Mortar Racks

**teberle** · 03-01-2008, 10:24 AM

I buy Nichromium wire (heating element wire) about .026 guage. Cut 3" strips and tightly wrap that in a spiral pattern around each fuse. I then take a small piece of masking tape to secure the wire in place. The alligator clips are attached to each end and then i have a car battery hooked up to the panel. When the switch is flipped 12volts is sent to the wire which heats up red hot really quick, burns through the outer core of the fuse to the black powder.

This actually lights the fuses quicker than a standard match and its safe.

**ppohlman** · 03-01-2008, 03:39 PM

That's a great way of doing it. I had never thought about using nichromium wire. That way there isn't a chance of a spark igniting the the electric fuse.

**Josh** · 03-07-2008, 12:17 PM

do the wire properties matter alot? here are three i am looking at, but not sure which to get.

http://www.arborsci.com/detail.aspx?ID=1063

http://cgi.ebay.com/26-Ga-Genuine-Ni...QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/Model-Rocket-Ign...QQcmdZViewItem

**teberle** · 03-08-2008, 09:17 AM

Josh,

I bought wire from here: http://www.omega.com/ppt/pptsc.asp?ref=NI60

I used Ni60-10-50

Tony

**ppohlman** · 03-10-2008, 03:22 PM

Originally Posted by teberle

I used Ni60-10-50

So you used 30 AWG wire? Do you know what the differences are in the AWG size and how fast or efficient it is with igniting the fuse?

**eschnell** · 03-10-2008, 05:36 PM

Can you re-use the Nichrome wire or does it burn out?

**Josh** · 03-10-2008, 06:33 PM

i ordered the 26 guage, should be in tomorow or wednesday. I will let you all know how it works. I also have the quesiton about reusing it or not. IT does not list a voltage on the wire, so im not sure if the 12v will burn threw it or not.

**ppohlman** · 03-10-2008, 06:52 PM

If the voltage is high enough, it should burn it out. It will be interesting to see what your results are Josh. You might be able to find a voltage that ignites the fuse quickly, but is able to reuse the wire. But then again, you're not using a ton of wire and it isn't that expensive.

**Josh** · 03-10-2008, 07:03 PM

yeah, not too worried about it either way. Just trying to figure out a nice clean design for our racks... looking for a central ground plane so i only use one clip per tube hopefully.

**teberle** · 03-10-2008, 11:09 PM

The 26 guage wire is still in tact with when using a 12volt battery but it is charged and would take some time to re-wrap around the fuse. I used 50 foot of wire over 2 years and it isn't very expensive.

I would be interested in how you will use the one ground plane. I found it was easier to wire to a central point and then connect small jumpers to the fuses. One thing you need to be careful of is the guage of wire used to short the nichromium wire. I used 16 guage speaker wire for this as anything less seemed to get hot.