Z16 SQUIBS (de la mare)

[dave321]

has anyone used the above items?

they are spd's (spark producing devices)

 

anyone got an msds for them

I am trying to reproduce the effect and would like to know

if the sparks are

 

titanium (I don't think so since they don't crackle)

aluminium

magnesium

or even zirconium

 

heres a vid from the reelfx website

 

http://www.reelefx.com/index.php?c=effect.view&id=1885

 

nice spread with not too much smoke

 

 

dave

[kilnj69]

I don't have zirconium but I might do a test and let you know. Titanium doesn't crackle all the time IMHO, coarse AL and titanium does don't get me wrong.

 

I see a purple/violet hue and sparking effect when I slow the vid down. So I dare say they are Ti/Al flakes or atomised, that are (please corect me if i'm wrong) coated with a prime contaning MgAl. As to the exact composition i'm not sure. it would have to be hot to ignite the Ti/Al/Zirc instantly.

Edited October 13, 2013 by kilnj69

[Seymour]

My guess is Titanium for the sparks. It's effective and stable. As Kilnj69 pointed out, it only crackles in some compositions.

 

Personally I'm leaning towards Titanium sponge, just because that is by far the most common material out there.

 

I see a purple/violet hue and sparking effect when I slow the vid down. So I dare say they are Ti/Al flakes or atomised, that are (please corect me if i'm wrong) coated with a prime contaning MgAl. As to the exact composition i'm not sure. it would have to be hot to ignite the Ti/Al/Zirc instantly.

 

The purple colour is almost certainly as a result of the use of Potassium salts. When the flame is clean enough, Potassium perchlorate or even Potassium nitrate, as well as other pyro sources of Potassium, perhaps Potassium benzoate, the flame is very noticeably lilac.

 

I don't think any prime on the metal is required... That is not something I have ever come across. Sure, Titanium needs to be relatively hot to light, but in the context of pyrotechnics, nothing exceptional is needed. Look at how easily Ti lights in Black powder. Even in very cool mixes like charcoal streamers it lights up easily enough (but burns for some time).

 

I'm leaning towards Potassium perchlorate, an organic fuel, and Titanium. The titanium will need to be quite fine, and the 'base mix' quite vigorous. Whistle would be an obvious choice. If the nice pretty lilac flame is not important, some kind of flash powder for the 'propellant' should work perfectly well too.

 

If you want to be cheap, BP will work too! though you will need to use a bit more comp to get the same effect, thus more smoke.

[dave321]

 

yes, bp and sponge titanium works but im tending towards a hotter flash type mixture.

 

coarse mg works but needs a hot mix to ensure ignition,

but gives nice white sparks visible in daylight

 

have yet to try iron filings

 

ferro titanium also works but I've only got it in a fine particle size

 

too much bp and its too smokey

[dave321]

a simple fusehead in a small id tube(~3mm) just with a very small amount of Zirconium (145um) paste,
dried and capped..............gives perfect results (and is very low smoke)

directly comparable to the zr16 squib

Edited January 29, 2014 by dave321

[FlaMtnBkr]

I can't get the video to work but from the name alone (zr) I would assume the use of zirconium. I guess it's a flash movie and won't play on my phone at the moment.

 

When you say zirconium paste is that just metal and water? And is the fusehead an ematch or something like visco?

[dave321]

145um zirconium is stored under a water pentanol mixture

so its just spooned in as a thick paste

yes, a fusehead is the same as an ematch

[dave321]

basic idea :-

 

Ricochet Spark Hit.pdf

[dave321]

anyone know the size of a zr16 squib ?

I am waiting for a reply from Thomas effects in vancouver

 

dave

[dave321]

ok, i got a reply

The Z-16 is 1/8” long by 1/16” wide

The Z16A is 3/16’ long by 1/8” wide

The Z17 is ¼” long by 3/16” wide

The Z17A is ¼” long by ¼”wide

[dave321]

re visiting this , anybody know if they use a primary at all, something like lead styphnate ?

 

the reason I ask is that they are quite a small package (see above post) and they have a fairly loud bang, little smoke, very good fast dispersion of white hot sparks..............which I think is difficult to obtain by any other means.....

but I may be completely wrong

 

also, because of the fast dispersion, metal particles can be difficult to ignite, but not if its zirconium

[dave321]

not z16 squibs,

check this out, looks like a great product, see what I mean about the loud report and spread

 

http://youtu.be/Q9pVve_Kzv4

Edited September 1, 2014 by dave321

[Duderanch]

Anyone know how to get one of these in the UK?

[davidh]

Misch metal?

[robbo]

Zirconium. In the days of old-fashioned film, zirconium filmed white. Ti, Al and others looked yellow. Some comps used VERY fine metal. We kept it stored under water. Looked like black mud.

[dave321]

care to share any of your compositions ?

 

actually the msds for the z16 to z17 spark hits , says pot. perchlorate and zirconium , probably

around stoichiometric portions

[robbo]

The few comps I've seen are proprietary and I don't want break a promise... but I will say that some of the KClO4 formulas are juiced up with thiourea instead of Sb2S3 or S which I thought was interesting. Probably has something to do with limiting smoke maybe? Or extra gas production? Some odd binders, too, but nothing too far outside common pyro use.

One of the really cool things we did with superfine zirconium was to package it up in horse capsules with some other stuff and shoot them out of air guns. Technically non-pyrotechnic and made a nice effect where guys were too cheap for permits, wires, etc. (They still had to repaint the walls, though.) This was also before paintball guns, so when I saw load-your-own paintballs I immediately wished we had the paintball technology back then.

[dagabu]

Here is the US, 'a squib generally consists of a small tube filled with an explosive substance, with a detonator running through the length of its core'. We would call them gerbs or fountains, short duration.

[Boophoenix]

What robbo is referring to is called a zirc hit normally here. One of the original uses was a Sweeney gun pre paintball. And most certainly proprietary. It’s s difficult search to find any more info than zirconium and chicken scratch. It doesn’t seem that simple unless it’s super fine zirconium and chicken scratch which produces a spark on impact causing a fuel air reaction.