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View Full Version : Okay, here's a mockup of what I'm making.



Phantom240
08-09-2008, 10:56 AM
I'm making a generator out of 1/4" Lexan, 8"x8"x4" to fit in a spot under my hood. I'm going to start with a 9 plate setup -NNN+NNN-, with my plates being 7"x3". I'm going to get nylon washers 1/16" thick so I can play with spacing. I'm hearing 1/8" is a good medium. I'm going to try NaOH as my electolyte. Right now I'm just having hell trying to find the fittings I need for being able to fill and clean my unit, as well as hooking up hoses. The local Home Depot and Lowe's are out of smaller hose barbs... Gay.

Here's a quick MSPaint drawing of the unit's basic form. I've already assembled it, minus the lid.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y152/phantom240/HHO.jpg

HYDROTEKPRO
08-09-2008, 11:04 AM
Here are a few from a quick Google search:


http://www.fastfittings.com/page/590113?gclid=CKPM6JaDgZUCFR4sagodADPHqQ

http://www.fittingsandadapters.com/

http://www.hoseandfittings.com/index.html

HomeGrown
08-10-2008, 03:50 PM
I like that concept, nice and robust looking. As for the barbs, forget Lowe's & Home Depot. Try the smaller places like TSC, ACE, mom & pop hardware stores, etc.

I designed & built a turbocharger setup for my S-10 pickup a few years ago, and was always in need of various barbs & fittings during the development & installation. The hardware stores never failed me, and always had good stock on these items. Many times they have selection and stock that will blow away the big-box stores.

Phantom240
08-10-2008, 04:22 PM
I like that concept, nice and robust looking.

lol. I figured with the size of the plates, I shouldn't have any problems making some HHO. I'm thinking of changing the size from 7"x3" to 7"x4".

378in² surface on the 7"x3" plates
504in² surface on the 7"x4" plates

504in² is a lot of surface lol. Anyone have any ideas what the typical generator has?

HomeGrown
08-10-2008, 08:44 PM
I don't think we yet have anything that can be described as "typical" here, but offhand I'd say you are probably in the upper end of the class with that much surface area.

Phantom240
08-10-2008, 09:24 PM
I don't think we yet have anything that can be described as "typical" here, but offhand I'd say you are probably in the upper end of the class with that much surface area.
I like that. Hell, if I could I would make a generator with plates like 12"x4" each. That would be an insane amount of surface area! 864in² to be exact, or 6ft².

My 7x4 idea is 3.5ft²

Jaxom
08-10-2008, 11:40 PM
lol. I figured with the size of the plates, I shouldn't have any problems making some HHO. I'm thinking of changing the size from 7"x3" to 7"x4".

378in² surface on the 7"x3" plates
504in² surface on the 7"x4" plates

504in² is a lot of surface lol. Anyone have any ideas what the typical generator has?

Your numbers are a little high, you can't count the outer surface of the outside plates because those won't be productive surfaces. You're looking at 448sq.in. with the 7x4" plates. That's still a lot of SA.

My radial cell is at 720sq.in. :D I firmly believe that I have way more SA than I can effectively use.

Phantom240
08-10-2008, 11:59 PM
Your numbers are a little high, you can't count the outer surface of the outside plates because those won't be productive surfaces. You're looking at 448sq.in. with the 7x4" plates. That's still a lot of SA.

My radial cell is at 720sq.in. :D I firmly believe that I have way more SA than I can effectively use.

I wasn't sure if the outsides of the plates produced or not. Either way, that's a lot of surface area. If I can work out the electrolyte solution where I only draw 15-20 amps, I think I should be producing quite well.


If this cell works well, I'm going to build a stupid large cell just for giggles.

Jaxom
08-11-2008, 12:08 AM
It really looks like a pretty solid design. Having the plates longer than they are deep means it will be easy for the bubbles to escape, and plenty of SA available for production. The large amount of space above the plates means plenty of water capacity (cooler running and longer running between top-offs.) Simple is good. I like it. The only thing I'll recommend is to put the tabs for the + electrical connection on the opposite end from the - connections. That'll help reduce the chance of a short circuit if you ever have a problem with the internal wiring.

Also I use 7.5mL of NaOH crystals per gallon of distilled in my cell. Your ideal mixture may vary, but it's a starting point.

Phantom240
08-11-2008, 01:25 PM
It really looks like a pretty solid design. Having the plates longer than they are deep means it will be easy for the bubbles to escape, and plenty of SA available for production. The large amount of space above the plates means plenty of water capacity (cooler running and longer running between top-offs.) Simple is good. I like it. The only thing I'll recommend is to put the tabs for the + electrical connection on the opposite end from the - connections. That'll help reduce the chance of a short circuit if you ever have a problem with the internal wiring.

Also I use 7.5mL of NaOH crystals per gallon of distilled in my cell. Your ideal mixture may vary, but it's a starting point.
Yep. I already know to put the + and the - tabs on opposite ends, I just couldn't really show that in such a crude drawing.

I need to get an ammeter so I can see what kind of current I'm drawing. I really can't put much more strain on my electrical system. I have electric fans in place of my belt driven fan, two amps, an Optima YellowTop battery, all on the stock 90A alternator lol. I'm getting a 200A alternator built for it soon enough. I'm also going to experiment with having a remote mounted reservoir that I can use to constantly circulate water through the cell and hopefully keep it a little cooler and more productive.

Omega
08-12-2008, 10:57 PM
Looks good, Phantom240. I regret making my cells so small, so far. I'm going to start one soon that will have many times the surface area of my previous ones.

Currently I've got a cell that's 9 plates, +NNN-NNN+, plate size is 2"x4". It runs cool and trouble free, so far, but the output just isn't cutting it. Time to think big....

Phantom240
08-12-2008, 11:07 PM
Think 10 gallon aquarium.

Omega
08-12-2008, 11:31 PM
Think 10 gallon aquarium.

OK, I'll think 10 gallon aquarium, but even the most intense thought won't make it fit under the hood! :D

Phantom240
08-13-2008, 08:42 AM
lol. Who said it had to be under the hood?

gizzy
08-13-2008, 09:03 AM
I have a 2003 blazer. Some of the problems that was occuring under the hood was heat. I made a heat shield with bubble wrap and foil. It helped some. I am currently using the mason jar type hho generator. After all the research I've been reading, on ebay this guy is building 6X6" plate 18 stainless plates in a roughly a 7X7X7" cube.So I bought one. Now keep in mine there's a bubbler to be used with this type of generator. So I made a mount that fit perfect under the bumper space under my s-10 blazer. I'm thinking a 3X12-16" generator to go length wise could be awsome to be a retrofit. Keep in mine the bubbler installation though. I had to make room above, so I got a K&N air induction modification to make room for the bubbler.... I'll let everyone know how this works out..

DaneDHorstead
08-13-2008, 02:26 PM
I like that. Hell, if I could I would make a generator with plates like 12"x4" each. That would be an insane amount of surface area! 864in² to be exact, or 6ft².

My 7x4 idea is 3.5ft²
In truth the outside of the end plates, produce next to nothing, but are not 100% totally non functional.

I have three generators, connected in parallel, each with 17 plates (five polar plates are 7 x 3 with corners trimmed for ease of connections), and 12 neutral plates 4.5" by 3" (all are 304 grade ss, 1 mm thick (approximately 0.039" thick).

Total surface area is 496.5 sq inches, or 3.447 sq ft. (per unit, with 3 units)

I run them with 1 teaspoon potasium hydroxide, per gallon, 10 amps, and run a pretty constant 128 degrees F.

My configuration is +NNN-NNN+NNN-NNN+ for each cell.



Production is 1.9 LM, and I know for a fact that if I increase catalyst, I can probably double the production, but at what heat level?

I find that running more cells in parallel, I can get a substancial production, but at comfortable heat levels!

I run a #2 wire through a constant solenoid (key switched), which is connected to a 850 Amp (cold crank amps) marine battery. Note the #2 wire is rated for 97 Amps maximum, and i use three 30 amp circuit breakers, but could easilly reduce their size, and still be OK

The marine battery has top and side post, so the top post go to normal automobile functions, while the positive side post, allows me to connect to the solenoid, and feed the rear mounted generators (in the back area of a 99 Jeep Cherokee 6 banger).

Just to the side of the generators, I exit the ground wire, and ground it to the frame, at the rear passenger side wheel well.

Hope that helps.

DaneDHorstead
08-13-2008, 03:14 PM
For curiosity's sake, I just emptied the contents, into old water bottles, and doubled the catalyst. Then refilled the generators.

Production was off the charts, but so was the amperage draw. I did not get an acurate reading on the Lm, because the Amp draw concerned me. However the increase was very noticeable.

I also did not have the temp gage hooked up, so I have no information in that respect, except that with tripple the amps, I suspect the temp also spiked.

The previous 10 amp draw was now right at 30 amps, per unit, with two teaspoons per gallon.

That tells me, I need to use 1.5 teaspoons, as a next attempt, and hope to hold Amps to 20, or less.

Phantom240
08-13-2008, 03:45 PM
When you say #2 wire, are you talking about 2awg wire? If so, it is rated for MUCH MORE than 97 amps, especially at shorter distances. Now, if you're running like 30 feet of this stuff, then yeah 97 amps sounds close.

Jaxom
08-15-2008, 07:09 PM
He did say he's running the cable from an underhood marine battery to the generators which are mounted in the hatch area, so figure somewhere between 16 and 20ft of power cable. For a constant 90A draw 2awg seems like a good size to me.

Phantom240
08-15-2008, 08:55 PM
He did say he's running the cable from an underhood marine battery to the generators which are mounted in the hatch area, so figure somewhere between 16 and 20ft of power cable. For a constant 90A draw 2awg seems like a good size to me.

For sure. I didn't recall where his battery was at.