First time E firing questions

[BeerGuyEd]

I have a 36 cue system that I bought off of Ebay and firewire igniters that I will be using for the first time on the 4th. My current plan is to have a couple of cake boards for each of my mods (I have 3 mods total).

1. I plan on poking the cakes and inserting the igniter into the lift charge. In an attempt to save time on the 4th I was planning to do this before hand and tape the match into the cake. The shoot site is about a block and a half away and the boards would have to be loaded into a vehicle for the drive over. Should I be worried about an accidental ignition?

2. My system has a test setting for each cue. Do people test the igniters before inserting them into the cake, or are they assumed to be good to go. I plan on using the test mode on the 4th anyway so I may be over thinking this all, but my system isn't a Cobra that will tell me something doesn't have continuity.

Anything other advice for a new efire user?

Thanks,

Ed

[Jay_]

1. I think most of us poke our cakes weeks...even months before the show. Just keep the wires crossed on the ends and leave the coating on them. FWIW I have some from last year that I didn?t use that have been poked for over a year. Just use caution and common sense when handling them.

2. Most important think when wiring them to cues is to make sure that the wires are NOT crossed. If they are, they will not fire. The test function is to test continuity. On the Chinese modules, the lights will be dim if you do not have continuity. When you have continuity, they will be a very bright red.

I use the butterfly method of wrapping my wires when connecting to my cues. It?s not just to make it look “professional”it?s vital to keeping your wires out of each other’s way.

[Jay_]

Also, just because many of us have cobra systems don’t discount your Chinese system. They are damn good for the price. I have a semi big Chinese system the I use as a compliment to my cobra. If you aren’t shooting to music, they are the way to go in my opinion. It’s a million times better than fuse.

[cptnding]

Ed, many will say transporting matched product is a big no go. That is a very short distance and I personally would not be worried. Just know the risks you are taking and handle the product accordingly. Once it's matched, it's kind of like a loaded gun with the hammer cocked and the safety on. A 500g 9 or 12 shot cake would probably break your arm if it accidentally fired while you were reaching over it. I wouldn't want to think about what it would do to your face. There's no way to avoid reaching over the items when you are moving them but boards help a lot. Firewire is proven to be less sensitive than Chinese ematch but it's also proven that it can be ignited by friction or static. It's very rare but possible.
If you're concerned about transporting it matched you could go ahead and poke the lift ahead of time, place a piece of masking tape over the hole, and insert the match on site.
No need to test the matches ahead of time. Test at set up as you planned. When you do test make sure everyone is clear of the tubes. Test current can set one off. Again, rare but it happens.
Split your lead wires apart and fold the bare wires in half when you put them into the terminals on your module. This increases the contact with the terminals and shortens the amount of exposed wire. If any bare wire touches another they will not fire the match. Dead short.
If you haven't already, you should get out your system and wire up a few cues with just the match. Test continuity ect . Pop a few matches for fun as an excuse to make sure everything works. Put the mods out in your yard, back way up and try it out. Fun stuff.
Like Jay said above. Those Chinese systems are good. 3 12 cue mods can do some very cool stuff. It's very easy to extend each cue with fusing methods if you want a longer show in the future.
Just make sure you know how your system works and test it. At your shoot site if possible. Then you can worry about setback lol. Distance is your friend.

[BeerGuyEd]

I did not know about the wires crossed trick so thank you all very much for that. Just knowing that makes me feel a lot better about my plans. Looks like I will be able to make my plans work. I’ve got some “test” product to shoot off before time to get some reps in with my system and a lot of extra matches for some fun.

[BeerGuyEd]

Also, just because many of us have cobra systems don?t discount your Chinese system. They are damn good for the price. I have a semi big Chinese system the I use as a compliment to my cobra. If you aren?t shooting to music, they are the way to go in my opinion. It?s a million times better than fuse.

Thanks for this. I see so many people unintentionally make it seem bad to own a Chinese system. I did a ton of research and found what I think is a great system especially for the price I paid. Mods all have 12v battery connectors to avoid AA batteries not putting out the juice, and it can step fire through all the cues. I’ll be able to sit back and enjoy the show while just have to press 1 button over and over again.

[FBpyro]

I have poked and matched cakes before and transported them to my shoot site 20 minutes away before. Like others have said on here, just make sure to "shunt" or short the two wires together at the end of the firewire initiators and put some tape for strain relief over it and you should be alright.

The lift charge for cakes is black powder so it's highly unlikely that any friction or rubbing against the protective red plastic shroud on the initiator would cause accidental ignition.

[FBpyro]

Jay,

I am curious after reading your reply. The "butterfly" method? I don't believe I have heard of this wrapping technique.

[Jay_]

So in the butterfly method, you take the lead and separate the wires from each other at the end. Roughly 3 inches. Take one lead wire, double the exposed wire over like cptnding suggested and insert it into the terminal. Once inserted, wrap the wire outside in around the push button on the terminal. Do the same thing with the other strand of wire...wrap it around the outside of the terminal into the inside. When you are done, the wires should be wrapped around both ears of the terminal buttons, and the wire running down the crease in between them.

This does two things for you. It ensures that your wires will not contact other wires, and it also makes the wires nearly impossible to pull out should you accidentally trip over one or pull on it when setting up the remainder of your show.

If I get a chance I will post a pic of what it is supposed to look like.

[Jay_]

http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=4079&stc=1

http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=4080&stc=1

http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=4081&stc=1

[Rick_In_Tampa]

So yesterday a buddy came over and we built 8 of the 12 boards I will be using this year. I had the brilliant idea that it would save a ton of time if I went back to boards this year, and also to wire up the Cobra mods ahead of time so I don't have to do it on the 4th.

Now I'm hearing from people on the Cobra FB site and now here that there's a better than average chance that I'm going to burn my house down since the mods are wired and initiators are not shunted.

What the hell...... I just can't get a break.... :(

[Jay_]

Lol....the inter webz.

I’ll bet it’s about the same chance as your car starting itself in the driveway.

The only thing I fear is lightning when things are wired up. That may be far fetched too

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Honestly, I never gave lightning a thought either. And why would I just because I live in the lightning capital of the USA?! Doh...:confused:

I'm such a moron, sometimes I just don't even understand myself....

[MontanaMike]

There is a lot of speculation all over the place as to what's "safe" and what isn't, with ematch / initiators.

Dave "displayfireworks1" says it's fine to pull the shroud back and insert the match head, but do it on-site. Others say you're crazy if you pull the shroud back. I don't really see any benefit to pulling it back, myself.

Then there are those who say you're crazy if you insert your e-match/initiators AT ALL before arriving at the field, and others who say transporting with everything matched-up is fine, as long as your shrouds are in place and your wires are shunted.

What we've decided to do is, we poke the cakes, taped over the holes and wired the initiators to the modules, with the shroud/head taped a few inches from the hole...all in the shady air conditioned shop. At the field, we'll plug the initiators into the cakes, with the shrouds in place.

Seems like the best combination of convenience and safety. If a random match decides to pop for some weird reason, there's almost no chance it'll do anything to its associated firework since it's not even close to the fuse.

[esgrillo]

Honestly, I never gave lightning a thought either. And why would I just because I live in the lightning capital of the USA?! Doh...:confused:

I'm such a moron, sometimes I just don't even understand myself....

Rick, if lightning hits, I am pretty sure the billion volts in the bolt will perhaps really not need any assistance from a inactive mod to make bad things happen to any fireworks in the proximity. Just sayin'

[cherrybomb1]

I have about 10 500gr cakes from WF Boom in my shed that are poked and ready to go for the last 2 years...I figure they have about as much chance as going off as one of my 2 boys cleaning the toilet after they blow that up!..wait I gotta go I hear something in the back yard LOL

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Rick, if lightning hits, I am pretty sure the billion volts in the bolt will perhaps really not need any assistance from a inactive mod to make bad things happen to any fireworks in the proximity. Just sayin'

Thanks Ed. That really put my mind at ease! :(

That happened at PGI 3 years ago. I should have thought about that. Oh well....

[Mattp]

Great!!!were having some pretty heavy thunder and lightning here right now.. and now I’m scared shit.. that my shed is going to blow up the neighborhood from the matched/shunted product I have in there!! After that video dave posted from cobra con... you see how even a static charge can really set these off... I know it’s extremely rare,,, but it is possible!!! Scary

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Well, I guess we know the lesson learned this year then!

[cptnding]

Rick/Matt, I don't think you guys really have much to worry about. Well.... maybe Rick lol. Once the cue is landed into the mod it is no longer shunted so I guess static is a very slight possibility. I prep waayyy ahead of time, keep the wires shunted, and land them on shoot day.
The incident at PGI was a result of a direct lightning strike to the equipment on the field. This isn't going to happen in your garage or shed. Literal metric shit tons of product are shipped from China with a match already installed. Strobes, gerbs, flame pots, ect and it's not a problem. If lightning was a problem there would be lots of stories of e-match going off in magazines and warehouses everywhere. It doesn't happen.
Relax, go mix a drink, and watch a few fireworks videos.

[Mattp]

Hahaha... thanks.. I never worried about it before.. but after this thread my mind started wondering.. lol.. and there’s no way in hell I can wire it all the day of..

[Rick_In_Tampa]

cptnding - Great points. I'm over it already. Way too much going on to worry about it. If it happens and burns down my house, I'm taking the insurance check and leaving town. Phuck it.