Rocket Problems…wimpy spark igniter
Incase you missed it I’ve been working on a Hydrogen Powered Rocket.
Everything has been going good except for one minor thing…it wont fire. First, let me explain how the rocket works. There is a chamber below the rocket that gets filled with water. I then use 8 D batteries to split the water into Hydrogen and Oxygen. The Hydrogen and Oxygen is then collected in a 1 inch pvc pipe that the rockets sits on. After a few minutes of Hydrogen/Oxygen creation I ignite the Hydrogen/Oxygen mixture which sends the rocket soaring into the air.
While testing in the Lab I was igniting the Hydrogen/Oxygen mixture using a neon sign transformer.
This worked great, my transformer puts out 9000 volts and creates a nice large spark. The problem is that you (the viewer) probably don’t have a neon sign transformer and also I don’t have an outlet where I plan on launching my rocket from. So I decided to ignite the Hydrogen/Oxygen using spark igniter salvaged from a BBQ lighter.
In the lab the spark looked great. The problem was that I never actually tried to ignite any Hydrogen/Oxygen with the BBQ spark igniter. I went to the park and set everything up, waited approximately 20 minutes for enough Hydrogen/Oxygen to be created and tried to ignite it. Click…Click…Click…Nothing. When creating the Hydrogen/Oxygen I was also creating some condensation. This condensation was wetting the spark gap which in turn prevented the BBQ spark igniter from creating a spark. Basically the little BBQ igniter didn’t have enough umph to create a spark across a wet surface.
So, I am currently looking for a new ignition source. I am preforming new tests in the lab using a water heater spark igniter. It creates a larger spark and I think I might have a little more success with it. If that doesn’t work I’m going to try to modify a disposable camera to create the spark I need to ignite the Hydrogen/Oxygen.
If you have any question or suggestion I would love to hear them.
-Nick the Genius
