Hey all. I've been messing around with hydrogen balloons and I have had bad luck in setting them off. My only sucssesfull way so far has been using visco and sticky match. This seems kinda stupid, as the fuse costs more than the balloon. Its also a waste using more fuse to set of a balloon than I would use to set off a plumer. Any sugestions for an alternative method of ignition?

What about a steel wool ingitor put inside? then you could have several and set them off with a car battery or a gel cell.

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But I want it to float. I would have to be a total ass if I couldnt set off a stationary balloon.

Length of cotton string soaked in a highly flammable liquid with one end taped to the ballon - somewhat unreliable.

Make some touch paper by soaking absorbant paper (towels work good) in an oxidiser solution and leaving to dry. Cut a strip 3/4" - 1" wide and tape one end to the ballon - Reliable, cheap and light weight.

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"Shit happens. Get a fucking helmet"

Hydrogen is easy to ignit.
I recommend a piezo crystal igniter like in camping gas igniters. Use a long wire and form the ends of the wire like a sparkgap.
1 mm air between the blank ends.

Touch paper sounds good, but I dont have any oxidisers exept rode flare. Speeking of road flare, I've been experimenting with a wick called "redmatch." Its cotton string coated in rubber cement. The ruber cement string is then coated in roadflare and sugar. This fuse worked well on a stationary balloon, but it went out on my hydrogen balloon. I might try that again, but I gets kinda depressing seeing the balloons fuse fail just before it rechess the balloon.

You could try mixing a paste of Pyrodex powder and putting a pellet at the end of the fuse and afix it so its the pellet that reptures the ballon.

Its just a thought since I've never messed with H ballons and such.

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Well this is what I do (for this purpose)
Get a shit load of match heads, mix with a small amount of acetone or water to get a thick slurry. Get a piece of paper and cover it with a thin layer of the slurry (not too thin) and leave to dry. Do the same with the other side of the paper (but this is not really nesecery).
Cut the paper into long thin strips and hey presto you got yourself a very light fuse!
You can mix some dextrin into the slurry to make the fuse a bit more flexible.
There is however one problem though. When the fuse is burning in a vertical position it burns too fast so i put a bit of insulation tape on the balloon to balance the fuse into a diagonal position.

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Low explosives are for pussies!

Intresting idea, but I used my matcheads to make a more interseting device. Ill have to experiment with redmatch some more.

If you can be bothered, electrolyse some brine, collect the chlorine, figure out a way to get some into the balloon with your hydrogen, and then set it off with a camera flash. I've no idea if balloons aren't transparent enough or what sort of range the light would start the reaction from. Lot of hassle, probably quite impressive if it worked.

A friend of mine has used acetylene /oxygene filled balloons as firework on a marriage party.
He wore a motorbike helmet and lit the ballons with a long stick with a burning alcohol/sponge at one end.
Works perfect.



[This message has been edited by Jumala (edited October 03, 2001).]

I use touch paper. KNO3 impregnated in newspaper.Then you just get a 1cm wide strip and whatever length you want, then roll it up so it looks like string,then stickytape it to the balloon, when you light the paper and let the balloon fly it goes off up in the sky.

Match heads don't dissolve in acetone. So just use water.

I've always used toilet paper taped to the balloon. Works every time.

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I just did an experiment with some redmatch on an acetlyne balloon. It continued to burn after the explosion, and it didnt even go at after I stomped on it.

What I have been doing lately for my stationary balloons is taking a small blackcat bottle rocket and securing it to the knot in the neck of the balloon with a thin strip of duct tape. The fuse points away from the bottom of the balloon and the balloon is set off when the report from the bottle rocket goes off (nice 5-6 second delay you might not get the altitude you desire however). This method is fairly cheap ($6 for 144 bottle rockets), but not very available since most people don't live 15 miles away from a fireworks store that is open year round http://theforum.virtualave.net/ubb/smilies/biggrin.gif.
I assume this method would work for H balloons since the bottle rockets are light weight, but I haven't tried that yet
I'll stick to Acetylene/Oxygen, Propane/Oxygen, and MAPP gas/Oxygen for the time being (less time consuming to fill)

Or I could just use a water dynamite.