My cell is not like yours.

[Jaxom]

I've been on this forum for about 2 weeks now and I have yet to see anyone using a cell built like mine, so I figured it was time to throw it out there for comments/suggestions/etc. Here you go, tell me what you think.

Pics are not an option right this minute...my digicam has issues. I can try to explain my cell design but it's a little unorthodox. It uses 24 SS switch covers, cut in half long ways to make 48 plates that are approx. 5"x1.5" in size. The plates are arranged in two layers of 24. I've come to realize that I have far more surface area in this cell than I can effectively make use of....the plates will handle much more current than heat buildup will allow. You could probably use 12 covers (24 electrodes) and do just as well with a smaller cell. The plates are laid out in a radial pattern, which is probably a big surprise to some of you guys. There is a piece of 3/4" PVC for a support core run straight down the center, with the plates radiating out from it like spokes on a wheel. The plates lay with the long cut edge against the core. 3/4" PVC unions with slots in the ends hold the plates in place, the unions are secured to the core with regular PVC cement. Friction holds the plates in the slots during assembly, once the cell is in it's housing there is simply not enough clearance for them to fall out of place.

The top outer corners of the plates have 1/8" holes drilled in them, and short SS bolts and nuts are used to hold the supply wiring against the plates. The electrical configuration uses 3+, 3-, and 18n plates per layer. The config is essentially 6 +nnn- cells in parallel, per layer. Both sides of all the electrodes are productive surfaces (720 square inches in my 2-layer cell,) which is why I chose to try this layout, and the whole assembly slides into a 4" PVC tube 15" long with about 2" to spare. A single layer cell this style would be around 10" and provide 360sq.in. of productive surface area.

My electrolyte is NaOH (lye crystals) at about 7.5mL/gal.

Edit: To clarify on the electrical layout, the + and - plates are shared, so the layout is
+nnn-nnn+nnn-nnn+nnn-nnn+, with the first and last + being two sides of the same plate. It's hard to illustrate a circular layout in text format.

[spob]

Sounds interesting. What is the gas production like? How many amps are you drawing?

[Jaxom]

The first test run showed 2.5lpm at 12.5v and 18A after a 15-minute warmup. The measurement was taken using an airflow gauge (which I don't entirely trust the accuracy of) so don't quote me on it just yet. I still need to verify the gauge's accuracy using the "water displacement" method. Regardless of the gauge, production LOOKS very good, with a 1/4" output tube bubbling too fast to count the bubbles.

[HomeGrown]

Extremely interesting design concept! How did you index the unions to cut the 12 slots, and what did you use to cut it? I gotta believe that was a real chore cutting those plate covers in half.

Assuming a 4" o.d. of your plate assembly:

12.50 (circumference) divided by 24 plates = pretty close to a 1/2" plate gap towards the outer perimiter of the cell, while having the more traditional .06 gap @ the hub. You may have a lot of surface area, but I bet less than 30% of it is being utilized for gas production, unless you're running a really potent electrolyte. Have you watched it running open-top to see how far out the plates you're producing bubbles?

[Omega]

A picture is worth a thousand words. I hope you can post a picture of your masterpiece. It sounds really wild.

[BAD MEDICINE]

I would be very interested in a picture too

[JojoJaro]

The first test run showed 2.5lpm at 12.5v and 18A after a 15-minute warmup. The measurement was taken using an airflow gauge (which I don't entirely trust the accuracy of) so don't quote me on it just yet.

What does you gut feeling tell you the LPM should be?

Even if your reading is off by 20%, I think that is still awesome production for 18A and its size. Did you cross-hatch the plates?

How much for you to build me one? Maybe sell me what you've got and go build a better one. I'm ready to install one in my Duramax.

[Jaxom]

I was under the impression the wires were SS when I built the cell, but after running it I have found that the cut ends of the wire are corroding, which leads me to believe they are copper wires with some type of coating or plating. It's the same heat-resistant wire used on O2 sensors.

Further testing is showing a little less output than that first run. It's in the range of 2.0lpm consistently at 12.5v and 18-20A. It's not ready to go in a vehicle yet though...it's getting pretty warm at this production level (up to around 160F) and the PVC softens a little after running for a while. After a 1-hour test run last weekend the terminals and output nipple were noticably loose in the plastic, enough so that the HHO began to leak out around the fitting and the flow reading dropped some.

[ICEMAN.KCMO]

are you running a flooded cell?

[BoyntonStu]

I've been on this forum for about 2 weeks now and I have yet to see anyone using a cell built like mine, so I figured it was time to throw it out there for comments/suggestions/etc. Here you go, tell me what you think.

Pics are not an option right this minute...my digicam has issues. I can try to explain my cell design but it's a little unorthodox. It uses 24 SS switch covers, cut in half long ways to make 48 plates that are approx. 5"x1.5" in size. The plates are arranged in two layers of 24. I've come to realize that I have far more surface area in this cell than I can effectively make use of....the plates will handle much more current than heat buildup will allow. You could probably use 12 covers (24 electrodes) and do just as well with a smaller cell. The plates are laid out in a radial pattern, which is probably a big surprise to some of you guys. There is a piece of 3/4" PVC for a support core run straight down the center, with the plates radiating out from it like spokes on a wheel. The plates lay with the long cut edge against the core. 3/4" PVC unions with slots in the ends hold the plates in place, the unions are secured to the core with regular PVC cement. Friction holds the plates in the slots during assembly, once the cell is in it's housing there is simply not enough clearance for them to fall out of place.

The top outer corners of the plates have 1/8" holes drilled in them, and short SS bolts and nuts are used to hold the supply wiring against the plates. The electrical configuration uses 3+, 3-, and 18n plates per layer. The config is essentially 6 +nnn- cells in parallel, per layer. Both sides of all the electrodes are productive surfaces (720 square inches in my 2-layer cell,) which is why I chose to try this layout, and the whole assembly slides into a 4" PVC tube 15" long with about 2" to spare. A single layer cell this style would be around 10" and provide 360sq.in. of productive surface area.

My electrolyte is NaOH (lye crystals) at about 7.5mL/gal.



Edit: To clarify on the electrical layout, the + and - plates are shared, so the layout is
+nnn-nnn+nnn-nnn+nnn-nnn+, with the first and last + being two sides of the same plate. It's hard to illustrate a circular layout in text format.

For square inch calculation, you just count the area of the SMALLEST area of ONE side of a plate in each cell.

BoyntonStu