FireWire Question

[MtnViewPyro]

Tonight I did some playing around with leftover stash from the 4th. I recently purchased some brass awls from remotefiringsystems (super fast service) and I wanted to play around with instant ignition with some cakes and canister shells. Anyways, I only shot off a few shells and cakes and it took me awhile to install FireWire and hook them up to my system. So my question is, when you guys do your big shows, do you install all of your FireWire into the fireworks that day or do you do some prior? I wouldn't be transporting any of the fireworks as my site is on the same property as where I do my show. I guess what I'm asking is it safe to prep the stuff and store in a garage before the day of a show?

Thanks as always to any comments and suggestions

[Rick_In_Tampa]

You're asking a loaded (no pun intended) question here. When I asked the same question a year ago, Dave chimed in immediately and told me (correctly!) that "matching" my cakes ahead of time and transporting them was a dangerous proposition. E-match (as I'm sure you know) is very susceptible to friction. So what did I do?

I had 40 cases of 1.4G effects to wire. I don't have a 54 so I used firewire initiators. I'm also a 1 man operation. So I poked and matched all my cakes a few weeks prior to the 4th. My shoot site is 4 houses down from my home. So I wasn't driving them across town or miles away. In my case at least, everything went well. No premature firing cakes. No blown up garage. No mishaps at all.

My understanding is that "normal" e-match is more sensitive to friction than initiators. That's why e-match is regulated and initiators are not. So I would likely not use e-match even if I could buy it, or I wouldn't pre-wire my cakes if I did buy it.

So IMHO if you use initiators and treat them and the wired cakes with the care and respect they deserve, I don't see a problem with matching them ahead of time. Just my $0.02.

[WithReport]

I poked and matched all my cakes a few weeks prior to the 4th.

As for me, I started on the 3rd and had no sleep until 2am on the 5th. :mad:

If you go this route, I'd recommend you follow Rick's approach. :D

[displayfireworks1]

.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcIiz2_qKM4

[Kenny East]

Kinda why i like Dave's method of putting a match into a piece of quick match.. Make those ahead of time then the day of, just slip it over the fuse and tape in place. I've used slow sticky match for the same thing. I'd rather have a box of pieces of qm or sticky match go than a bunch of cakes or shells.

[WithReport]

...putting a match into a piece of quick match.. Make those ahead of time then the day of, just slip it over the fuse and tape in place.

I did try the qm method on two cakes in my 4th of July show. One of them did not light. I think the perchlorate 1.4g qm was so violent it blew right off the cake. I found the qm and wire feet away. Maybe I tied it too tight.

As for the show the audience didn't notice because the parallel cake had the initiator.

[MtnViewPyro]

Thanks everyone for a response and Dave for the video. This is something I will have to ponder. Like Dave said in the video, I'm a one man show with a few family helpers that prefer to not be helping lol so time is an issue for me. One possibility I guess would be to get everything ready, poke the holes, and just tape the MJG to the cake without putting it in the hole. Then pull off tape covering the hole in the field and insert the MJG. Sounds like a lot of in the field work but always better than my garage blowing up. My garage is attached and we don't have any vehicles in that garage so that's a plus. I don't know what to do, I will just see how much product I have and determine if it can be done that day or not I suppose.

[PYRODAN]

For what is worth, I matched all my stuff (cakes, comets, single shot racks, fan racks, mortar racks) a few days ahead of time. I had to move them about 2 miles +/-. 4 pick up truck loads. I had no problems but it is a calculated risk. There is no way I could have done it all in one day. Just remember to keep your matches shunted.

[cptnding]

For what is worth, I matched all my stuff (cakes, comets, single shot racks, fan racks, mortar racks) a few days ahead of time. I had to move them about 2 miles +/-. 4 pick up truck loads. I had no problems but it is a calculated risk. There is no way I could have done it all in one day. Just remember to keep your matches shunted.

I have done the exact same thing as Pyrodan for a while now. And just because I haven't burned down my house doesn't mean it's completely safe. Like he said, it is a calculated risk. That said, I am 1.4 only. I would never consider matching and transporting 1.3. To me the worst case scenario with 1.4 is I get burned when the item goes as I'm placing the match, it lights the rest of the product, and the house burns down. Or while transporting it, I hit a bump in the road, products goes, and the vehicle burns to the ground. Either case is very, very bad but I'm not dead. With 1.3 I'm dead.
I also at other times may have a gas can or bbq grill propane tank or a vehicle with 30 gallons of gasoline in the tank inside my garage. Inside the house there are lines to my stove and furnace connected to a 300 gallon propane tank. What if one leaks? Not to mention possible shorts in wiring or electric appliances. Lightning strikes are common in my area. I drive on the expressway, ride in a boat to go fishing, and sometimes fly in an airplane.
I'm not trying to be a smart ass, just saying that there are a lot of calculated risks that we all give very little consideration to on a daily basis and having 1.4 Firewire matched product sitting in my garage does not make me lose sleep at night.
I also agree with Dave that it seems that there are a lot more accidents with e-match than hand lighting. It's easy to see how it can happen with 1.3. It's very powerful stiff. And it's also easy to see how it can be perceived as safer because the shooter is not standing next to the guns in case of a CATO.
Pyro is dangerous. We all have to decide what level of danger we are willing to accept.

[PyroJoeNEPA]

I did try the qm method on two cakes in my 4th of July show. One of them did not light. I think the perchlorate 1.4g qm was so violent it blew right off the cake. I found the qm and wire feet away. Maybe I tied it too tight.

As for the show the audience didn't notice because the parallel cake had the initiator.

The perc quick match is way too violent to use for pigtails for cakes. A short piece with an ematch or ignitor in it goes off like a firecracker. If you use the black match quick match [this can be gotten as a 1.4g product--if you don't know where to get it --send me a PM] You didn't "tie it too tight".
My personal show is a mix of 1.4, 1.4pro & 1.3g stuff [up to 6" shells]. Dropping shells and one shot racks goes quick but the cakes take a lot of time--so I prep them ahead of time with a short piece of Quick Match with an ematch port on it. Once they are dropped anyone on the setup crew can ematch them. No worries about poking into tubes, etc. and they are matched on site.
PS--when I do put the QM pigtails in the cakes, all I do to secure them is use a piece of "magic tape" directly onto the tube I poke into---NOT on the outer wrapper of the cake. This is where a lot of guys have ignition trouble. Secure your leader onto the tube--don't trust the flimsy outer wrapping of the cake!!!