Poking 200g cakes

[nickr]

Hey guys, shooting off my first real firework show for the fam for the 4th. Spent the last year researching and purchasing all my goodies. Just a quick question though. Ive seen people poke 500g cakes and run a fuse from the last tube to the first tube on the next cake however i havent seen anyone doing this on the smaller 200g cakes. I have a remote firing system but wanna break my 15-20 min show into 4 sets and use 1 cue to fire off each set then daisy chain the cakes together so that they run continuously and i dont have to worry about firing so many cues and can sit back and enjoy with family as well. Are you guys poking the smaller cakes to daisy chain like the larger cakes?? Thanks guys

[jamisonlm3]

I don't see any reason why you couldn't. I think I would break it up into smaller pieces to fill all your cues. To me, using only 4 cues seems like putting all your eggs into one basket. If something doesn't go, there goes a quarter of your show.

[nickr]

I don't see any reason why you couldn't. I think I would break it up into smaller pieces to fill all your cues. To me, using only 4 cues seems like putting all your eggs into one basket. If something doesn't go, there goes a quarter of your show.

So how many cakes would you suggest daisy chaining. Maybe 3-4 then using another cue and doing the same? So like 2-3 minutes worth of cakes then add another cue?

[joed2323]

Use all 18 cues. What is the point of spending money on your cobra firing system just to only use 4 cues??

You will have far greater control using all 18 cues.

With the cobra, fusing up your whole show like you use to do in the past is now history. Trust the cobra and use it.

Otherwise what was the point with you spending the money on cobra just to only fire 4 cues off of a 18 cue mod? You could have just picked up some cheapo Chinese firing system to do what you suggested on doing

[joed2323]

Use all 18 cues. What is the point of spending money on your cobra firing system just to only use 4 cues??

You will have far greater control using all 18 cues.

With the cobra, fusing up your whole show like you use to do in the past is now history. Trust the cobra and use it.

Otherwise what was the point with you spending the money on cobra just to only fire 4 cues off of a 18 cue mod? You could have just picked up some cheapo Chinese firing system to do what you suggested on doing

I guess I just assumed you are using a cobra, if you are not then disregard what I said about having 18 cues available per module

Now 200g cakes, yes some tubes are smaller then 500g cakes but I poke 200 cakes all the time. Smaller zipper cakes are the most difficult to poke, say night vision by brothers, you just need to be more careful when poking smaller tube cakes, it's a 200g but it is still easy enough to do just a tad more difficult then a bigger 9 shot cake. No reason why you can not poke the last tube from any 200g cake and run quick fuse into your next cake in your firing.
order. Best advise I can give you is when you are slicing the outer plastic card board back to find exactly where your fuse goes into the tube (or even the last tube on that cake) just be careful and cautious to not slice the fuse going into the previous tube (especially important when fusing(matching) into the first tube on cake. Real easy to cut thats fuse that runs into the next tube in half and then when you go to fire that cake, only the first tube fires because the fuse was cut by accident with your razor knife. Believe i know because I've done it. Luckily I noticed I sliced the fuse in half when I was matching that cake, it's a easy fix with just running some quick fuse along the fuse that was accidentally sliced in half.

No issues whatsoever doing this. Alot can be accomplished with too few cues at our disposal. I remember the days of a ton of scab wiring trying to maximize my cue count.

Hopefully this helps you a little bit

[jamisonlm3]

So how many cakes would you suggest daisy chaining. Maybe 3-4 then using another cue and doing the same? So like 2-3 minutes worth of cakes then add another cue?That's probably what I would most likely do. You could also do what you originally planned, but have have backup igniters the same way. Meaning, you fuse daisy chain the show for just 4 cues, but in each of the 4 sets, you add an igniters between every 3-4 cakes like you suggested. That will give you some redundancy too. BTW, what kind of firing system do you have and how positions are you thinking of having stuff set up in?

[nickr]

Not using Cobra. Just starting out I didnt wanna invest that much money yet. The system I bought uses the yellow box to remote hit the cues and the cues are of the chinese variety. I know, a cheap system however Ive seen alot of good backyard shows with this setup. I have a total of 36 cues though. Just seems like daisy chaining 2-3 cakes together then using a cue to fire those would be a tad more simple than hooking all 36 cues up. I plan on setting out 5 large plywood boards. 2 side by side about 50ft apart then behind those 2 more side by side then my finale board in the center behind those. I figure if I can daisy chain about 3 minutes worth of show together then I can use about 8 cues and that would allow me to enjoy most of the show as well.

[joed2323]

Placing fireworks per cue is way easier them running fuse and timing out each length of fuse you use. If you have 32 cues that is quite a bit of cues

It's up to you, your the one doing the work. You would have far greater control using your system and pressing buttons versus igniting cakes from other cakes and so on and so on

If you never used this many cues before, I suggest you atleast try it. It will give you a feel for how to step fire a show electronically.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Seems to me it would be a lot easier (if you don't want to use all the cues you have) to just do long runs of visco between the cakes and zip-tie it to the fuse on the cakes. Light one and watch it go. Then light the next one. Rinse and repeat.

Poking and fusing each cake, cake to cake to cake to cake... OMG... That's tiring just thinking about it.

[Kooooou]

Seems to me it would be a lot easier (if you don't want to use all the cues you have) to just do long runs of visco between the cakes and zip-tie it to the fuse on the cakes. Light one and watch it go. Then light the next one. Rinse and repeat.

Poking and fusing each cake, cake to cake to cake to cake... OMG... That's tiring just thinking about it.
I agree, this is what I do every year. I only have 24 queues, and 200-300 cakes to fire each show so I run a long fuse per queue and plan the sequences in Excel. It helps to know how long each cake runs (google/youtube), and it helps to have different speed fuses too. Each cake gets zip-tied twice to the main visco fuse. You can't really sync to music this way, but it should be a lot easier than poking and fusing directly into each cake.

[Mattp]

yes,, id have to agree with the later..poking last tube to first tube is alot of work.. if you know how long each cake will fire for..then you can use the correct size/speed fuse to have them go off one after another.. it wont be as exact but can get it pretty damn close... and with how much less work it is...in my opinion, well worth it!!!

[joed2323]

Poking cakes is not too complicated or time consuming if you know what your doing. I would say the first 10 or so cakes might take some time, but once you get in a groove you can go to town.
Here is a video that might be helpful for you https://youtu.be/NSR1W5OTJAg

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Poking cakes is not too complicated or time consuming if you know what your doing.

Lol... I'm trying not to be offended by that. I just spent 2 weeks poking and fusing 45 cases of effects. Trust me when I tell you. It's time consuming! And I know what I'm doing. The guy posting here wants to poke each of his cakes twice!

No thanks. Doesn't make sense to me. String lines of visco to tie them together and be done with it.

[nickr]

Thanks everyone for all the help. If I decide to run a long fuse per cue an try an time it that way if I wrap the fuse in painters tape will it pretty much conceal the spark? I dont want to just have open fuse burning everywhere the whole time. I think I may honestly try a little of all your ideas this year. I know you guys that have poked say its alot of work but I kinda enjoy the art of chaining things together like this. Sounds funny I know.......im a weirdo. But all you guys had good ideas so I may try a little of both ways. But again....when I run the long visco if I do wrap the fuse in a masking tape will it keep majority of flame inside tape or still be showering sparks all over the ground?

[jamisonlm3]

It's not so much that it will contain the fire and sparks of the fuse, but it will help protect other fuses nearby from accidentally being ignited. If you were going to glue your cakes to osb or plywood sheets, you can also use the tape to fix the fuse in place. Besides masking tape, duct, aluminum and uhaul kraft paper tape seem to be the most used.

[Kenny East]

Careful with wrapping the visco fuse in tape will change it's burn rate... I have poked and fused cakes together and it was a pain. I now run length of visco and ziptie it to individual cakes, usually over lap by a shot or two to prevent dark/blank skys.

4039

[BeerGuyEd]

Thanks to the info in this thread I discovered that not only do people poke last tubes, and fuse to the next cake but how to do just that. This was new info to me and using the info in the thread is going to make my finale better than I originally planned. Thank you all for sharing info.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

That's great to hear Ed!! There are some really neat people on here with tons of experience, great ideas, and they're always willing to help. PyroJoeNEPA spec'd out a sound system for me that launched me into pyro musicals. He even mailed me a part that I was missing and wouldn't accept any form of payment in return! PyroDan just loaned out racks of mortar tubes to someone he likely never met, but will now have another pyro friend for life as a result.

These are just two examples of why I love this hobby and this forum. This is how people should work together so everyone is safe and happy.

Okay... I'll shut up now. :cool:

[PyroGyro]

yes,, id have to agree with the later..poking last tube to first tube is alot of work.. if you know how long each cake will fire for..then you can use the correct size/speed fuse to have them go off one after another.. it wont be as exact but can get it pretty damn close... and with how much less work it is...in my opinion, well worth it!!!

Yep, this is what I do. I know the timing of each cake and then measure the length of fuse needed for the next cake to go off at the right time. I also factor in 5 seconds for the next cake's fuse to burn as well and subtract that from the time of my fuse to that cake. I know it's not an exact science but it's close enough.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Yep, this is what I do. I know the timing of each cake and then measure the length of fuse needed for the next cake to go off at the right time. I also factor in 5 seconds for the next cake's fuse to burn as well and subtract that from the time of my fuse to that cake. I know it's not an exact science but it's close enough.

lol... That brings back a lot of very painful memories! Before I got my Cobra I was literally on my knees measuring visco and calculating burn rates so I had EXACTLY the right amount of fuse between each cake. It was quite a painful thing both in time and my knees and back. Glad those days are over!!

[PYRODAN]

lol... That brings back a lot of very painful memories! Before I got my Cobra I was literally on my knees measuring visco and calculating burn rates so I had EXACTLY the right amount of fuse between each cake. It was quite a painful thing both in time and my knees and back. Glad those days are over!!

AMEN BROTHER! I did a lot of "one fuse" shows. And you can do a really nice job also. That being said. I am so glad I bought my Cobra system. It just opens up so many possibilities! The only fuse I use now is on my racks. Hell, I wish they would put an e-match port on consumer cakes, that would save a lot of work. (Hats off to Dave for putting a match port on his willow cake!) I can't imagine going back now.

[BeerGuyEd]

4217

This is what I did for my chaining. I attached some quick fuse from the last tube to the fuse of the next tube. The quick fuse goes almost all the way to the first tube of the second cake. I wanted a small pause before the second one starts. In testing I did quick fuse the whole way and you couldn't really tell when the first one ended and the second one began.