Finally Rack Fusing Question

[ONExLOSTxSOUL]

It seems there is a ton of options out there with this and id like to know how you guys do it. I have fully scripted my NYE show (Just bought my cobra system on black Friday) and will be having a left/center/right show with (3) 30shot Finally racks, I am looking to fire the shells at each position so that it would be pairs and then the final 10 fast. so my question is should I fuse them:

1) 2 rows with 14s per foot fuse and then final row with fast fuse (this is the only fuse I have currently)
2) same as above but quick match the leaders for better timing
3) I have 69 extra cues available and could poke and match a bunch of these shells

[Birdman]

I would go with option 1. It's just easier if you're just looking to end with some sky puke. Option 2 seems like too much work for not much gain. I would consider using the quick match for the final row instead of the fast fuse. Option 3 is just overkill. That's my 2 cents.

Here's a video I found with a 30 shot rack fused with perfect fuse for reference:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am9h76qI3us=160

[BMoore]

If it was me I'd go with option 1 but your 20 shells aren't going to go up in pairs. Its just going to be a slower 20 followed by a fast 10. If you really want precise doubles then e-firing each shell is the only way to go. If you have the extra cues and matches and that's the look you want to achieve then go for it. Honestly, poking and wiring 20 shells (go ahead and leave the last 10 fast fused) isn't going to take substantially longer than fusing the rack.

[ssmith512]

Option 3. All day, every day. But I like doing that. Plus, it gives you the option of programming any sequence you want for your finale - fast, slow, or medium, left then right, or all at once, etc. Literally, the sky is the limit!!

Enjoy!

Post the vid!!! :D

[esgrillo]

Option 1

Option 3 is a complete waste of time IMHO for finale racks (not the spelling police but other forums will bust balls for just about any reason lol...)

The only time I have poked shells is when I was timing to a beat of music and you have to subtract lift time etc... for that. It is pointless extra work unless you are trying to time that precisely.

When you fuse, minimize the overlap the shell fuse with your 14sec/ft fuse so you can keep the overall timing what you expect.

[BMoore]

Maybe we need to understand your interpretation of finale rack. Are these racks truly for the finale or are you simply calling them that instead of just racks? I kind of assumed the later in which you were looking for 3 positions each shooting flights of two (doubles) ending with a 30 shot finale (10 from each rack). However, if these are truly your finale racks then precise timing for a finale is not necessary and e-firing each shell is totally unnecessary.

[Greenville Pyro]

Personally, I run an "S" with Fast Artillery 2-5 seconds/foot (Yellow) fuse for a good number of shells. This keeps a "bit" of spacing, maybe a half second per shell. Then if you want to do the instant fuse (white) at the end, it'll punctuate it. Doesn't matter how you fuse that, they are ALL going up at once. I'm with Ed. Lots of options, EXCEPT number 3.

[jdels]

One thing to be mindful of in my experience, keep in mind I tape, is that the faster the leader fuse you use increase the amount of shell fuse in contact with it. I've had the white burn past the shells and not light them a few times, not enough contact time I assume. Here is one of my finale racks from last year. 100% fired.
http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=5414&stc=1
For better timing, in this case a three shot angled hit you can easily replace the fuses, in this case superfast white.
http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=5415&stc=1
Which produces this effect with some Tiki Bombs. Each row cued separately.
http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=5413&stc=1
Good Luck!

[esgrillo]

One thing to be mindful of in my experience, keep in mind I tape, is that the faster the leader fuse you use increase the amount of shell fuse in contact with it. I've had the white burn past the shells and not light them a few times, not enough contact time I assume. Here is one of my finale racks from last year. 100% fired.

Good Luck!

when I use the super fast 0.4 sec/ft white fuse, I leave the entire lead from the shell and make a channel with a long piece of packing tape with the FF in the middle and then fold the shell lead fuse over the FF with several inches of contact on the fast fuse... usually the shell leads actually overlap each other too so it is a huge fast fuse sandwich when you fold the tape over... it acts a little like quick match when you wrap it. Super fast to do and I get 100% on hundreds of shells this way

You can see my son doing this in the beginning of my 2020 video at the 1:04 mark

[Birdman]

Option 3. All day, every day. But I like doing that. Plus, it gives you the option of programming any sequence you want for your finale - fast, slow, or medium, left then right, or all at once, etc. Literally, the sky is the limit!!

Enjoy!

Post the vid!!! :D

Makes sense if you want to put that much thought into timing and effects etc but IMO the average spectator isn't going to appreciate it or even notice.

Here's a video that sort of proves my point:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndVhgq1yHdA

[ssmith512]

Makes sense if you want to put that much thought into timing and effects etc but IMO the average spectator isn't going to appreciate it or even notice.

Eh, screw the spectator..............I do fireworks for me........if other people happen to be around to witness the show, that's cool too. But I'm selfish like that! LOL! :D (just kidding of course!) (or am I? :eek:)

That's the beauty......we have multiple options available to us and we all have "our own" way of doing certain things. I love seeing and learning new ways and techniques from others. The sharing of info / techniques within this community is pretty dang cool.

[ONExLOSTxSOUL]

Maybe we need to understand your interpretation of finale rack. Are these racks truly for the finale or are you simply calling them that instead of just racks? I kind of assumed the later in which you were looking for 3 positions each shooting flights of two (doubles) ending with a 30 shot finale (10 from each rack). However, if these are truly your finale racks then precise timing for a finale is not necessary and e-firing each shell is totally unnecessary.

This will be a true Finale 90 shells total with (3) 30 shot angled racks (left, center and right) as well as 200g cakes / 120 shot candles breaking underneath.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

I use a left, center, right setup as well and I have 100 mortars at each station for the finale. I have been daisy-chain wiring each 100 shot station with .4 sec ft fast fuse, and all 300 shells go up in about 7 seconds. Pure sky puke. Next year I think I'm going to run some slower fuse on the first 25-50 shells to slow it down a bit. But I can't see wasting time or initiators poking mortars. Not for a finale.

[BMoore]

This will be a true Finale 90 shells total with (3) 30 shot angled racks (left, center and right) as well as 200g cakes / 120 shot candles breaking underneath.

Ok. Definitely option #1 then. Your basically going for a sky puke that speeds up at the end. No way I’d waste e-matches on a finale.

[joewad]

I always stay awake from a "sky puke". Your 15 seconds per foot is good at that. I throw up 400 cans as part of my finale from 30 second thru 20 second thru 15 second and 10 second. I shoot 3" and 4" over the top with Cobra coneected to quickmatch and fuse to begin the 3" and 4 ". I lead the milk crates with 30 seconds and throw up a few whistling salute cakes as intro. Spread em out and paint the sky to enjoy them. Especially with milk crates (which I use), guns are close together.

[WithReport]

Some thoughts to go with all the good suggestions here.

One thing I do with all my chains of shells is cut the end of the fuse that will be receiving fire at an angle to expose the powder core - especially for the faster fuse.

I usually take extra precautions or add extra redundancy when I?ve fused a bunch of shells for a finale.

- I have usually added some additional redundancy, with extra fuse. This picture is some of the finale racks from 4 years ago. I used the similar ?use sandwich method? with tape - notice the double run of fuse.

5416


- In your situation, I might fuse chains of 10 and then have each chain ignited by a separate cue with staggered firing times - reduces the risk of losing the whole finale on one bad igniter (and it sounds like you have a ?few? available cues)

If you are ending off with shells, consumer cakes, and candles, a crisp ending may be tough. Maybe you plan saving the shells for the very end, but you mentioned a 90 shell finale with 200g cakes and candles breaking underneath. I sometimes cap the finale off with e-fired shells for a crisp ending. Even 3-5 shells all at the same time puts a nice exclamation point on the show - you could even hit that manually at the end.

[Birdman]

Eh, screw the spectator..............I do fireworks for me........if other people happen to be around to witness the show, that's cool too. But I'm selfish like that! LOL! :D (just kidding of course!) (or am I? :eek:)

That's the beauty......we have multiple options available to us and we all have "our own" way of doing certain things. I love seeing and learning new ways and techniques from others. The sharing of info / techniques within this community is pretty dang cool.

I only ever used a single milk create rack (center) and two 10 shot racks (right/left) for my finales (small time shows compared to many on here). I did poke and wire part of last years 4th finale. Fast fused cans thoroughly taped with masking tape (20 center, 8 left and right racks) and then had Nishiki shells poked and wired in the remaining tubes (5 center, 2 left/right). I wanted to fire the Nishiki shells simultaneously after the other shells were done. I used a step script for this rather then trying to worry about timing fast fused shells. I series wired the Nishiki shells in each rack and one (the last in the series) didn't fire in the center rack. I suspect the circuit was broken before the current reached that last MJG. Not sure though.

So yes, I can appreciate the doing it for yourself attitude.

I actually step scripted the events in the finale so I could control timing. The show video link is below. Finale starts at 6:45 and the racks fire at 7:38 if anyone wants to see what it looked like:

https://vimeo.com/435815697

The show was fired with (3) 18M mods and all consumer cakes. It was my first attempt at a pyromusical. I was happy with the finale and the rest of the show but hope to do much better next 4th.