Aussiebug

Mike, My first post here - not a canal guy really, but interested in everything engine - especially VW bug engines - hence the handle. The old SABB engines (not seen here in Australia) have always interested me - simplicity, nothing electrical needed, and absolutely reliable. The Zundfix "cigarette" starters are in fact a concentrated solution of Saltpeter (ammonium nitrate) dissolved in water and then soaked into blotting paper which is then rolled into the cigarette shape and dried. In that form they are quite safe to handle, and if they get damp, a good dry in a gentle oven or out in the sun should fix that. Ammonium nitrate mixed with diesel fuel is the classic fertiliser explosion (used in the mining industry a lot, and unfortunately in a lot of illegal events). You DON'T light them before hand - they are inserted into the combustion chamber via the threaded T plug, where the saltpeter mixes with the diesel when you spin the engine over and the fuel is injected. The heat of compression sets them off, so you get a good "bump start" on the engine for a few revs to create plenty of compression heat to keep the engine running. When you set fire to them in air (your earlier posts in this thread), they just fizzle because the saltpeter is providing extra oxygen to the burning blotting paper. The "cigarettes" have same sort of effect as the cartridge starters used in some WW2 aircraft engines (looked like big shotgun cartridges) and the quick-start (cartridge-start) engines in Canberra Bombers of the 60s, although all those were self contained and did not need the fuel in the engine as part of the process - they all resulted in a big charge of burnt gases spinning the engine hard enough to fire it up cold Rob