cheap, easy nichrome wire igniters

the simple way to make nichrome wire ignitors (like the ones that come with model rocket engines) for setting off fireworks and stuff.
can be used with model rocket launchers, or cool people will make tetranitrates' awesome detonator

(C:\Documents and Settings\Matthew\My Documents\My Pictures\2007-08-25)

and use that.

I use it to blow up fruit. (Mainly rock-hard pears from my neighbors tree) You are responsible if you use it on something else. like relatives.

Step 1: Get your materials

to make these, you will need:

low-resistance material. (it means wire, dumbbell) I used rosin-core solder. because it was in sight and didn't move faster than me.

masking tape. (any kind of tape will work, but masking is easy to rip with your fingers)

nichrome wire. Can be bought in 10-foot rolls at unitednuclear.com, but I recommend looking for a spool of it on the internet (I used guage 38)

wire cutters and needlenose pliers help

Comments

[WorldOfTanks]

lol a actually slapped myself

[Aron313]

Aw man i looked at all the empty boxes!!!!!

[diy_bloke]

That is not as stupid as it may look, for some reason instructables sometimes places the boxes wrong. The stupid thing actually is someone taking time to add these boxes

[Aron313]

Haha true!

[diy_bloke]

Florist use thin wire to make bouquets that stick out these green foam blocks. That works great too

[whiskymonster]

i always used a single strand of copper wire, and wrap it round a match head.
a little bit of clingfilm, and dip in candlewax and they work underwater too!

[wrdplay]

toasters are the bomb for nichrome wire. can't wait till fourth of july. mad explosions

[blackman05]

can i use normal wires?i need it to at least catch flames for my bom to work

[that one guy]

Normal wires are designed to not heat up when current is run through- they have little resistance. Any wire will heat up when current is run through it, but the less resistance the wires have, the less heat. If you had a car battery or something the wires would probably heat up enough.

[Derin]

i slapped myself about 20 times during this ible

[Derin]

because I have the habit of looking at every single note

[jackh94]

 I saw the empty boxes and thought no! don't look at it! but I was too tempted...

[danm95]

I looked at the same box TWICE because the picture is there twice.

[Gamer917]

me 2

[Arbitror]

Same Prob...

[lunchboxslayer27]

lol me 2

[imkwl12345]

yer... my face is getting kinda sore too lol

[beazll09]

hey would you be able to use a nickel wound guitar string with a .009 gauge? for instance because I live in Australia and I am not able to get nichrome wire thanks

[Archive555]

I live in australia, and I can tell you, Nichrome wire is EVERYWHERE! Go to garage sales, and look for toasters and hairdryers. They contain LOTS of it. Also, Jaycar in australia stocks it, it's about $3AUD for a roll.

[killa696]

I got some from jaycar, but it's better to just get an old toaster if possible, because it was 4.50 for a small roll where i got it.

[coreyt]

you can just buy the rocket ignitors from the hobbyman in dandenong look on there website for an adress

[pyroten]

oh yea, i recently found out thru wondering thru dse, they have it as resistance wire.

[lasermaster3531]

.009 gauge is bad. the bigger the number thinner the wire.try thirty.

[lasermaster3531]

try picture hanging wire. it looks like a tiny cable. pull the wires apart so you have a single wire. the wires are steel and they have a nickel or zinc coating. use something like a drill battery to ignite it. you can get 10 ft or more in i package for very little money. it's not commonly known that it works like this, so you don't need to be OLD!

[pyroten]

i'm in australia.. but i got it from the science storeroom.

[cowscankill]

Buy some picture hanging wire. It is like twisted thin wires used to ... hang pictures. When you separate the thin wires, a simple 9v battery will make it glow hot red, and I've used it to burn fuses on my fireworks.

[goeon]

if you need nichrome wire take appart an old toaster

[that one guy]

you're gonna have to try that one out yourself. it may work, but you may want to try higher current/voltage if it doesn't work at first.

[Colonel88]

Can I just use some simple steel wool? Nichrome Wire is too expensive lol. I has it but it is for rocket ignitors...

[andreasawsome]

where do i get nichrome?as a 13 year old would it b hard for me to get witout an adult?

[superhubbardman]

I think you can get it out of Hairdryers

[lasermaster3531]

try picture hanging wire. it looks like a tiny cable. pull the wires apart so you have a single wire. the wires are steel and they have a nickel or zinc coating. use something like a drill battery to ignite it. you can get 10 ft or more in i package for very little money. it's not commonly known that it works like this, so you don't need to be OLD!

[The Red Button]

i tink anyone can get nichrome...go to radioshack or take apart some lightbulbs....or sumtin

[jarheadwithm16]

The filaments in lightbulbs are not nichrome they are tungsten.

[goeon]

break a working lightbulb and use the filiment

[jeymeowmix]

my dads convinced that if we buy online the fbi will come :P

[goeon]

break a working lightbulb and use the filiment

[lasermaster3531]

that's not very economical. it's tungsten and it's very fragile.

[goeon]

yeah

[jeffconnelly]

I'm 13, and I'm gonna get my mom to get some on ebay. it's like 3 bucks for a 30-ft. spool of 33-guage.(too many threes...)

[Mattrox]

you can get it out of hair dryers i think toaster and kettles too

[jeffconnelly]

oh yeah, and just tell them it's a superconductor...heh, heh, heh...

[axist47]

Can these be reused as long as you replace the nicrome filament?

[that one guy]

yes, but it's much easier to just make a new one. nowadays I just take a piece of speaker wire( two wires side by side) seperate the top and bottom, strip all four ends and attach the nicrome.

[I_am_Canadian]

Is it reusable then?

[maniac_maker]

use a strand of thick steel wool it will get very hot so be careful

[Aerospaceman]

Nichrome wire (NiCr) is a highly brittle and high resistance wire that ignites with a low voltage (9V) and amperage. The fine gauge wire can be bent in half, and each exposed end can be soldered to a slightly heavier gauge (30 AWG) wire. Then you can make a paste of potassium perchlorate, sulphur (both very fine), and about half a gram of high grade epoxy (not the lumpy stuff) mixed together. You should get about 4-5 igniters. Place each nichrome wire tip on a piece of cut sandwich bag around a square inch or so, enough so you can fold it over. You’ll mix (use a popsicle stick) the potassium perchlorate and the epoxy adding sulphur till it’s almost a yellowish color. Then mix until it’s like a firm paste. Take the mixture and apply about 2-3mm (small amount) to each igniter wire tip. Fold the plastic sandwich bag over each tip and let cure overnight. Don’t forget that the igniter should be able to fit inside the rocket motor throat. After curing for about 24 hours, the igniter should be good for use. NOTE: If you use ordinary nichrome wire folded over you may experience a high failure rate. Reason being, the igniter may not touch the fuel grains and simply burn out. This means you have to pull the igniter and do it all over again. NOTE: observe all safety regulations involving chemicals, storage and their use. Observe all safety regulations involving model or amateur rockets.

[codydean]

or in my state you could mix some aluminum powder with potassium nitrate

[MoeBrowne]

You cant solder Nichrome wire, it requires a mechanical connection like a crocodile clip or similar

[0girle]

is that like heat sink clip?? or am i very wrong?

[that one guy]

or you could slit a match (thanks, swomack)

[shmickley]

hi i recent brought some of this from dick smith electronics i tired to get it to glow with 12v 1a dc power supply and it no go how many amps/volts does it usable take?

[cathats2]

very good but im 14 and cant get it easaly what to do

[lasermaster3531]

try picture hanging wire. it looks like a tiny cable. pull the wires apart so you have a single wire. the wires are steel and they have a nickel or zinc coating. use something like a drill battery to ignite it. you can get 10 ft or more in i package for very little money. it's not commonly known that it works like this, so you don't need to be OLD!

[mt.+]

i am 12 and under stand

[Mattrox]

you look a bit young to be on this sight joking

[jeymeowmix]

i am 3

[Mattrox]

so much for the age limmit

[Derin]

yea

[looking4ideas]

uu gaga bugu ( baby for even I understand)

[Gamer917]

gugu. (baby for duh)

[the mechanical engineer]

what is the best gauge to use???

[The Red Button]

nichrome and steel wool seem to do almost the same thing or does nichrome combust and burn hotter?

[The Red Button]

oh nichrome heats up hot so its reusable(if not blown up by bomb) where as steel wool burns to nothing just from the electircal connection

[chriswillb]

Nichrome wire can be found at any electronics store they offen come in roles ranging from 10 to 50m and cost about $12 or £6 they are labeled as resistance wire not nichrome that's just a technical word.

[looking4ideas]

or nickel chromium wire

[oddblob]

I you can't get nichrome wire, or are to lazy *ahem* use wire wool pull off a strand - they are about 3 inches long, and voila ignity wire :D

[omkar_hummer]

do they burn off when voltage is supplied?

[omkar_hummer]

what must be the voltage provided?

[p4ntuk]

Uhm... In what voltage this thing work best? One it ignites will it be cut off or simply cooldown and can be ignited again? Someone please answer this because I really need to work on this thing.. Thanks in advance.

[Mattrox]

this easy to understand and halrious

[the_4nk8tr]

hey man, NICE WORK!!! Just wondering what sort Battery source you use to set these little bad boys off with???

[that one guy]

a 9v battery, usually, but anything from 2 AA's up would work

[mt.+]

if u r reading this than u r a d.d.d [if u dont no what d.d.d is than u r a der duh der]

[enigmacipher]

i looked at both boxes.... nice instructable

[that one guy]

I'm betting that near everyone who looks at this will look at both boxes. Me included.

[Thundertydus]

you are evil

[swomack]

If you want to make this a significantly better igniter, take a paper match, slice the head half way thru from the top and slide the nichrome wire into the slice. When you apply the voltage, the wire will heat up and light the match, increasing the firepower available to light your... umm... device!

[that one guy]

Excellent! I should've thought of paper matches!

[Hawaii00000]

Why did you put all of the empty boxes? Just joking, but I looked at them all to see what they said anyway I knew it was a joke... I THINK

[drake1]

your mean

[i make shooting things]

just made new group please join and add your instructable

[laibakargaja]

:P i slaped myself :D

[marc92]

where do you get nichrome wire??

[that one guy]

unitednuclear.com or ebay.... I seriously suggest you get it in a spool, because the loops get tangled way too easily

[marc92]

thanks!