Lighting a floating campfire 50 yards away

He also says "junior-high-school-science level project"

By the time they order everything the event will be over LOL. Plus why spend all that money. If you want to do it that way use rocket igniters, a 9V battery, some speaker wire and a small flammable pack would be a much easier solution. Cheap too.

I agree you Tech, I was just pointing out that Adults would be doing this and not the kids. If he isn't going to do it remotely your idea or a flare is probably his best bet.

Jon

Flares contain perchlorates and other pollutants, so not a good idea. Maybe some 99% pure alcohol would be a better solution.

I would try for a non electric igniter a cigarette with two matche head stuck on it half way down on either side, everything being rapped in paper, and maybe adding vaseline covered cotton balls..

I thought we were looking for a Remote Ignition Method not an ignition source..
I thought the ignition source was already decided... just the Remote Ignition
Method was in query...


Jerry

Ya, rocket igniters and speaker cable, that's the simplest way for FOD (Fire On Demand ), put the switch and battery on a small raft, and voilà!

C comme l'internet sans-fil, s'po compliqué!

He ruled out most of the remote methods, IR receiver he did not mention. He doesn't want anything expensive or that uses dangerous chemicals or explosives. I guess that leaves the matches and cigarette as the igniter and the cotton balls and vasaline as the fuel. Now he has to determine if the remote ignition is worth the cost.

Jon

ACTULY lighting 3 floating fires 50 yds away

BuildAbluraylaser said:

I would try for a non electric igniter a cigarette with two matche head stuck on it half way down on either side, everything being rapped in paper, and maybe adding vaseline covered cotton balls..

Click to expand...

Please inform us all how are you going to ever get three seperate fires going all at the same time using cigeretes and matches,:crackup: look maby there are some perclorates in road flaires but most of them will be burned up with the fuel and they can use only a third of the flair in each fire if you are worried also they are not going to be doing this every day 365 days a year but I bet you drive your car every day ! and polute the air I breath ! come on I have given the man the best option for doing what he want's to do and actully making it work, it would prob be a good idea if people who have never tryed to do some thing like this would just sit back and listen up, maby they would learn something ! of course he can use speaker wire if he has it but shoot wire is made to do the job and be scrapped after the job is finished, thats why it costs LESS than speaker wire, but he could roll it up and use it many times if he felt like it, you have to use a little common sense here. and quit acting like he's got to go to china to get the supplys I suggested, all are sourced here in the good old USA made by americans. Tom DeWille is a good friend of mine and he started his company (Pyro-Pak) with the group Kiss way back when, his company makes some of the best electric matches and pyro devices for stage work in the industry, if you want it to light and you want it to light all at once on que then you want to spen $5.00 and get e-matches. (hell would you put a resistor in place of a current driver) cigerets and strike matches is not the way to go ! Crap every thing I have mentioned here will cost way less than $70.00 and I think that is what someone else was suggesting to sacrifice in the fire Ha Ha Ha. save the vaseline covered cotton balls for the back yard, this guy want's to pull off a REAL production not a maby, or a I wish that had worked production but a timed all must light production. heck It's for the the boy scouts of america, I'll give him every thing he needs to do this project I have it all. won't cost him one red cent. and I'll even give him a full box of electric matches that way he can practice and have enough left over so he can do this 15 more times. stop by and I'll load you up it's all yours with my complements !!!
if you can't come your self send some one, a trucker friend, a shipping company ? we will get it to you somehow!!

Best regards Pyro... :eg:

Here is an easy option that you could use a safe low power 20mw green laser to ignite. Build a photocell circuit, very easy, that allows a AAA battery to power up a thin wire inserted in some flash powder, sitting on your flammable material. Then when the 20mw laser hits the photo cell, the flash powder will detonate and light up the raft. You will need to make sure no one points a high powered flashlight in the direction of the rafts or they may set them off prematurely. Here is a link to Digikey for some cheap photo cells............
Digi-Key - PDV-P5001-ND (Advanced Photonix Inc - PDV-P5001)
good luck!

^ millirad, that was exactly my first suggestion, LOL !

But then he said that fire was floating and moving, and that can have problems aiming the photocell to a moving target, so i left drop.

But if you want to try it as experiment, just take some cheap components, or recover them from some old "circuit-to-discard" , a pair of ldr (photoresistors, whatever you call them), and some cardboard tube, also the ones in the core of toilet paper rolls, and you can do it yourself all with very few money (can draw a pair of schematics, if you want).

By the way, usual electrical igniters for rockets and fireworks causes combustion, but usually not enough flame for turn on a campfire (trust me, i use them, sometimes ..... also my ones, that are more big and burn better, are very good for ignite fuses and powders, but not all the times bare paper in big quantity) ..... you need to surround them with 8 or 10 matches bonded tight around the igniter, with the tips in contact between them and the igniter head, for be sure to have enough flame to ignite paper (or better, waxed paper), if you don't use any other chemical primers.

Re: ACTULY lighting 3 floating fires 50 yds away

Flaminpyro said:

Please inform us all how are you going to ever get three seperate fires going all at the same time using cigeretes and matches,:crackup: look maby there are some perclorates in road flaires but most of them will be burned up with the fuel and they can use only a third of the flair in each fire if you are worried also they are not going to be doing this every day 365 days a year but I bet you drive your car every day ! and polute the air I breath ! come on I have given the man the best option for doing what he want's to do and actully making it work, it would prob be a good idea if people who have never tryed to do some thing like this would just sit back and listen up, maby they would learn something ! of course he can use speaker wire if he has it but shoot wire is made to do the job and be scrapped after the job is finished, thats why it costs LESS than speaker wire, but he could roll it up and use it many times if he felt like it, you have to use a little common sense here. and quit acting like he's got to go to china to get the supplys I suggested, all are sourced here in the good old USA made by americans. Tom DeWille is a good friend of mine and he started his company (Pyro-Pak) with the group Kiss way back when, his company makes some of the best electric matches and pyro devices for stage work in the industry, if you want it to light and you want it to light all at once on que then you want to spen $5.00 and get e-matches. (hell would you put a resistor in place of a current driver) cigerets and strike matches is not the way to go ! Crap every thing I have mentioned here will cost way less than $70.00 and I think that is what someone else was suggesting to sacrifice in the fire Ha Ha Ha. save the vaseline covered cotton balls for the back yard, this guy want's to pull off a REAL production not a maby, or a I wish that had worked production but a timed all must light production. heck It's for the the boy scouts of america, I'll give him every thing he needs to do this project I have it all. won't cost him one red cent. and I'll even give him a full box of electric matches that way he can practice and have enough left over so he can do this 15 more times. stop by and I'll load you up it's all yours with my complements !!!
if you can't come your self send some one, a trucker friend, a shipping company ? we will get it to you somehow!!

Best regards Pyro... :eg:

Click to expand...

Dude tone down the ego a couple of notches will ya? Your idea is noted. The more ideas the better in this situation, so don't take it personal that others want to contribute their ideas too. Between all of us I'm sure we can come up with a solution that will fit his needs. And no, I don't drive my car everyday.

Re: ACTULY lighting 3 floating fires 50 yds away

I think Benm gave the key. Put the ignition system in the campfire and use a light sensor as switch. Then a 10$ green laser from DX will do the trick.

Also, what happens if you conect the two poles of a 9V battery? sparks! and what if you put 2 wires touching into gasoline? I dont know!

Just an idea

Yours,
Albert

After having read through all of the replies so far, I say the best solution in this case is to MacGyver an alarm clock with some resistive ignitors placed on fuel-soaked paper, rags, and twigs in the core of the fire.

And by MacGyvering I mean both what BuildABluRayLaser said, using a relay, or if you want to feel even more like our DIY hero, just pop off the glass, and wrap the two wires around the clock hands, so that when they touch,they complete the circuit between, say, two 9V batteries in series and three pieces of steel wool.
EDIT: Also, HIMNL9's fuses are perfectly usable with this method, I rather recommned one of those instead of steel wool. Easier and prolly cheaper to set up

If you use a cheap clock, you could even have it in one fire, and just use two more pieces of wire to light the other two, although this depends on how far apart the fires are.

If you need any specs, feel free to PM me, I'd be happy to help.
Good Luck!

Only one suggestion, if you permit.

depending what time have to pass from when you set all up to the moment in which it have to ignite, soaking paper and fabric with fuel can not work good, cause if pass too much time, it can be evaporate all (or the most part, at least)

Do a try with paper and rags, soaking them with common wax (also just lit a candle and melt some wax on paper and so on) ..... it don't evaporate, and also if take some seconds more than fuel, it burn good too ..... or, if you want to try, can also mix some wax and some fuel (you don't need to build a lot of it), making a thick liquid, and use it in this form ..... it remain in place for some hours more than just fuel, and also when the fuel part is evaporated, the wax part remain in place ..... just need a bit of patience for the preparation, adding wax in little parts or greated on the fuel, little at a time, and stirring til it melt (NOT on fire, ofcourse, LOL).

BTW, wax system is also less sensitive to water contact, considering that the fire place is floating on the water ..... and paper foils soaked in wax don't impregnate of water, if in the meantime start to rain (i always remember Murphy's law ) ..... ofcourse, if rain too much, there's no way for ignite anything, but if you use only paper and rafts, also a very light rain can soak all and the fire never start (and about this, just a piece of domopak or pliofoil on the ignition core, under the rest of the wood pieces, can be a good idea).

Hehe, a bit of home-brew napalm goes a long way in lighting the campfires, true

Wax only burns when liquid, so you have to melt it before. Vaseline is a better choice because it ignites quicker and is water repelent.

I woudn't use wax.


Wow, I didn't think that lighting a campfire could be so difficult!!!