TOPIC: Lighting Rapiers on the Flying Field

Hi guys, had a day trying to fly using old rapier today. Had a nightmare trying to ignite them, where else to come for advice but here??! After reading this thread I decided to pep up my 'cord zap' and rigged it up to a 4.8v rx pack. No more problems! As you can see I get a healthy glow and am yet to find a motor that I can't light! Not sure how long my element will last but I've ignited 20 or so motors with it and it hasn't given up yet.

That’s just the information I need. Can you give a bit more detail where and how you soldered the leads? Thanks

No problem. I butchered a servo extension lead to leave black and red wires connected to the female plug. Then I soldered the red wire to the centre tube in the head of the cord zap and soldered the black wire to the metal ring which passes under the switch. I ran the servo extension through the battery tube. I removed the spring from the bottom of the tube allowing the wire to pass through the notch when screwing the plug back in. I just have the battery taped to the tube at the minute... doesn't look the best but its very effective!

Roger adds:

the igniter elements, whether Kanthal or Nichrome, draw quite a hefty current. Are the 'servo connector leads' up to the job? Have you felt them (care!) to see how hot they get when the element is glowing?
You might need to use a heftier connector and thicker wire.

I thought the same Roger, however after some very basic testing ( switch it on and hold the wires between my fingers!) up to 30 seconds there is only a slight warming of the wires which is only noticable after 20s. Since every motor I have used it on has ignited within approximately 3 seconds I'm happy that the current wiring is up to the job.
Now back to the building board!