Wiring question from Newbie

Hey all,
We have a generator we bought from Liberty Industries on the recommendation of someone we know. It has 16 316l SS plates (15 cells), each being 6x6. The question is about the wiring as there are 4 wires on it. Attached to the two end plates are 1- red(+) and 1-black(-). In addition, there are two more wires, 1- red on plate 6 and 1-black on plate 10. The until came with no wiring instructions so does anyone know how to reach Bill Luedke of Liberty? The website is offline and his phone is disconnected.

Anyway, can someone weigh in on this wiring? I am using distilled water with a 20% by wt KOH electrolyte, running 24 volts from 2 car batteries in series. The first time we ran it, the wires got very hot and melted the insulation. At that time I had connected the 2 red leads on the generator to the + side from the battery, with the 2 black leads connected to the neg. Have not bought an ammeter yet but I plan to do so.

Appreciate any suggestions. Thanks!

What you describe is

+nnnn-nnn+nnnnn- ?

Should be (in theory)

+nnnn-nnnn+nnnn-

Wiring up sounds right both reds to + and black to - or you could reverse the red to - and black to + (Dc current isnt colour choosey providing theres a circut) but high amp draw would melt insulation.

Check plate wiring and adjust.
Cut the concentration of electrolye or reduce the power the cell can draw to stay within the wiring capacity.

If wiring is 40 amp rated don't feed it 70 amps.

That generator is configured for 12volts, not 24 volts.

You need to use 12v or reconfigure it something like +nnnnnnnnnnn- for 24volts.

Pete.

According to HHo cell configurator +nnnnnnnnnnnnnn- would get less than 1l/min @24v
+nnnn-nnnn+nnnn+ would get in excess of 2l/min @24v

Seems cell was built with wrong neutral plate configuration?
Check for shorting out and then look at..........
Are the wires connected directly to the batteries?
no fuse/relay/ampmeter/pwm?
= no control over what the cell can and will try to pull amp wise.

melting wires = too many amps = too much KOH.

Reconfigure cell so theres an equal amount of neutrals in between the + and -
start with new distilled water and add small amounts of KOH then watch production and feel wires for heat.
fuse/relay/ampmeter/pwm should be on the shopping list.

Any chance of a picture to show the connections for the plates?

I also agree with coalman about small amounts of koh. i have known a starting point of 2-3% koh solution.