stainless steel shim stock

[thedore]

I got really good results by using .007 thick stainless steel shim stock from Mcmaster Carr. 2 pieces were cut to 6 inches by 21 inches then the first was placed over a 4.5 inch wide piece of 1/2 inch foam. A second piece of foam was added and a second piece of shim stock. The whole thing was rolled to make a double spiral about 6 inches in diameter. As the stainless stuck out at the top and bottom i drilled three holes on the top and bottom. Then i removed the foam and placed plastic screws in the holes with 1/4 inch plastic nuts as spacers. It all fits in a 3 liter soda bottle. You first cut the top half off the bottle and dip it in a frying pan holding boiling water to make the plastic shrink to fit inside the other section. This thing draws about 150 amps at 12 volts and puts out lots of HHO. I am still working on it. i may have to limit the current draw. btw the shim stock will cut your hands. I got cut 3 times. Use gloves.

[b4igo]

I got really good results by using .007 thick stainless steel shim stock from Mcmaster Carr. 2 pieces were cut to 6 inches by 21 inches then the first was placed over a 4.5 inch wide piece of 1/2 inch foam. A second piece of foam was added and a second piece of shim stock. The whole thing was rolled to make a double spiral about 6 inches in diameter. As the stainless stuck out at the top and bottom i drilled three holes on the top and bottom. Then i removed the foam and placed plastic screws in the holes with 1/4 inch plastic nuts as spacers. It all fits in a 3 liter soda bottle. You first cut the top half off the bottle and dip it in a frying pan holding boiling water to make the plastic shrink to fit inside the other section. This thing draws about 150 amps at 12 volts and puts out lots of HHO. I am still working on it. i may have to limit the current draw. btw the shim stock will cut your hands. I got cut 3 times. Use gloves.

Any chance you could run some tests to see how long your .007 stainless last over time?

[thedore]

I don't think it matters. If it works even for a short time it could lead us to a better design in using a spiral wind to mount two plates close to each other. At that point we could find a way to roll thicker pieces into a spiral.

[thedore]

Do you know of cases of deterioration of 316 stainless plates?

[Helz_McFugly]

I bought a 9"x9" 7 plate e-lyzer that the guy was running way to many amps on (up to 60amps) and the metal has been almost torn away. It should not have been ran over 12vdc/32 amps being surface area was 64 sq. in. that were not covered by the gasket. it is 316L 16 gauge SS. there is a deep line all the way around the metal where the gasket started and there are spot on the metal that look as if someone held a sand blaster to for a long time and almost ate through the metal.

[RustyLugNut]

Commercial electrolysis units use iron or nickel-iron plates in alkaline baths. The key is controlling the amperage across the plates to minimize corrosion. Off the top of my head I don't remember what the exact number is, but, it is low, on the order of .5 A per square centimeter. Helz's example is a good study of over amping your plates.

Amperage densities varies with the plate material. Stainless steel of all alloys is not good. Iron is much better but needs to be run constantly with de-ionized water and near-pure electrolytes. Nickel is the best of non-precious metal electrodes. Look for a forum thread on this subject. Over voltage is greatly reduced, cell resistance is reduced and output is improved with less internal heat production. It is the material of choice for electrodes for the last hundred years or so. There is someone selling plates for a very fair price if you look in the "for sale" section.

I personally use 304 stainless in de-ionized water with a super-saturated NaOH electrolyte. I run no more than 10 amps through each cell with each cell having a 30 square inches of surface area in concentric tube configuration. The material and tube config are only due to the fact we have a ton of scrap laying in back of the shop. Thus it is free. And, at low amp densities, after 7 years of constant running, the front line 4 cell unit we use is showing little to no corrosion.

Rusty.

[thedore]

For the 9 x 9 plates perhaps the current is too high. I tried making 10 plates of stainless but they never worked. 2 plates were fine but when you increase this there is minimal effect. My current numbers are 2 plates of 6 x 16 = 384 sq. inches. current = 45 amps. output approx. 1 liter per minute. This gives .13 amps per sq. inch or .02 amps per cm^2

I am still testing this and have not installed it you. It will have to go in the trunk with wires and a tube to get to engine.

[lhazleton]

thedore,
Am I misinerpreting, or are you going to run just 2 6x16 plates?
If so, it'll never work. All you'll get is steam. If you tried running 10 plates in one stack without results, it's because of the configuration. Between each (+) & (-) plate, there should be between 5 & 7 bipolar (neutral) plates with a 28% KOH E/lyte.
Your current setup (2-6x16 plates) is 96 sq. in., not 384. You only measure the working area of one side of one plate for density & MMW measurements.
Mine is 6x6, 33 plates, 32 cells in 4 stacks with a working area of 27 sq. in.. Puts out nearly 2 lpm @ 18 amps.
Let us know what materials you have to work with & we can give you a better idea of how to set up your reactor.
Lee

[thedore]

I am using a spiral wound length of stainless so most of the area is exposed on both sides. I have a picture but cannot upload it.

[Helz_McFugly]

you can email the pics to me and i can upload them here for you helz_mcfugly@yahoo.com
I cant picture what your e-lyzer even begins to look like but Ide like it to be seen so we can help you get it working efficiently

spiral wound length of stainless ????????