New cell not pulling more than 5 amps.

Hi this is my first post on here so hello everyone ,

I have built my first dry cell it's 8 plates +nnnnnn- setup , plates are 6 inch 5 with gaskets they have 3 holes drilled in the top of each plate for hho to escape and one hole on the bottom for flow into the cell

It has 14 v into the cell but only drawing max of 5-6 amps ?

I have used up all my koh flakes now trying to get it to work via changing mixture but even with 500 g in 1 litre of water still the same ?

After about 30 mins the water was warm not hot but warm is that normal ?

I used a one litre bottle to test the output and it took about 2 mins to do 1/4 litre so not very good at all

The bottom of the feed tank / bubbler combined is about 2 inches above the top of the cell but I did try it a little higher but no change ,

There seems to be a gush of circulation once every few mins in between is just a bubble a second but the bubble is about the size do a 10 p in the pipe

Sorry for long post

Thanks

Lets start with the Power supply. What power supply are you using?

Hi I'm using a 12 v leisure battery with the car running so volts are around 14.5 v

OK the power supply does not sound like it is the problem. It could be the wire size or your connections. Make sure there is not short between your plates and each pair/cell is getting about the same voltage. How thick are you gaskets? Pictures might help. Maximum KOH is 28% by weight.

28% = 389g per Liter of distilled water This is MAXIMUM for KOH

Hi sorry for the delay replying , I have tested again and with the bubbler higher I get better flow and around 6 amps with 200g of koh in 1 litre of water , If I change connections to miss the first plate and the last plate so it's 6 plates it draws about 10 amps and bubbles away quite nice but still only getting around 1/2 per 2 mins ! The gaskets I think are about 2mm but I will have to check , I will also post a pic when I get change

Thanks for your help

Alan

Hello , i`m having the same problem , i`m pulling just 1 amp from the car battery.
I also connected my cell to a laptop charger at 19v and 3.42amps and it pulls 3 amps (same mixture).

sorry for bugging in your post

Don't want to tread on anyone's toes being a newbie.

But how is the amp meter connecetd?

If the cell is running and you take a readinng from - to - you will get a silly low reading.

1/4 of a litre/ min at that concentration of KOH for the plate size is really low.

Strip cell and check for contanimatin on the faces,.

I've found reversing the polarity helps once in a while.
Ie; -nnnn+nnnn- to
+nnnn-nnnn+
keeps plates clean.

Measure the voltage at the power supply then measure it at the terminals on the reactor.

If they are within 0.5V then proceed to measuring the voltage at the plates.

If that checks out within 0.5V then turn the system off and let it settle for a few mins and measure the continuity between the anode and cathode.

If, for some reason, that checks out (post back with ohms) then you may need to analyze how your system liquid flows from input to output. If the case is that water flow is restricted and gas is building up then you can see low current draw due to less active plate surface area.

Another useful tool is an infared temperature gun which can be had fairly cheap these days. Large temperature variances (when measuring from top to bottom of reactor) could certainly suggest restricted water flow.