Spud Gun Ignitions

Come On Baby Light My Fire – Potato Gun Igniters!

Let’s face it, without a quality ignition system your spud gun is nothing but a piece of plastic pipe. Without a reliable ignition system, your spud gun is nothing but a source of frustration as it lights off maybe one out of five times. What you need to know are your options for lighting off the combustible gas inside your combustion chamber, and here they are:

Lantern Flint Igniter

Been around since there was….flint…which means cavemen were lighting off their spud guns with this thing. On the plus side, they’re cheap, available, and relatively reliable. On the negative side, they can’t really be integrated with a multi spark system, and are super low tech, last year’s snow. What else do you expect from a rock that makes sparks?!

BBQ Push Button Igniters

Now we’re cooking with gas. Literally. Push button lighters belong to the piezoelectric family of lighters that are used in all sorts of applications where lighters are needed, such as furnaces, gas heaters, and barbecues. They’re cheap, available, and produce a good spark. They do however have a tendency to wear out – some users have reported as little as 20-30 hits before the thing crapped out – your mileage may vary.

Electric Ignition Options

Here’s where we get into the real ignition systems, the reliable electric ones where you can easily integrate them into multiple spark systems.

First up are electric barbecue lighters, which are similar to the piezoelectric ones although powered by electricity. Simple, cheap, effective, and available, and can be hooked up to multi spark in a jiffy.

Disposable camera igniters are another option – they can be scavenged from disposable cameras and make spark using the giant capacitor that powers the flash – these babies deliver up to 300 volts of sparkly goodness and can be hooked up to multiple spark systems easily. The downside is that just like a camera flash, it needs time to recharge after each firing – so if you have a misfire, you need to wait a couple seconds.  Stun gun igniters are the kings of spark around here. Adapted from commercially available stun guns that can be had for under $30 online, these babies can deliver between 100,000 and 300,000 volts of fun. The upside is they provide all the juice you need to fire your spud cannon – the downside is they can potentially be illegal to possess in your area and extra caution needs to be taken in order to insulate your terminals so that you aren’t the recipient of some stun gun love.

Multiple Spark

What’s this multiple spark thing we keep mentioning? Simple. Instead of having a single spark in your combustion chamber, you have two or more. With a stud based multi spark system, you can have a spark in the back of your combustion chamber and one in the front. These two sparks light off the gas quicker, burn hotter, and allow for a more powerful explosion. Spark strips are the next level – these are nothing more than strips of copper that have points where the voltage arcs, creating a spark. These strips can have as many as ten different sparks, instantly lighting off the gas for a massive explosion. Put some thought into your ignition system and take your spud gun to the next level! Best of all, buy our potato gun ebook and plans and make the right spud gun system the first time!

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