Methy and LFP's DIY flamethrower fun. :)

liveforphysics

liveforphysics

100 TW
Joined
Oct 28, 2008
Messages
14,539
Location
Manhattan Beach, CA, USA
Methy and I decided to make something exciting out of old fire extinguishers. As a highlight (that we sadly didn't get on video), a neighbor opened the door, saw us, and said, phew! It's just you guys, I thought the world was ending in flame. I figure that's always a sign you're doing something right if your actions cause others to believe the world is ending in inferno.

Always playing it safe. ;)
Enjoy.

[youtube]-n0QVbKfbgc[/youtube]
 
Mount it off the rear of your e-bike for those special occasions.
 
Ohhhhh Yeahhhhh! That's my kind of fun. I'm such a pyro, no wonder I spent 20 years hanging around hot air balloons with 20 million btu burners. Anything that shoots fire 30 feet is big fun.

We do a nighttime electric light parade here on the 3rd of July. The balloonist float always wins the $750 prize. Christmas lights vs flamethrower is no contest at all.

I took a regular balloon burner and modded it to shoot flame further, and ended up with a thing that when manipulated right throws fire rings like smoke rings. One year a guy standing next to me on the float had to move away because his shoes started smoking. :twisted: Very very hard to make 40 gallons of propane last till the end of the 45 min parade. Big fun! One year I made a metal dragon for the float and put the burner in its mouth. My neighbors are used to me now, and don't dial 911.

The poor mans flamethower is of course, a can of aqua net .
 
I had a feeling this was going to go hypergolic when you two ended up within commuting distance of each other! :mrgreen: You both have my number, so when you end up in the back of the bus run by the guys in black ninja suits, have methy's wifey call me, and I will do my best to get you out of solitary... :wink:
 
Just for those with enquiring minds, and not for one moment because anyone would dream of replicating these things, how about posting details of the way you put this together?

I'm guessing that the fire extinguisher is pressurised, filled with something that's pretty volatile and that the jet is designed to squirt, rather than atomise. Is that a glow plug for ignition that just shows by the nozzle?

Jeremy
 
Well, the fire extinguisher ain't filled with CO2, that's for sure. Must not be Freon, either, it wouldn't burn so hot (I don't think) and the flame would be green. Come to think of it, couldn't be any kind of stock FE, one (well, most people) wouldn't want to use it on a small fire and end up with a deflagration.

Cameron
 
Why all the high tech approach?

nick long fire.JPG

Jeremy, I don't know about Luke and Patrick's system, but with fire breathing you have to atomise the stream rather than squirt it.

Another good tip is not to do it into wind.

Nick
 
Jeremy Harris said:
Just for those with enquiring minds, and not for one moment because anyone would dream of replicating these things, how about posting details of the way you put this together?

I'm guessing that the fire extinguisher is pressurised, filled with something that's pretty volatile and that the jet is designed to squirt, rather than atomise. Is that a glow plug for ignition that just shows by the nozzle?

Jeremy
Click to expand...


I took some pics for you my friend.
imag0424k.jpg

imag0426o.jpg

imag0428k.jpg

imag0425d.jpg



This was a dry chem one, so I blew out all the nasty powder, took it apart, cleaned and serviced the valve and it's seals (because the powder makes a mess of the seating surfaces). Then I tapped the proprietary thread-end where the discharge hose threads into the valve with 1/8" NPT (which didn't even require drilling). Then threaded in a 1/8" NPT x 1/4" compression fitting, slid a 3ft section of 1/4" copper pipe into the fitting, tightened it down, taped and zip-tied a scripto BBQ lighter wind-proof mini-jet torch onto the tip. Then mounted a Tee into the gauge port, and threaded an air compressor check-valve into 1 side so it can be pressurized easily (I wanted a thread-in shraeder valve, but at 8pm on a saturday trying to locate one was a fail).

The valves just unscrew from the bottle when you want to add more white gas. After a few experiments, it seems filling it up roughly half way with white gas and leaving the rest for the compressed air pressure head worked out pretty well.

These videos were just operating at 100psi. The dry extinguishers are supposed to be able to hold 600psi, so I will charge them from my nitrogen tank up to 600psi or so, which should perhaps make the range go from around 65feet to around 100ft (hopefully).
 
Tiberius said:
Why all the high tech approach?



Jeremy, I don't know about Luke and Patrick's system, but with fire breathing you have to atomise the stream rather than squirt it.

Another good tip is not to do it into wind.

Nick
Click to expand...


Only gotta atmoize the stream well when you're using something that doesn't burn as well as white gas.

I'm thinking the next evolution will be electronic ignition, nitrous solenoid for the valve, 3000psi paintball tank for the pressure head, and napalm for the liquid. Then mounting that first onto one of my large scale RC cars for testing. The once refined, onto my massive Cessna RC plane, or my giant trex-700 helicopter.

I was also thinking maybe on the giant scale cessna with a 16" prop, adjusting it so it sprays onto the prop and slings off the napalm in a ring, so it's like the plane if flying through a tunnel of fire.
 
Hi,

What is white gas? We don't have that term over here; it must be called something else.

I use lamp oil, white spirit, barbecue lighting fluid. It's all basically paraffin with different flavourings added.

Nick
 
Tiberius said:
Hi,

What is white gas? We don't have that term over here; it must be called something else.

I use lamp oil, white spirit, barbecue lighting fluid. It's all basically paraffin with different flavourings added.

Nick
Click to expand...


I will take a picture of the jug for you. It's what we've always used for our camping stoves, lanterns, etc.
 
imag0429s.jpg
 
Thanks LFP. I'm pretty sure that white gas is what we call lighter fuel over here (pretty much pure petroleum spirit, with no additives).

I feel an experiment coming on...................

Jeremy
 
White gas: Naptha?

This is awesome. My girlfriend is now SURE I'm insane. Sitting here laughing at giant flames, eyeing our fire extinguisher.... yes, she looks worried...
 
Many of the big sports events use pyro displays to celebrate a big score or key event ( EG, 4' and 6's in cricket) using what appears to be liquid fuel burners .
Impressive, but worrying when the igniters dont work and there are large clouds of flammable fuel floating around the stadium ! :shock:
Luke ,..dont forget to work on the colour effects too ! :wink:
fire02.gif
 
Tiberius said:
Hi,

What is white gas? We don't have that term over here; it must be called something else.

I use lamp oil, white spirit, barbecue lighting fluid. It's all basically paraffin with different flavourings added.

Nick
Click to expand...

My British parents called it Naptha gas. Does this term still wash in the UK?
 
Naptha is white gas, camp fuel, very, very volatile. Anything that you can spill on your hands, and have dry hands 3 minutes later is pretty damn volatile.

If my wife had any idea I was building something like that, she would disassemble it with a hammer or divorce me. You have very understanding neighbours too!

My pyro-ism is limited to throwing cool things into my coke (yes, coke) burning blacksmith forge. If it doesn't burn in the intense fire there, it doesn't burn.

Just for fun, check out the burners on a blast furnace sometime. 8" diameter burner, powdered coke injected into compressed (20 psi) preheated (just below flashpoint) air. I can't even conceive of how much heat that makes.

Katou
 
This is the back yard at my pad. A reasonable activity.


[youtube]fo1thw5z1mI[/youtube]d
 
Jeremy Harris said:
Just for those with enquiring minds, and not for one moment because anyone would dream of replicating these things, how about posting details of the way you put this together?

I'm guessing that the fire extinguisher is pressurised, filled with something that's pretty volatile and that the jet is designed to squirt, rather than atomise. Is that a glow plug for ignition that just shows by the nozzle?

Jeremy
Click to expand...


Mine was actually a bone stock fire extinguisher. The whole thing unscrews without a wrench - dump the powder, fill with gas, screw back together. I then just attached the blow gun to the air compressor, jammed that in the discharge hose and pressurized. Did not even have to press the handle while filling. To light it off I just used a hand held torch.

Externally my flame thrower appears to be a fire extinguisher in every manner.... which - depending on your perspective - is either very good or very bad. :wink:

Kids - don't try this at home - and if you do - just use a super-squirt (pump pressurized squirt gun) and tell your mom that you saw it on YouTube. Make sure to try it out in the garage before going outside.

-methods
 
Thanks guys.

For those in the UK that might want to try this, liquid lighter fuel is naptha (the stuff used in Zippo's and the like), as is the stuff used in some liquid fuel camping stoves (Coleman fuel is also naptha, I believe). This is a heck of a lot more volatile than the lamp oil that Nick mentioned with regard to fire breathing, so doesn't need to be atomised finely to burn well. It also has a lower flashpoint, so is easier to ignite.

Jeremy
 
Jeremy Harris said:
Thanks guys.

For those in the UK that might want to try this, liquid lighter fuel is naptha (the stuff used in Zippo's and the like), as is the stuff used in some liquid fuel camping stoves (Coleman fuel is also naptha, I believe). This is a heck of a lot more volatile than the lamp oil that Nick mentioned with regard to fire breathing, so doesn't need to be atomised finely to burn well. It also has a lower flashpoint, so is easier to ignite.

Jeremy
Click to expand...

Yes, I would suggest being very careful with the more volatile fuels. All the fire performers I've ever known use paraffin (or the various equivalents). For fire juggling, swinging chains, breathing, etc, you want something that is relatively slow burning.

Nick
 
The fire breathers/torch jugglers I've seen over here all use kerosene. It's not as volatile, not really toxic, and, most importantly, burns slower, therefore not nearly as hot as other possibilities.

BTW, I don't know about in England, but over here what we call "paraffin" is candle wax (although it technically means a "saturated hydrocarbon," which would include many liquids, and even gases like butane and propane).

Once again, two peoples separated by a common language.

Cameron
 
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