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During our testing campaign, we encountered significant RF issues. Initially, we observed that whenever we turned on the spark plug, it reset Papyrus (our avionics system). Sometimes, it would even cause the huge speakers above the hangar to static. It was really spooky. To mitigate this, we bought a bigger spark plug that had a resistor inside of it, which seems to have solved the issue. Additionally, we insulated all wiring to the spark plug heavily. We initially chose a non resistor spark plug because it was very small and thus easier to fit in the assembly, but I think that getting the bigger one and fitting it in will save a lot of headachemystical headaches.
Purging
The ASI initially did not have purging capability, but we realized that in the event of a failed ignition, there would be some residual methagox mixture left in the chamber, which is a hazard if approached. To make the system safer, we added purging capability to the ASI by having some tee fittings that inletted nitrogen from a separate nitrogen cylinder (not the same cylinder that feeds nitrogen to the rest of the engine). There are manual valves and check valves to prevent backflow into the lines during ASI operation; additionally, right before firing the ASI, we set the nitrogen reg to be at a higher pressure than the ASI operating pressures so that it is physically impossible for the gas to backflow into the nitrogen lines unless there was some significant over pressurization event in the chamber.
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