Series and Parallel on FireTek

[hrbie22]

Doing some homework on upgrading to a new firing system.

One question about the fireTek slates that I have is how man initiators can one cue handle in series and parallel wiring? Any help is appreciated!

[Robbro097]

This isnt firetek specific but excellent overall at calculating max #s ive found it to b very reliable and the minimum recommended all fire currenton mjg is .75 amp. I still leave it at 1 amp but have tested it at .75 when trying new cables and has passed all test. https://calc.easypyro.com/

[Blaster]

In the simplest of terms, in Parallel, the Load from each match is Added together (that is, if One match is a 1A load, 5 in parallel are going to draw 5A, kinda too much for most systems)

So, you put those 5 together in Series, and Load is the same as a Single match (that 1A) BUT,,,, you add some complications....

In Parallel, you can't confirm continuity because it takes only One of the group to show the connection.

In Series, all connections are checked, but the group Fires (circuit Opens) all-at-the-same-Time so, you have to make sure that you're using the Exact Same matches so that manufacturing differences (and even Lot #'s) don't have one Open early (you can series 2 boxes, say 40 of them, at the same time in a Waterfall and, because they are "Precision Instruments" they all go Open at the same time)

[topshelfpyro]

If your looking at the FTQ modules, they use a capacitive discharge @20v-29v and is capable of 10 amps of current per cue/channel. Something interesting you can do is plug in whatever you want to test and the mod, on the screen, will calculate the resistance and the firing current for that cue. on the module screen it will give you a visual "check" for every cue on continuity and whether or not its a good connection. With the old FTH mods i've done 8 parallel match on 8 separate rails over 450' of cat5e cable with no issues using an external 24v battery. I've done 12 series wired matches on the new FTQ mods without issue. The biggest issue with series wiring (on any system) is if 1 match goes a bit faster than the rest none of the matches after that "quicker" match will fire.

Something I have found as a great tool is that small 4x16 mod. I carry it in my pocket with a short cat5 cable and check every rail after the match is plugged in. Only takes seconds and I know if there is a problem on that rail.

[hrbie22]

All great info. Thank you everyone for the explanations.