Hello Forum,

I was looking around at some different websites and their products and I keep seeing the "electric matches".

Can anyone fill me in on what they are and how the work?

Thank-you!

An electric match is the item that gets inserted into a firework's / pyrotechnic article's fusing and is used to igntie the item from your electrical firing system.
Basically it's like a wooden strike match, of course with some obvious differences. It has two legs that get plugged into the speaker clips (or terminals) that form you firing modules cues. The signal is sent to the firing box to fire and energy is sent down the leg of the match (of course as electricity speed). There is a bridge wire at the top, that is covered in pyrotechnic composition. It heats up and creates a small burst of fire. If this item has been properly inserted into your pyrotechnic article, the small bit of fire ignites the item and you see the finished reslut (the item functioning).
Check the following website for pictures:
http://www.electricmatch.com/product.html

Thank-you for your response paramount,

What power source would you run to these?

Do they light instantly, or is there a delay?

Thank-you.

Here's another website that may be helpful for you:
http://www.pyromate.com/Basics-of-Electrical-Firing.htm

That should explain power to you. There are many many different types of electrical firing units, for example the Pyromate systems on the website, Pyrodigital, FireOne... and the list goes on. It is not too difficult to build your own systems as well. I'm not talented enough to do that, but I do know others that have. a simple nail-board is enough to shoot a show.

Once enough power is sent to the match the burst is almost instant. It's faster than the human eye catches, just enough for the bridge wire to heat up and the matchhead to burst.

Where are you from Precision? If you have interest in the fireworks industry you should take the government course and get involved. There's always lots of chances to get on shows all over.

Thanks again Paramount,

I live in Alberta, an am very excited to be taking the Fireworks Display and the Pyro Special Effects course in May out of Edmonton.

I know I'm jumping the gun, but I've been looking around on the web to see what products are out there for pyro and fireworks. I find a lot of the websites don't have a lot of explanation for their accecories, I'm assuming because their customers are famaliar with the basics that most people aren't.

I'm looking forward to getting involved with pyro and fireworks in the future, and will probably be posting questions regularly.

Thank-you for the help.

Precision - do you ever take the course?
What can you tell us of your summer of fireworks?