Since the solution is acetone based, simply put in a few drops of acetone, stir it up and you are ready to keep dipping. Figure 3 shows several different sized igniters as shown in the kit's instructions. Figure 4 shows a typical igniter during each phase of construction.	Fig 4. Different Size Igniters
Fig 5. Lighting an Igniter	Ok, so the kit is easy to use, but how does it perform? As I mentioned at the beginning, I built these igniters to use at an upcoming launch. When we arrived at the launch after a week of heavy rain, the wind was blowing too hard to launch. The launch the next two weekend's were canceled. In the long run, the pre-made igniters ended up sitting in my range box in the garage for five weeks during extremely wet and cold temperatures.  Saturday, March 11th comes along, out to the Lucerne Dry lake for some of the best flying conditions I have ever seen. We ended up passing out about 25 igniters to people. One igniter had the pyrogen break off while trying to shove it into the nozzle. On another, the pyrogen simply didn't light. On 23 others, the results were a bit different.

I put one into a G35 in my LOC Legacy, as soon as the button was pushed, the rocket jumped off the pad. Next I tried a small one in an E15 using a scratch built rocket, again the motor lit instantly.

I will let people's comments tell the rest of the story:

I did use your igniter but it was in an I284 instead of the J275 I thought I was going to use it in. Even better though, is that I was drag racing Steve Todd with our Lunar Express Jr.s. He was using a Firestarter. And the winner was..........me with the Igniterman! Yes! - Kurt

I had a hi-rel fail prior to getting the Igniterman from you. The Igniterman worked great and I noticed the ignition seems "snappier". There was less of a wait after the countdown before it lit. I'm impressed and will probably get the kit so that I can start making my own. - Allen

Very fast to light, went off the pad as soon as the button was pressed, a good product. a real "MUST HAVE PRODUCT" - Colin (who used it on an H180 in a LOC Hi-Tech H45 for his level 1 certification)

I would have preferred to try it on a WL or BJ motor, as it would have been a more strenuous test. But the igniter lit the motor instantly, with no hesitation at all. It was excellent. - Joel (Scratch built rocket on an I300)

We had a good day with the exception of a couple of igniter problems. Thanks Kerry for the Igniterman demo igniter. I'm sold. - Allen, Bryce,Ian

There you have it, and that was just a small sampling of the comments and experience we had with the igniters.  I must say these igniters do the job as claimed. Not only are they reliable, you can use just about any kind of wire. The igniters built for this test included phone wire, speaker wire, wire-wrap wire, and some unknown thing I found in the garage. This is a killer product that does what it claims and does it well!