I had never been a big fireworks guy. Relatives did them, or we went somewhere to see them, but this year I swung by SkyKing fireworks and spent $300 and change. Because I had some coupons, like 65% off and Buy 1 Get 2 free, that money went a long way.

Come the 4th of July, my son had some friends over and 4 11-12 year old boys had the time of their lives lighting each of the fireworks. Fireworks up to and including mortars, 200 gram fireworks, etc.

However, even though I was trying to prep things for them, light, wait for launch, clear off used firework, place new one, light and repeat, it took us 2 hours to light everything I had purchased.

I would like to avoid that for next year. The first step was leaning what type of fireworks of buy. I will not purchase individual mortars going forward, I will keep it to 200 gram and 500 gram repeaters. And since there was a post 4th of July coupon for B1G2 free, I have already started the purchasing.

The other step would be some sort of remote ignition system. When I google this, I get an overwhelming amount of options. Have you used one? Do you like it? What would you do different?

Does a MAPP torch count?

It’s great for mass firing 1000 bottle rockets from a coffee can.

quote:

Originally posted by holdem:


The other step would be some sort of remote ignition system. When I google this, I get an overwhelming amount of options. Have you used one? Do you like it? What would you do different?

When I was a kid, we would take some steel wool, wrap it around the fuse. take 100 feet of 2 conductor speaker wire (from radio shack) and connect one conductor on one side of the steel wool, and the other conductor on the other side of the steel wool.

At the far end, we would then connect a 9V battery to the 2 wires, which would cause the steel wool to catch fire and the firework would blow.

worked great. never a problem, and This method increased our safety since we were 100 feet away from what was blowing up / launching.

Yes, steel wool is very flammable when it gets the current from a 9V battery.

Unless you are doing a show with hundreds of shells (at least) or devices that are too large to safely fire manually, a remote system is overkill and will add complexities that will start to get in the way. Extra steps and issues with reliability can also cause safety issues.

A torch with a decent on/off switch valve would be much easier.

YOu can get extra fuse, there are two speeds, slow and holy crap I can't run that quickly-fast.

Get the slower burning fuse, string together the mortars and you can light off several with one fuse.

Get a torch, Harbor Freight sells an inexpensive butane torch to light with, better than match or bic lighters.

We get a few mortars, build a launch pad out of 2x4s with outriggers for stabilization, the big mortars can make it jump and a single 2x4 can be knocked on it's side, you don't' want them firing into a crowd or garage.

Mostly we get the boxed mortars with several shots each, prep everything by removing the paper over the tubes, makes clean up easier, and pulling the fuse out so it's easily found.

I usually buy 2 dozen of the big mortars for both NYE and Independence Day. I light them with a cigar torch.

Back when I lived in SoCal (17+ years ago), I was invited to a 4th of July pool party. The hostess' brother was an electrical engineer (EE), and him and his EE buddies set-up a remote ignition system for fireworks in the cul-d-sac. They had ladders with boards between them to have tiers of prewired fireworks. They shot off everything they had set-up during daylight, quickly set-up again, and then had a grand finale. Looked like a labor of love for them. However, I'd rather enjoy the pool party, spend 5 minutes mounting mortar tubes to a 2x8 so they don't tip over, and then whenever I feel like it drop in a mortar and light it.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
We get a few mortars, build a launch pad out of 2x4s with outriggers for stabilization, the big mortars can make it jump and a single 2x4 can be knocked on it's side, you don't' want them firing into a crowd or garage.

^^^ THIS ^^^

My neighbor launched a mortar and the tube fell over launching it into the 30ish people in the cul-d-sac. One guy got a burn on his calf.

I've found a 2x8 to be nice and stable. Typically, the box of 2 dozen mortars come with 4 tubes so I screw down a pair at each end of the 2x8 (it's about 4' long). I can twist fuses together and launch two at once. I throw away the tubes on July 5th as they've had 6 to 8 dozen mortars through them between me and my neighbors. The 2x8 doesn't take up much space so I just keep re-using.

2 hours? You were either being extremely cautious or you had a mega butt load of fireworks. I shot off $550 worth on the dock this year and it was gone in under 30 minutes.

To answer your question, we used an auto rig system all fused together one year and the fuse was way too slow and made for a boring show. Plus, you have malfunctions and it will sometimes skip a box.

When I shoot them, I mount 5 or 6 mortar tubes to some wood and move the multi shot boxes in and out. I usually shoot on the water so if anything catches fire I just kick it into the lake and go get it afterwards. We do a lot of individual mortars because those are the big boomers, which is what I like best. I want to feel it in my chest.

Usually two people prepping and lighting with propane torches.

Like HRK said, get extra fuse. Save the mortar tubes as well. We have 16 of them and use the extra fuse to chain the shots. Since we’re on a beach, we partially bury them in the sand. Forget sand castles, we have artillery. We get some interesting looks from the beach walkers when we are prepping.

I put together a 20+ minute show for Independence Day a couple of years back during COVID using nothing but off the shelf ground-based sparklers, boxes of shots, and a few mortars.

Timed them all by watching YT videos (surprisingly easy to find) and mapped out an ignition sequence.

Laid it out in a field and tied it all together with carefully measured canon fuse and masking tape. (It's a PITA to tape some of the tiny fuses they give you on those fireworks!)

Only had to light one fuse at the beginning and it went off without a hitch. I was pretty damned impressed with myself that night.

Wanted to buy a remote system. Looked at a bunch of them. Decided they were all too expensive.

-Rob

I screw multiple mortar tubes (The heavy black ones that come with the Excalibur ) to a wood shipping pallet, then recruit people to light them.
The tubes and pallet stay mostly put so you're not dealing with them falling over.

Those tubes are heavy and can be reused multiple times. I've reused one as many as 40 times, just make sure you clean the debris out every 5 to 6 shots...

I've automated quite a few launches using e-matches and a programmable controller. To me, it's not worth the trouble, YMMV.

quote:

Usually two people prepping and lighting with propane torches.

This is our method, we spend time prepping the launch pad, mounting the new tubes, old tubes get trashed each year since we get new ones with purchases, no sense taking risk with this stuff.

Mortar boxes are set next to the outriggers and main boards to stabilize them, I've seen one topple after the last shot when a couple of tubes went off at the same time.

We Keep the boards for next year, I do like the idea of the pallet, have to put that on the list.

The slow fuse can be well, slow, we'll run it between 4 to 6 tubes and then light each end, which halves the time to shot fire.

Best bet is to use fuses, have a good torch, and be sure everything is safely secured, and the slower fuse is good when you don't run as fast as you used to...

It would be cool though to have a fully automated remote system that you could program to fire in a specific order...

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
…when you don't run as fast as you used to...

The kids say watching me run is the best part of the show. This year, I tripped over a 15’ log on the beach. They thought I was diving for cover.

I've built 2 that worked over wifi, don't really use them anymore. Ematch & igniters are expensive, plus the cost of whatever system you put together. My 2nd one had a raspberry pi + 16 relay channels, then 2 slave units with 16 relays each. It was a learning experience - microcontrollers, PCB design & 3d printing. It wasn't perfect.
If I were buying, I'd purchase from Cobra, but I'm sure there are other systems that work well (and I haven't used theirs other than a demo).

I haven't done a big show since building the 2nd controller & it rained an hour before I shot them. Rushing all the boards back in the garage caused some issues, but it worked well enough. Took a lot of prep & $$$.
If I want a bigger than 'just light it & run' show, I chain stuff together with fuse. Zip ties, masking tape & some quickmatch cutoffs that I've had for years. I prefer a short show with 'blink & you'll miss something' to a longer one with gaps. I usually have at least 1 cake + mortars going off constantly.
I have 5 or 6 mortar racks with 12-15 tubes each + I save all the tubes I get with mortar kits. I have a couple 3 & 4 inch mortar tubes in case I can acquire a few larger shells.

So it sounds like buying extra fuse and just trying everything together is the path most of your are taking. I will look into this.

I'm guessing you don't mean handing the neighbors kid the match and saying "you wanna do this one?"