Rocketflite Magnelite

Rocketflite - Magnelite {Supplies}

Contributed by Dick Stafford

Construction Rating: starstarstarstarstar_border
Flight Rating: starstarstarstarstar
Overall Rating: starstarstarstarstar
Manufacturer: Rocketflite

 

PicBrief:
I won a Magnelite kit from t' EMRR 'Boink' Rocket contest. I received t' 2-part pyrogen kit, and 12 each o' t' 12" (E-G), 24" (H-J) and 48" (K-M) igniter wires. Aye aye! Here's what I think o' it.

Construction:
T' pyrogen in me kit came in plastic bottle, sealed with wax, me hearties, matey, and packed in some sort o' sand. Avast! T' oxidizer powder was just in a plastic bottle. Avast! T' kit included a set o' instructions and a material safety data sheet. Mixin' tools included a paper cone t' be used as a funnel, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, me bucko, a small screwdriver for stirrin' t' pyrogen, and a plastic pipette for measurin' acetone t' keep t' mixture at t' right consistency. Aye aye! Well, blow me down! T' latter will prove useful for rejuvenation me IgniterMan pyrogen also.

Mixin' t' pyrogen up was easy and makin' t' igniters be a snap. I made 6 o' t' 12" igniters and 3 o' t' 24" as I generally would rather only make what I need at any time. These both use t' same gauge wire but differ in length. Well, blow me down! Before dipping, they all ranged betwixt 0.8 and 0.9 ohms. Ahoy! Although t' wire wasn't pre-stripped, me hearties, I found it easy t' strip it with only me fingernail. Ahoy! I left them for a couple o' hours and then test fit them in some motors. All o' t' igniters would fit in a G80, ya bilge rat, and most would fit in both an E15 and E30. A couple with thicker blobs o' pyrogen wouldn't fit in t' latter. Begad! These igniters are easier t' make than t' IgniterMan, since you don't have t' fiddle with gappin' t' wire, ya bilge rat, and t' process is single vs. Well, blow me down! Well, me bucko, blow me down! triple dip (Magnelite recommends nay t' seal their igniters). Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! T' down side it you have t' use their wires.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
Well, they're 4-for-4. Avast! F10, ya bilge rat, G80 (2), me bucko, and J420R - all successful.

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
I pretty much agree with t' previous reviews. Arrr! These are easy t' make and work GREAT, with t' downside bein' that you have t' use their wires (or wrap your own, shiver me timbers, arrr, ya bilge rat, I guess). Begad! Avast! Note t' newer 12" wires fit nicely in E composite motors.

Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5

Update 7/2002:
I recently made a batch o' igniters usin' Magnelite pyrogen over wires that were prepared with Igniterman conductive primer. Arrr! Blimey! I made a dozen igniters usin' both 30gauge wire wrap wire and various miscellaneous 22-24 gauge wires that I scrounged from spent igniters. So far, me hearties, I used two o' t' 30 gauge igniters (E15 and E30) and one o' t' larger ones (G80FWL). Aye aye! Blimey! All were successful.

While preparin' these igniters, me bucko, arrr, I also noticed an additional benefit o' t' Magnelite system. Avast, me proud beauty! That is, you only need acetone t' thin or revive dried up Magnelite pyrogen. Avast, me proud beauty! T' Igniterman pyrogen, me hearties, me hearties, once dry, requires both acetone and methyl ethyl ketone (MEK).

In another experiment, matey, I made me own bridge-wire igniter. I took a used Magnelite ML-12, me hearties, me hearties, trimmed t' scorched end, separated t' leads, and cut one lead ½ inch shorter than t' other. Begad! One-quarter inch o' insulation be then stripped from each lead. Ahoy! Usin' some nichrome wire (I didn't buy it so I'm nay sure o' its gauge), I hand-wrapped 5 turns on t' shorter lead's conductor, 5 turns on t' longer lead's insulation (about t' same as t' original igniter), shiver me timbers, and another five turns longer lead's conductor. Arrr! All t' wraps were non-overlapping. T' igniter was then prepared like t' rest. Arrr! Once cured, t' igniter read 2.3 ohms. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! I used it on a G80FWL motor and it lit immediately. Avast, me proud beauty! Nay bad for a "quick and dirty" effort, and no solderin' or special tools were required.

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Comments:

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S.B. (September 1, 1999)
9/99 - Looks like they are easy to make ; with the supplied equipment.
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D.W.G. (March 10, 2002)
Magnelite igniters are the best! And I like their customer service. I had a bad batch of pyrogen, the igniters would not burn after a year of storage. I contacted them, and they sent me everything I previously ordered (pyrogen and wires) for free. You are not limited to Rocketflite wires. I have used the pyrogen successfully with Firestar 22 gauge wire to instantly start the tiny composites (like D13's and C6's). I also finding that coating the copperhead igniters that come with the motors offer instant ignition of the smaller motors, like D13's. Take a look at the videos on the Dec 29th coverage on my website (www.gardei.com). All 6 D13's and D24's that flew were instantly ignited with magnelite coated crapperheads.
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J.D.G. (June 30, 2002)
I like Greg's matches. I have used them all the time for single engine ignitions. But I am interested in what others have to say about clustering with magnelite ignitors (other than use a lot of amperage). I used to use the late Jim Turner's (God Bless his soul), tungstens for clustering. Also, just how many more ignitors does Greg need to sell to bring back the Silver Streaks? How old is this interview? I mean the window of opportunity was there with Aerotech's woes. But that is rapidly closing.
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M.S. (December 26, 2009)
I've been using Magnelite igniter kit since 2002 with great success. I've made hundreds of my own igniters and have never had an igniter related launch failure. The pre-wound igniters (ML-12) are great, but winding your own is easy as well using 32 AWG or 36 AWG wire. I've made igniters small enough for the Aerotech 18mm composite motors all the way up to 75mm M motors with nothing but the Magnelite pyrogen. Recently I've been using the Magnefire e-match kit with a variety of e-match blanks and wire wound. I am using 52 AWG nichrome for my bridge wire and I'm getting excellent results. I've not tried them for air starting motors, but for ejection charges, they work great. I can't say enough about the Magnelite igniter kits. They are easy to make, very reliable, and inexpensive.

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