I am trying to make an electronic starter (spark plug is the igniter) for a gas fire pit. (I have tried standard gas grill starters, but they do not work). Could use a wiring diagram with components. Thx
I am trying to make an electronic starter (spark plug is the igniter) for a gas fire pit. (I have tried standard gas grill starters, but they do not work). Could use a wiring diagram with components. Thx
Well 3 V is not that much so your going to need a few of them. A simple rule is wiring in series will add your voltage while wiring in parallel will add the current. So to get a spark across a spark plug you are probably going to need at-least 12V (maybe more depending on the size of the spark plugs.) So to get the 12 V from 4 3V batteries
_______+bat1- _____+bat2-______+bat3-______+bat4-____
That should work, it should say on the case to the spark plug how much voltage + current it needs.
-note- It’s way more voltage to actually create the spark (The static spark from your finger to your car door is around 15000 volts), so the spark plugs basically have an inductor inside them to raise the voltage.
Buy one of those starters where you squeeze the trigger and you get a big spark at the end.
If that doesn’t work, you are doing something wrong. Any spark source you build will be a lot less effective.
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Here is a schematic that will work:-
http://electroschematics.com/335/stun-gun-simple-schematic/
It is a little more power than you need, but it should be OK. But as Bill says, if a standard gas lighter will not work then you have other problems. If you truly need a bigger spark, just buy a stun gun – they are cheap, but there is more of an electrocution hazard.
edit: To reduce the power, just use a smaller capacitor than specified on the input to the high voltage transformer.