A Great Use for Auto Cigarette Lighters!

Do you have any old automotive cigarette lighters?
Do you want to light fireworks or light a fire electronically or remote controlled?

Well here's an instructable on how to use an old automotive cigarette lighter to do all that and more!

It's very simple:

1. Make sure your automotive cigarette lighter looks like one in pic #4(bottom right picture)
2. Take a thin nail or knife to pry the coil from the lighter. Cut both the connections to the lighter to leave you the bare coil, like in the picture 2nd from the top.
3. Done! Take a small 12V lead acid battery or something else that packs a punch and connect a about 4inch (10cm) long piece of wire (off the coil) to your battery. Hold the piece of wire with a pair of plyers! If your battery is fully charged, the wire will glow very bright and be VERY hot, as seen in the top picture.

What do I do with this coil of wire?

        At first you may lack ideas, but the possibilities are near endless:

• Control and light a fireworks display electronically
• Start a campfire
• Build a small electric heater

        And my favorite: Make a firecracker-canon that shoots rotten fruits and vegetables!
        (I might make an Instructable on that too ;) )

BE CAREFUL:

• Touching the hot wire can cause serious burns(!).
• If using a very short (<3inch/7.5cm) piece of wire with a fully charged battery, the wire can melt through, fall on to anything flamable and start a fire.
• A Lead Acid battery "packing a punch" also means that they can electrocute you when handling them incorrectly.

Where do I find automotive cigarette lighters?

• Well it's obvious that you might find one in your own car, but if you don't want to take your own, head over to your nearest auto junkyard. I found about 9 cigarette lighters in old or wrecked cars there!
• Ask your non-smoking friends if they still need their auto cigarette lighter, some will be glad to get rid of them!

Thanks for checking out my Instructable! :)