I want to send a 95/5 percent mix of 02 and propane down a tube underground
into gopher burrows. I will have a piezo sparker at the end of the tube
back a bit so it doesn't get plugged up with dirt. Perhaps inside a phallus
shaped protective head with many drilled holes. I'm thinking of something
flexible for the hose. Inside that, I have to run the two wires to the
piezo. I might be able to run one, and use the hose as a ground if it is
made of metal, like a smog sensor hose. Piezos on barbecues have one wire.

My question is: Is there wire that has coatings that are resistant to high
temperatures? I know there are lots of such wires in stoves, but most I
have seen look ratty from use. There would be a flash and explosion, but no
terribly high temperatures for a very long period of time, as all the oxygen
would be consumed in the explosion.

What would such wire be called, and where do I get some?

Thanks. My Gopher Getter is moving along now that I'm getting some of these
other projects out of the pipeline. I hope to be ready by gopher time in
spring.

Steve

On Dec 4, 11:54 pm, "SteveB" wrote:
I want to send a 95/5 percent mix of 02 and propane down a tube underground
into gopher burrows. I will have a piezo sparker at the end of the tube
back a bit so it doesn't get plugged up with dirt. Perhaps inside a phallus
shaped protective head with many drilled holes. I'm thinking of something
flexible for the hose. Inside that, I have to run the two wires to the
piezo. I might be able to run one, and use the hose as a ground if it is
made of metal, like a smog sensor hose. Piezos on barbecues have one wire.

My question is: Is there wire that has coatings that are resistant to high
temperatures? I know there are lots of such wires in stoves, but most I
have seen look ratty from use. There would be a flash and explosion, but no
terribly high temperatures for a very long period of time, as all the oxygen
would be consumed in the explosion.

What would such wire be called, and where do I get some?

Thanks. My Gopher Getter is moving along now that I'm getting some of these
other projects out of the pipeline. I hope to be ready by gopher time in
spring.

Steve

Try teflon coated wire. It should last a long time in this
situation. The peak temp will be much higher than the wire rating,
but it probably won't last long enough to damage the wire. Here is
one source: http://www.weicowire.com/wirecablecontents.htm
PS...better have a good flame arrestor/backflow preventer on the
supply tube to prevent a major backfire in the tube, regulator, tanks
etc. Propane/O2 burns with a nasty bang.

"SteveB" wrote in message
news
I want to send a 95/5 percent mix of 02 and propane down a tube
underground
into gopher burrows. I will have a piezo sparker at the end of the tube
back a bit so it doesn't get plugged up with dirt. Perhaps inside a
phallus
shaped protective head with many drilled holes. I'm thinking of something
flexible for the hose. Inside that, I have to run the two wires to the
piezo. I might be able to run one, and use the hose as a ground if it is
made of metal, like a smog sensor hose. Piezos on barbecues have one
wire.

My question is: Is there wire that has coatings that are resistant to
high
temperatures? I know there are lots of such wires in stoves, but most I
have seen look ratty from use. There would be a flash and explosion, but
no
terribly high temperatures for a very long period of time, as all the
oxygen
would be consumed in the explosion.

What would such wire be called, and where do I get some?

Thanks. My Gopher Getter is moving along now that I'm getting some of
these
other projects out of the pipeline. I hope to be ready by gopher time in
spring.

Steve



You can get high temperature wire at an appliance parts store, but I don't
see
why you would need it (it is kind of expensive...). While an oxy/propane
flame
is certainly hot enough to melt most kinds of insulation, the duration of
the
flame in your application is so brief that the wire shouldn't even get warm.
I would say that wire insulated with PVC (common) or, better yet, Teflon
(less common, used as hook-up wire in aerospace applications, readily
available from electronic surplus stores) would be more than adequate.

Jerry

"Jerry Foster" wrote in message
. net...

"SteveB" wrote in message
news
I want to send a 95/5 percent mix of 02 and propane down a tube
underground
into gopher burrows. I will have a piezo sparker at the end of the tube
back a bit so it doesn't get plugged up with dirt. Perhaps inside a
phallus
shaped protective head with many drilled holes. I'm thinking of
something
flexible for the hose. Inside that, I have to run the two wires to the
piezo. I might be able to run one, and use the hose as a ground if it is
made of metal, like a smog sensor hose. Piezos on barbecues have one
wire.

My question is: Is there wire that has coatings that are resistant to
high
temperatures? I know there are lots of such wires in stoves, but most I
have seen look ratty from use. There would be a flash and explosion, but
no
terribly high temperatures for a very long period of time, as all the
oxygen
would be consumed in the explosion.

What would such wire be called, and where do I get some?

Thanks. My Gopher Getter is moving along now that I'm getting some of
these
other projects out of the pipeline. I hope to be ready by gopher time in
spring.

Steve



You can get high temperature wire at an appliance parts store, but I don't
see
why you would need it (it is kind of expensive...). While an oxy/propane
flame
is certainly hot enough to melt most kinds of insulation, the duration of
the
flame in your application is so brief that the wire shouldn't even get
warm.
I would say that wire insulated with PVC (common) or, better yet, Teflon
(less common, used as hook-up wire in aerospace applications, readily
available from electronic surplus stores) would be more than adequate.

Jerry


Yep! I'd suggest some plain old THHN wire. Stranded, so it pulls easily.

Harold

Steve,
You might just consider automotive sparkplug wire, should be available
at auto parts store, by the foot. It's good for relatively high
temps, (not flame) but the insulation is very thick, so it should last
a relatively long time.
Second source is Omega temperature products. High temp thermocouple
wire will take the temp, but maybe not the high voltage.

Are you measuring your gas flows?
Dave




On Dec 4, 9:54 pm, "SteveB" wrote:
I want to send a 95/5 percent mix of 02 and propane down a tube underground
into gopher burrows. I will have a piezo sparker at the end of the tube
back a bit so it doesn't get plugged up with dirt. Perhaps inside a phallus
shaped protective head with many drilled holes. I'm thinking of something
flexible for the hose. Inside that, I have to run the two wires to the
piezo. I might be able to run one, and use the hose as a ground if it is
made of metal, like a smog sensor hose. Piezos on barbecues have one wire.

My question is: Is there wire that has coatings that are resistant to high
temperatures? I know there are lots of such wires in stoves, but most I
have seen look ratty from use. There would be a flash and explosion, but no
terribly high temperatures for a very long period of time, as all the oxygen
would be consumed in the explosion.

What would such wire be called, and where do I get some?

Thanks. My Gopher Getter is moving along now that I'm getting some of these
other projects out of the pipeline. I hope to be ready by gopher time in
spring.

Steve

"SteveB" wrote in message
news
I want to send a 95/5 percent mix of 02 and propane down a tube underground
into gopher burrows. I will have a piezo sparker at the end of the tube
back a bit so it doesn't get plugged up with dirt. Perhaps inside a
phallus shaped protective head with many drilled holes. I'm thinking of
something flexible for the hose. Inside that, I have to run the two wires
to the piezo. I might be able to run one, and use the hose as a ground if
it is made of metal, like a smog sensor hose. Piezos on barbecues have one
wire.

My question is: Is there wire that has coatings that are resistant to
high temperatures? I know there are lots of such wires in stoves, but
most I have seen look ratty from use. There would be a flash and
explosion, but no terribly high temperatures for a very long period of
time, as all the oxygen would be consumed in the explosion.

What would such wire be called, and where do I get some?

Thanks. My Gopher Getter is moving along now that I'm getting some of
these other projects out of the pipeline. I hope to be ready by gopher
time in spring.

Steve

I'm curious, Steve: How far does the gopher fly?

--
Ed Huntress

"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
...

"SteveB" wrote in message
news
I want to send a 95/5 percent mix of 02 and propane down a tube
underground into gopher burrows. I will have a piezo sparker at the end
of the tube back a bit so it doesn't get plugged up with dirt. Perhaps
inside a phallus shaped protective head with many drilled holes. I'm
thinking of something flexible for the hose. Inside that, I have to run
the two wires to the piezo. I might be able to run one, and use the hose
as a ground if it is made of metal, like a smog sensor hose. Piezos on
barbecues have one wire.

My question is: Is there wire that has coatings that are resistant to
high temperatures? I know there are lots of such wires in stoves, but
most I have seen look ratty from use. There would be a flash and
explosion, but no terribly high temperatures for a very long period of
time, as all the oxygen would be consumed in the explosion.

What would such wire be called, and where do I get some?

Thanks. My Gopher Getter is moving along now that I'm getting some of
these other projects out of the pipeline. I hope to be ready by gopher
time in spring.

Steve

I'm curious, Steve: How far does the gopher fly?

--
Ed Huntress

\You Gotta You-Tube it!! Please Scrap aircraft wire is all PTFE (Teflon) It
will do the job but as mentioned you might be fine without it. Sounds like
a fun project!!!

Rob

"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
...


I'm curious, Steve: How far does the gopher fly?

--
Ed Huntress


Videos of a commercially available unit in operation he

http://www.gophernator.com/home and
http://www.rodexindustries.com/

"BillM" wrote in message
news:COx5j.3901$QS.2668@trndny03...

"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
...


I'm curious, Steve: How far does the gopher fly?

--
Ed Huntress


Videos of a commercially available unit in operation he

http://www.gophernator.com/home and http://www.rodexindustries.com/

HA-HA-hoho!... Oh jeez, that first one is funny. Those guys have a perverse
sense of humor. They must have put some money into that video.

--
Ed Huntress

In article ,
"SteveB" wrote:

Inside that, I have to run the two wires to the
piezo. I might be able to run one, and use the hose as a ground if it is
made of metal, like a smog sensor hose. Piezos

Instead of Piezo a short length of cannon fuse works great

Free men own guns - www(dot)geocities(dot)com/CapitolHill/5357/

I don't know what a "McGiver type" would do, but I can give you a tested
"Larry Moe and Curly" method.
From the uphill-most hole, feed in an oxy-acetylene mix. After a while, put
away the torch, and using a slingshot, fire balls of burning masking tape at
the hole from about 30 feet or more depending on skill level. In the spring
you can fill in all the trenches.

A local service uses small gas engines mounted on frames with an exhaust tip
below base level to kill gophers. The exhaust tip is placed in a hole, and
they use 6 or so engines. By the time they run out of fuel, the varmints are
all Auschwitzed. A friend did the same using his old Jeep and a piece of
flexible metal tubing. He let it idle for 3 hours, and no more gophers.
--
Stupendous Man,
Defender of Freedom, Advocate of Liberty

nick hull wrote:

Instead of Piezo a short length of cannon fuse works great

IIRC, the feds limited how much of that you can buy now.

Wes

In article , Wes
wrote:

nick hull wrote:

Instead of Piezo a short length of cannon fuse works great

IIRC, the feds limited how much of that you can buy now.

The limit must be more than the 300' rolls I usually buy

Free men own guns - www(dot)geocities(dot)com/CapitolHill/5357/

nick hull wrote:

In article , Wes
wrote:

nick hull wrote:

Instead of Piezo a short length of cannon fuse works great

IIRC, the feds limited how much of that you can buy now.

The limit must be more than the 300' rolls I usually buy

Free men own guns - www(dot)geocities(dot)com/CapitolHill/5357/


http://www.firefox-fx.com/

I guess I was a bit wrong. The above company has an injuction against them
and is operating under a court order. If they lose, the CPSC, will shut
down hobby pyrotecnics.

http://www.cannonfuse.com/store/pc/v...t.asp?idpage=1

Wes

On Dec 4, 11:54 pm, "SteveB" wrote:
I want to send a 95/5 percent mix of 02 and propane down a tube underground
into gopher burrows. I will have a piezo sparker at the end of the tube
back a bit so it doesn't get plugged up with dirt. Perhaps inside a phallus
shaped protective head with many drilled holes. I'm thinking of something
flexible for the hose. Inside that, I have to run the two wires to the
piezo. I might be able to run one, and use the hose as a ground if it is
made of metal, like a smog sensor hose. Piezos on barbecues have one wire.

My question is: Is there wire that has coatings that are resistant to high
temperatures? I know there are lots of such wires in stoves, but most I
have seen look ratty from use. There would be a flash and explosion, but no
terribly high temperatures for a very long period of time, as all the oxygen
would be consumed in the explosion.

What would such wire be called, and where do I get some?

Thanks. My Gopher Getter is moving along now that I'm getting some of these
other projects out of the pipeline. I hope to be ready by gopher time in
spring.

Steve


Most piezo strikers actually have a small tab of metal that grounds
right at the button, where it mounts to the BBQ frame, giving you the
'ground' lead.


Dave

On Dec 5, 4:54 am, "SteveB" wrote:

My question is: Is there wire that has coatings that are resistant to high
temperatures?
Steve

I would use ceramic insulators. A McGiver would rip a baseboard
heater off the wall and use the insulators in it.


Dan

On Wed, 5 Dec 2007 10:38:10 -0800 (PST), " wrote:
On Dec 5, 4:54 am, "SteveB" wrote:

My question is: Is there wire that has coatings that are resistant to high
temperatures?

I would use ceramic insulators. A McGiver would rip a baseboard
heater off the wall and use the insulators in it.

Sorry, only really old baseboard heaters will have open elements on
ceramic stand-offs, since they are not safe AT ALL with small children
around. A little metallic tinsel or liquids in the wrong place...

All the ones I've seen have a calrod enclosed element.

And you don't want sparkplug lead wire unless it's solid core - the
Radio Resistor wire is a carbon impregnated fiberglass core and won't
handle the current.

They sell 14AWG and 16AWG stranded copper 10KV and higher rated
silicone insulated wire for neon sign installations. Should handle
the spark igniter duties just fine - you can use the tubing for the
ground return or run two leads.

And if you have the neon sign transformer that's more better - nice
hot and fat continuous spark to light it off right.

-- Bruce --

On Dec 6, 6:05 am, Bruce L. Bergman
wrote:


I would use ceramic insulators. A McGiver would rip a baseboard
heater off the wall and use the insulators in it.

Sorry, only really old baseboard heaters will have open elements on
ceramic stand-offs, since they are not safe AT ALL with small children
around. A little metallic tinsel or liquids in the wrong place...

All the ones I've seen have a calrod enclosed element.

-- Bruce --

The ones I have torn apart have ceramic tubes about 5 inches long with
two holes. The coiled heating wire goes thru the two holes. The
ceramic tubes are inside a aluminum finned tube. So no open elements.

Dan

On Wed, 05 Dec 2007 22:05:30 -0800, Bruce L. Bergman
wrote:


And you don't want sparkplug lead wire unless it's solid core - the
Radio Resistor wire is a carbon impregnated fiberglass core and won't
handle the current.

Seems to work OK for sparkplugs! I agree that solid core might be
better.

They sell 14AWG and 16AWG stranded copper 10KV and higher rated
silicone insulated wire for neon sign installations. Should handle
the spark igniter duties just fine - you can use the tubing for the
ground return or run two leads.

And if you have the neon sign transformer that's more better - nice
hot and fat continuous spark to light it off right.

SteveB may not want to be hauling an extension cord or genset on his
gopherzapping rounds.

Rather than a piezio, why not just a spark plug? Either a coil and
battery or a lawn mower magneto would make it go boom, and every junk yard
around has tons of them.

One wire mounted inside a grounded tube, or two wires running to the spark
plug you set into the hole before you pump in the gas.

--
Roger Shoaf
If you are not part of the solution, you are not dissolved in the solvent.

"SteveB" wrote in message
news
I want to send a 95/5 percent mix of 02 and propane down a tube
underground
into gopher burrows. I will have a piezo sparker at the end of the tube
back a bit so it doesn't get plugged up with dirt. Perhaps inside a
phallus
shaped protective head with many drilled holes. I'm thinking of something
flexible for the hose. Inside that, I have to run the two wires to the
piezo. I might be able to run one, and use the hose as a ground if it is
made of metal, like a smog sensor hose. Piezos on barbecues have one
wire.

My question is: Is there wire that has coatings that are resistant to
high
temperatures? I know there are lots of such wires in stoves, but most I
have seen look ratty from use. There would be a flash and explosion, but
no
terribly high temperatures for a very long period of time, as all the
oxygen
would be consumed in the explosion.

What would such wire be called, and where do I get some?

Thanks. My Gopher Getter is moving along now that I'm getting some of
these
other projects out of the pipeline. I hope to be ready by gopher time in
spring.

Steve

On Tue, 4 Dec 2007 20:54:19 -0800, "SteveB"
wrote:

I want to send a 95/5 percent mix of 02 and propane down a tube underground
into gopher burrows. I will have a piezo sparker at the end of the tube
back a bit so it doesn't get plugged up with dirt. Perhaps inside a phallus
shaped protective head with many drilled holes. I'm thinking of something
flexible for the hose. Inside that, I have to run the two wires to the
piezo. I might be able to run one, and use the hose as a ground if it is
made of metal, like a smog sensor hose. Piezos on barbecues have one wire.

My question is: Is there wire that has coatings that are resistant to high
temperatures? I know there are lots of such wires in stoves, but most I
have seen look ratty from use. There would be a flash and explosion, but no
terribly high temperatures for a very long period of time, as all the oxygen
would be consumed in the explosion.

What would such wire be called, and where do I get some?

Thanks. My Gopher Getter is moving along now that I'm getting some of these
other projects out of the pipeline. I hope to be ready by gopher time in
spring.

Steve

I'd put a flame suppressor near the bottom. A Davy miner's lamp uses
wire gauze, you might need something more substantial like a steel
disc with a lot of small holes drilled in it. Flame won't propagate
past such a structure, and it'll also attenuate a pressure pulse.
Keeping the boom out of your tube might be a good thing.

I'd then use a ceramic insulator with a thru electrode to introduce
spark on the other side of the flame suppressor. McGiver solution: a
sparkplug.

There are also kanthal rods with ceramic insulators used as spark
furnace ignitors. Check with an HVAC supply place. Honeywell and
others make them. They have considerably longer electrodes than a
sparkplug.

I hate moles. I've tried CO, a variety of explosives, traps, water,
and even country westerm music.

One Saturday afternoon I noticed mole acivity around my daughter's
above ground pool where the water splashes out, attracts worms, and
thence attracts moles who feed on the worms. My daughter's friends
suggested blasting them out with heavy metal music (metal content).
These are urban moles so I thought country/western music might be more
effective.

I excavated to a plenum/manifold feeding several runs and installed a
speaker mounted in a small cardboard box which I then burried and fed
with one channel from a boom box. Tuned it to a local 24 hour C/W
station, turned the volume to max and was able to hear the music
through out the network of runs. Over the next 24 hours I first
observed that they were sequentially plugging passages so I could no
longer hear the music on various runs. The next day I found the
speaker above ground, packed with dirt, still playing, and the hole
where it had been was recovered with earth. All in all, an
entertaining activity leading to no success. I watched the swimming
pool floor receed into the caved in mole runs.

More recently, at a new home with a perfect lawn and surrounded by an
old second-rowth douglas fir forest -- I renewed my efforts using
traps exclusively. This is very labor intensive and does almost as
much damage to the lawn as the moles themselves. After 3-years,and
perhaps a dozen moles in the trap, I gave to remainder the cratered
and channeled lawn to the moles.

Quite by accident, I susequently discovered that if you only water the
lawn enough to keep it alive, instead of lush, you do not bring a lot
of worms to the surface, and the near infinite supply of moles living
in the forest take little interest in the lawn.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

J Hanson

"JHanson" wrote in message
...
I hate moles. I've tried CO, a variety of explosives, traps, water,
and even country westerm music.

One Saturday afternoon I noticed mole acivity around my daughter's
above ground pool where the water splashes out, attracts worms, and
thence attracts moles who feed on the worms. My daughter's friends
suggested blasting them out with heavy metal music (metal content).
These are urban moles so I thought country/western music might be more
effective.

I excavated to a plenum/manifold feeding several runs and installed a
speaker mounted in a small cardboard box which I then burried and fed
with one channel from a boom box. Tuned it to a local 24 hour C/W
station, turned the volume to max and was able to hear the music
through out the network of runs. Over the next 24 hours I first
observed that they were sequentially plugging passages so I could no
longer hear the music on various runs. The next day I found the
speaker above ground, packed with dirt, still playing, and the hole
where it had been was recovered with earth. All in all, an
entertaining activity leading to no success. I watched the swimming
pool floor receed into the caved in mole runs.

More recently, at a new home with a perfect lawn and surrounded by an
old second-rowth douglas fir forest -- I renewed my efforts using
traps exclusively. This is very labor intensive and does almost as
much damage to the lawn as the moles themselves. After 3-years,and
perhaps a dozen moles in the trap, I gave to remainder the cratered
and channeled lawn to the moles.

Quite by accident, I susequently discovered that if you only water the
lawn enough to keep it alive, instead of lush, you do not bring a lot
of worms to the surface, and the near infinite supply of moles living
in the forest take little interest in the lawn.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

J Hanson


What's frightening is that country music failed to work. That stinking
stuff is lethal as far as I'm concerned. A sure sign that moles can't be
eradicated. :-)

Harold

On Thu, 06 Dec 2007 00:52:55 GMT, "Harold and Susan Vordos"
wrote:



What's frightening is that country music failed to work. That stinking
stuff is lethal as far as I'm concerned. A sure sign that moles can't be
eradicated. :-)

Harold

For "pest erradication" around convenience stores they have found
Bach, Beethoven, Mendelson, and Brahms work pretty effectively.

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

clare at snyder.on.ca wrote in message
...
On Thu, 06 Dec 2007 00:52:55 GMT, "Harold and Susan Vordos"
wrote:



What's frightening is that country music failed to work. That stinking
stuff is lethal as far as I'm concerned. A sure sign that moles can't be
eradicated. :-)

Harold

For "pest erradication" around convenience stores they have found
Bach, Beethoven, Mendelson, and Brahms work pretty effectively.

Chuckle!

Yeah, but they're dealing with a totally different brand of vermin.

Harold

On Thu, 06 Dec 2007 00:52:55 GMT, "Harold and Susan Vordos"
wrote:


"JHanson" wrote in message
...
I hate moles. I've tried CO, a variety of explosives, traps, water,
and even country westerm music.

One Saturday afternoon I noticed mole acivity around my daughter's
above ground pool where the water splashes out, attracts worms, and
thence attracts moles who feed on the worms. My daughter's friends
suggested blasting them out with heavy metal music (metal content).
These are urban moles so I thought country/western music might be more
effective.

I excavated to a plenum/manifold feeding several runs and installed a
speaker mounted in a small cardboard box which I then burried and fed
with one channel from a boom box. Tuned it to a local 24 hour C/W
station, turned the volume to max and was able to hear the music
through out the network of runs. Over the next 24 hours I first
observed that they were sequentially plugging passages so I could no
longer hear the music on various runs. The next day I found the
speaker above ground, packed with dirt, still playing, and the hole
where it had been was recovered with earth. All in all, an
entertaining activity leading to no success. I watched the swimming
pool floor receed into the caved in mole runs.

More recently, at a new home with a perfect lawn and surrounded by an
old second-rowth douglas fir forest -- I renewed my efforts using
traps exclusively. This is very labor intensive and does almost as
much damage to the lawn as the moles themselves. After 3-years,and
perhaps a dozen moles in the trap, I gave to remainder the cratered
and channeled lawn to the moles.

Quite by accident, I susequently discovered that if you only water the
lawn enough to keep it alive, instead of lush, you do not bring a lot
of worms to the surface, and the near infinite supply of moles living
in the forest take little interest in the lawn.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

J Hanson


What's frightening is that country music failed to work. That stinking
stuff is lethal as far as I'm concerned. A sure sign that moles can't be
eradicated. :-)

Harold


If it aint country..it aint ****.

Gunner, who has poured ammonia and clorine bleach quickly mixed
outdoors and from upwind, into mole and gopher holes, then gently
spread through the tunnels, with a vaccum cleaner set to blow, to some
sucess.

"Gunner" wrote in message
...
snip---

If it aint country..it aint ****.

True, if you include rap. :-)

I'll take that nasty old jazz or classical anytime. Especially the
baroque.

Harold

On Dec 4, 11:54 pm, "SteveB" wrote:
I want to send a 95/5 percent mix of 02 and propane down a tube underground
into gopher burrows. I will have a piezo sparker at the end of the tube
back a bit so it doesn't get plugged up with dirt. Perhaps inside a phallus
shaped protective head with many drilled holes. I'm thinking of something
flexible for the hose. Inside that, I have to run the two wires to the
piezo. I might be able to run one, and use the hose as a ground if it is
made of metal, like a smog sensor hose. Piezos on barbecues have one wire.

My question is: Is there wire that has coatings that are resistant to high
temperatures? I know there are lots of such wires in stoves, but most I
have seen look ratty from use. There would be a flash and explosion, but no
terribly high temperatures for a very long period of time, as all the oxygen
would be consumed in the explosion.

What would such wire be called, and where do I get some?

Thanks. My Gopher Getter is moving along now that I'm getting some of these
other projects out of the pipeline. I hope to be ready by gopher time in
spring.

Steve

Why not just use acetylene, (wide explosive range), and forget the
oxygen mix.
Just inject, let it diffuse for a while and ignite.

SteveB wrote:

What would such wire be called, and where do I get some?

If you have a buddy who installs fire alarm equipment
he should be able to get you some scrap fire rated wire
like 18/2 FPLR. That's 18 gauge, two conductors in a
jacket that is rated to resist burning. FPLR stands for
Fire Protection Low-voltage Riser and will burn up before
its tougher cousin FPLP (plenum rated).

technomaNge
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On Tue, 4 Dec 2007 20:54:19 -0800, "SteveB"
wrote:

I want to send a 95/5 percent mix of 02 and propane down a tube underground
into gopher burrows. I will have a piezo sparker at the end of the tube
back a bit so it doesn't get plugged up with dirt. Perhaps inside a phallus
shaped protective head with many drilled holes. I'm thinking of something
flexible for the hose. Inside that, I have to run the two wires to the
piezo. I might be able to run one, and use the hose as a ground if it is
made of metal, like a smog sensor hose. Piezos on barbecues have one wire.

My question is: Is there wire that has coatings that are resistant to high
temperatures? I know there are lots of such wires in stoves, but most I
have seen look ratty from use. There would be a flash and explosion, but no
terribly high temperatures for a very long period of time, as all the oxygen
would be consumed in the explosion.

What would such wire be called, and where do I get some?

Thanks. My Gopher Getter is moving along now that I'm getting some of these
other projects out of the pipeline. I hope to be ready by gopher time in
spring.

Steve

I continue to wonder if a piezo sparker will work satisfactorily here.
The Rodenator used or uses somewhat higher energy ignition. It uses or
used 1 or 2 nine-volt batteries, may be more akin to a stun gun than
to a piezo sparker. Piezo produces a rather feeble spark that may
not like even 3 feet of wire between it and the spark gap, and your
lean 95-5 mix may require considerably more energy to ignite than the
near-stoichiometric mix found in a gas burner.

A McGiver solution might be to rig a firing pin setup that uses small
pistol primers. At about 2.5 cents per pop, the cost would be
considerably less than that of the oxygen going down the hole. A bit
of dirt might screw up a spark gap, while primer ignition would tend
to be self-cleaning.

In article ,
Don Foreman wrote:

A McGiver solution might be to rig a firing pin setup that uses small
pistol primers. At about 2.5 cents per pop, the cost would be
considerably less than that of the oxygen going down the hole. A bit
of dirt might screw up a spark gap, while primer ignition would tend
to be self-cleaning.

Another solution would be a rocket igniter, easily made by putting a
thin wire over a match head. The current heats the match head to
ignition and the flare up lights the gas (or rocket engine). They are
available commercially in hobby stores.

Free men own guns - www(dot)geocities(dot)com/CapitolHill/5357/

On Thu, 06 Dec 2007 16:07:42 -0600, nick hull wrote:

In article ,
Don Foreman wrote:

A McGiver solution might be to rig a firing pin setup that uses small
pistol primers. At about 2.5 cents per pop, the cost would be
considerably less than that of the oxygen going down the hole. A bit
of dirt might screw up a spark gap, while primer ignition would tend
to be self-cleaning.

Another solution would be a rocket igniter, easily made by putting a
thin wire over a match head. The current heats the match head to
ignition and the flare up lights the gas (or rocket engine). They are
available commercially in hobby stores.

Easy to make if one has time. I've made lots of them with kitchen
matches, strands from lampcord wire and dabs of clear nail polish.
I'll bet the squibs at hobby stores are a bit more than 2.5 cents a
pop.

"nick hull" wrote in message
.. .
In article ,
Don Foreman wrote:

A McGiver solution might be to rig a firing pin setup that uses small
pistol primers. At about 2.5 cents per pop, the cost would be
considerably less than that of the oxygen going down the hole. A bit
of dirt might screw up a spark gap, while primer ignition would tend
to be self-cleaning.

Another solution would be a rocket igniter, easily made by putting a
thin wire over a match head. The current heats the match head to
ignition and the flare up lights the gas (or rocket engine). They are
available commercially in hobby stores.

Free men own guns - www(dot)geocities(dot)com/CapitolHill/5357/


As a kid, I'd use a single strand of copper wire and a low voltage high
amperage source ( I used to use an old tube type power supply from a radio,
but a 6 or 12 volt battery (think auto or garden tractor) would serve very
well). I'd pluck the single strand from something like appliance cord, then
hook it to heavier wire. No need for anything more, although a match head
would certainly provide insurance of ignition.

The single strand will glow red and burn in half, much like a fuse. I used
to fire home made cannon that way, using home made black powder. Worked
every time.

Harold

On 2007-12-07, Harold and Susan Vordos wrote:

[ ... ]

As a kid, I'd use a single strand of copper wire and a low voltage high
amperage source ( I used to use an old tube type power supply from a radio,
but a 6 or 12 volt battery (think auto or garden tractor) would serve very
well). I'd pluck the single strand from something like appliance cord, then
hook it to heavier wire. No need for anything more, although a match head
would certainly provide insurance of ignition.

The single strand will glow red and burn in half, much like a fuse. I used
to fire home made cannon that way, using home made black powder. Worked
every time.

When I wanted to set something off remotely, I would take some
Jetex solid fuel rocket motor fuse (which had a single-strand copper
wire core) double it, strip the ends and connect to heavier gauge wires
to run to where I was going to fire it. I used a once per second cam
switch, a countdown Veeder-Root style counter which closed a switch at
all 0's, and a Lionel electric train transformer. Throw a switch (which
kept the feed to the fuse shorted for safety until I was ready to fire),
push a button, and watch it count down to 0000 and then fire whatever it
was that I was lighting.

Of course, that was years ago, and in a different state. :-)

Enjoy,
DoN.

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On Dec 7, 3:36 am, "Harold and Susan Vordos" wrote:
"nick hull" wrote in message

.. .

In article ,
Don Foreman wrote:

A McGiver solution might be to rig a firing pin setup that uses small
pistol primers. At about 2.5 cents per pop, the cost would be
considerably less than that of the oxygen going down the hole. A bit
of dirt might screw up a spark gap, while primer ignition would tend
to be self-cleaning.

Another solution would be a rocket igniter, easily made by putting a
thin wire over a match head. The current heats the match head to
ignition and the flare up lights the gas (or rocket engine). They are
available commercially in hobby stores.

Free men own guns - www(dot)geocities(dot)com/CapitolHill/5357/

As a kid, I'd use a single strand of copper wire and a low voltage high
amperage source ( I used to use an old tube type power supply from a radio,
but a 6 or 12 volt battery (think auto or garden tractor) would serve very
well). I'd pluck the single strand from something like appliance cord, then
hook it to heavier wire. No need for anything more, although a match head
would certainly provide insurance of ignition.

The single strand will glow red and burn in half, much like a fuse. I used
to fire home made cannon that way, using home made black powder. Worked
every time.

Harold

I did this with a 110V feed (and 3 strands) to give an absolute
guaranteed ignition to my 30-gal trashbag acetylene bombs.

Blobs of molten copper shooting about tend to get things moving quite
well.

I imagine a tractor or motorcycle battery would have enough current to
do much the same.



Dave