fist the Mason Jar, then the switch plate... Now the mixing bowl

[Owen_]

This is a little project i'm working on. I'm posting the construction on my blog, which i haven't put up yet, but here is a little sneak peak of the next thing in ghetto HHO cell construction.
I have a bit more to do on it before it is ready for testing, but i'm hoping it will hold water by tomorrow at this time.

[fastcompacts]

WOW is all i have to say. that is what i call thinking outside the box. I love the ingenuity. That is gonna have a lot of surface area to work with once you get it up and running. I would love to know more details about it gaskets, how you set up the pos and neg plates.all those goodies thanks for the post and GOOD LUCK!!!

[Owen_]

update; i didn't get much done today. I'm using some big rubber bands rapped around the top of the bowl as a gasket. I've been struggling to keep the spacing equal all the way around each bowl, and all of them at the same time. Also I'm not using nylon bolts, (steel w/heat shrink) and that is shorting things out.

Further more i'm second guessing a current leakage prevention device (some bits of plastic and scouring pads jammed between plates... i mean bowls). I suspect that they will block water and gas flow too much, and i should just test this thing with out them, which means more work at this point.
did i mention that I'm building this in my car? that adds some complications too.

The bowls are 1.5qt size, they are 300 series SS, but i don't know which, likely 304. They are about .012" thick on the rim. I have 8 stacked (one +, one -, and 6 N)

I don't really know how i'm going to go about attaching hoses to this thing yet, epoxy is my only thought right now.

Also when i find that the gaskets don't work very well at all i'm thinking of just filling the gap in the rim with silicone caulking.

[fastcompacts]

update; i didn't get much done today. I'm using some big rubber bands rapped around the top of the bowl as a gasket. I've been struggling to keep the spacing equal all the way around each bowl, and all of them at the same time. Also I'm not using nylon bolts, (steel w/heat shrink) and that is shorting things out.

Further more i'm second guessing a current leakage prevention device (some bits of plastic and scouring pads jammed between plates... i mean bowls). I suspect that they will block water and gas flow too much, and i should just test this thing with out them, which means more work at this point.
did i mention that I'm building this in my car? that adds some complications too.

The bowls are 1.5qt size, they are 300 series SS, but i don't know which, likely 304. They are about .012" thick on the rim. I have 8 stacked (one +, one -, and 6 N)

I don't really know how i'm going to go about attaching hoses to this thing yet, epoxy is my only thought right now.

Also when i find that the gaskets don't work very well at all i'm thinking of just filling the gap in the rim with silicone caulking.

Well the first point you mentioned about shorting out looks like the biggest hurdle to overcome. I personally dont like nylon bolts, but with your current design they may have to be used. The stainless bolts with the shrink wrap seems like its not stopping your current from shorting out. Or If you wanna stick with the stainless bolts have you considered maybe making some sort of endplates so that the bolts wouldnt have to touch every bowl. Im sure there are plenty of other ideas out there but my brain is running on fumes right now.
Also if you are building this for your car where do you intend to put this generator? If you have room under the hood of your car i will be in sheer awe. So im guessing its more likely going to go in the trunk. Thought about how you are gonna mount it? just watch out for potential shorts when mounting it. Im sure you have already thought about how to insulate the area where you mount the cell.
As far as mounting the hoses with epoxy i personally have never had much luck with it ( cant ever seem to seal it off completely). I have found that some nylon barbs (found at lowes/home depot) with some teflon tape work really well and are much less of a pain in the you know what.
That silicone may work for making gaskets but i dont even wanna think of how long that might take (making sure its even and what not). I have one idea that is coming to me but i have no idea about price or availibity.... what about something like the rubber gaskets that come inside of a pressure cooker. Im guessing that the size would probably be right in the ballpark that you are working with. But again i have no idea where you could find those or how much it would cost. But again GOOD LUCK and let me know how the battle goes

[fastcompacts]

Oh and i think the general thought process is 5N plates as that gets you right into the 2 volt per plate ballpark. 6N plates would make you have a lower voltage per plate.

[Owen_]

Oh and i think the general thought process is 5N plates as that gets you right into the 2 volt per plate ballpark. 6N plates would make you have a lower voltage per plate.

well my car runs at 13.9-14V, generally 14V, so if the stainless had no resistance it would be a 2V drop. The bowls are rather thin, .012" at the thickest part. I figure 6N is worth a try, I'd rather the first test have really lame out put and spectacular efficiency. (spectacular for a cell that cost less than $20)

[fastcompacts]

I see in your avatar that it looks like you got your bowl cell put together. Is it up and running or is it still a work in progress?

[Owen_]

I see in your avatar that it looks like you got your bowl cell put together. Is it up and running or is it still a work in progress?

still working on it, i'm actually taking a break from soldering right now. I got it to a point where it would hold water and filled it with some distilled water and a little baking soda (about one tablespoon per L). It didn't do anything across all 7 gaps, but across 3 is pulled a few amps, and made gas. I didn't have hose connectors attached at the time, so i didn't do much playing. As you can see in the pic i did attach some barbs, but this continues to be my primary problem with the assembly. It is quite difficult to get a good seal on them. I haven't thoght of any good solutions for this problem, yet. I'm considering a big wad of silicone, and I may re-drill the hole and fit them with rubber grommets, which is what i did, but it didn't work out so well the first time. I also may just remake the top bowl. I've globed on several types of epoxy which keep falling off the SS. And since then i've read that epoxy don't hold up well to electrolyte.

I'm running a few days behind on my blog, but have a back log of writing and pics that needs a little editing. I don't know how much time i'll have to work on this in the next few days, but with some luck it will be up and running by Mon.

[fastcompacts]

Well it looks like things are slowly but surely heading in the right direction. If its holding water that a huge step forward. With the issue with your plates may be that the electrolyte may not be strong enough. Try adding more baking soda or better yet switch to something like KOH (potassium hydroxide). What kind of epoxy have you tried. I think there has to be some sort of epoxy out there that is rated for use on SS. I would try to prep the areas that you are going to epoxy really well... Scuff up the area really well so that the epoxy has something to hold on to and make sure the area is cleaned really well before putting the epoxy on again ( i would think that oils and other contaminants would effect the ability of the epoxy to stick to the SS). I saw on your blog the your technique for making the holes is not an exact science which may not be helping the fact but hey use what you got. Another thing that i would recommend is teflon tape. i think it works really well and its pretty cheap like $0.99 a roll at home depot/lowes. And always GOOD LUCK