PLEASE READ THIS THREAD. IT WILL BE HELPFUL TO YOU ON YOUR JOURNEY. YOU WILL SEE MY MISTAKES AND SUCCESSES IN KIND. PLEASE DO NOT DUPLICATE ANYTHING THAT I TRIED PRIOR TO POST NUMBER 190. PLEASE READ AS I SAID BUT ANYTHING I TRIED PRIOR TO POST #190 YOU WILL BE WASTING YOUR TIME AND MONEY...
THANKS AND ENJOY THIS THREAD.
Hello,
My name is Mr. Smith. I'm a sceptic. I'm not sure if this will work or not. I am, however willing to give it a try. The worst that can happen is I damage my engine and have to do a rebuild. The best that will happen is I discover how to increase my fuel mileage using an unorthodox method.
I commute 60 miles round trip monday through friday. I am an IT professional. I'm also a mechanic and custom motorcycle builder. I get 60 mpg riding my 86' Harley Davidson 883cc Sportster Hardtail Chopper. The great MPG is mainly due to the reduction in weight compared to a stock motorcycle. The vehicle weighs approximately 150 lbs less than the standard weight of 500 lbs.
The car that I drive to and from work (When I'm not riding motorcycles) is a 2003 Volkswagen Jetta. It's a 2.0 liter, 5 speed car that gets 30 mpg on average.
Correction:::
""" This car really doesn't get 30 miles per gallon """ That was a mistake on my part. It gets 25 mpg or so.
5/3/08 Day 1
Built rudimentary glass mason jar HH0 Generator from materials I had laying around my garage.
Used quart mason jar, stainless steel wire spiral with PVC pipe x-frame.
5/4/08 Day 2
Used 12 volt motorcycle battery to energize
Used no fuse
Used no bubbler
Water fizzed almost instantly
Was skeptic whether bubbles were steam or Hydrogen/Oxygen
Decided to light end of tube with torch to see for myself
Small explosion occurred
The metal lid blew off the quart glass jar, jar was not damaged
Exited about results, decides to invest in materials to build better quality generator.
5/4/08 Day 1 (Continued)
Purchased materials to build PVC pipe generator
Built generator for test vehicle
Vehicle
2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLS
2.0, 5 speed
Pre-conversion specs, 30-31 mpg average
4 inch PVC with solid bottom cap and screw-in top cap.
6 pairs of stainless outlet covers as conducting plates
14 gauge wire
3/8 OD ¼ ID tubing quick connect fittings
1” braided tubing for bubbler tube
Electrolytic solution consists of 1.5 t-spoon Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda) per 2 quarts Distilled Water.
25 amp fuse
Wired into automobile fuse box so device turns off with ignition
Wired in a cutoff switch for selective use or emergency cutoff
Mounted device in passenger floorboard of test vehicle (Jetta)
Ran tube and ground wire through existing rubber plug in firewall.
Hooked ground wire directly to negative battery terminal screw.
Pulled Pre-Catalytic Converter O2 Sensor
Put in O2 Entender device to pull O2 sensor out of direct exhaust stream.
Made O2 Extender out of 2 Spark Plug Anti-Oil-Foul adapters
O2 extender is 1 ½” out of exhaust stream.
Not using a flashback device because I’ve not found a suitable device yet. Will try welding supply shop.
Turned device on and did 1 mile test run to make sure device was wired correctly and worked.
Noticed that positive terminal on Generator was loose. Tightened wing-nut.
Went to bed
5/5/08
Fine tuned installation and prepared for test run on next day.
Noticed that water level sight tube fitting was leaking. Sealed with Ultimate glue and allowed to cure overnight.
Sealed top of container with hot glue gun. easy enough to remove later for inspection/repair.
Will top off water/electrolyte through gas tube. No filling port available.
5/6/08
Turned device on and drove car 20 miles to gas station with device running
Filled tank. Topped off after automatic cutoff with extra 10 cents to make even $36.00
Price per gallon was $3.85
Gallons on Fill-up, 9.350 gallons.
Drove from gas station to workplace.
Turned off car/device
Rolled down windows slightly to help prevent evaporation of electrolyte solution in 90 degree sunny Georgia
weather.
Car will sit in direct sunlight for 2/3 of the day.
Observations of device in use.
Device Bubbled consistently. No idea as to volume produced.
Generator warmed up to 90 + degrees on ½ hour drive with no AC usage. No thermometer is installed to
get exact temperature.
Water in bubbler tended to blow up into engine supply line.
Some water flushed back into HHO generator when vehicle inertia caused water to move manually.
Really need to get a check-valve installed.
Bubbler tube at end of trip was 3” of water
Bubbler started at 5 inch level
I intend to use progressively smaller (Lower Amp) fuses to figure out what my actual amp draw is.
I can not test the amp draw while driving down the road. That seems unsafe.
Sooner or later one of the progressively smaller fuses will blow providing me with amp draw within 5 amps.
I will then put in a larger fuse and let it ride.
An O2 extender can be purchased at any auto parts store. It doesn't go by that name and will require a small modification.
Browse the "HELP" shelf and look for a device "That looks just like an O2 Extender" but is made for Spark plugs. It is designed to pull Spark plugs out of a cylinder that is leaking oil. It prevents the spark plug from gumming up. It's called a Oil Burner or Anti-Foul adapter. Just ask the couter person at Autozone, Advance, Oreilly or any other auto parts store in the world. I think it's a HELP! brand Part#42002 or 42009, 18mm.
You will need to make sure you get the right size threads. Spark plugs come in different sizes, you know... The best way to make sure is ask the counter guy to show you an O2 Sensor from the stacks behind the counter. It doesn't matter what kind. They are all the same size threads (To the best of my knowlege) except a few select vehicles. Saturn and some Toyotas, I think. Some trucks have a bolt on type sensor as well. Compare the threads to make sure you buy the right twin-pack of Anti-Foul Spark plug adapters.
It comes in a two pack. You will probably need to drill out "ONE" of the devices so the O2 sensor will fit. Do not drill out both extenders. The drill bit size will depend on the size of your O2 sensor. After that, screw the "drilled out" adapter into the non-drilled out adapter and install as shown in the attached photo. The photo is from a Scion but you get the idea.
I had a bit of trouble with the O2 sensor for my Jetta. It's got a metal shroud that's pretty wide around the actual sensor. I cut it off with a bandsaw so the O2 sensor would fit down in the Extender. The Extender does the same job as the shroud that I cut off. If cutting off the part damages my sensor, then I'm out about $45.00 and shipping.
The main purpose for trying this HHO conversion is to save money. The Ebay Extenders cost about $10.00 plus shipping and you have to wait on shipping. This pack costs about $4.00 and tax. You can install it the same day. You may have extra cost if you don't already have a properly sized drill bit. A 1/2" drill bit should be perfect for most applications.
I'm aware of the safety issue but I have no room under the hood of my car for the device. I'll have to take some time to remove my windshield washer fluid reservoir and build a generator that will fit in that space. That is, of course if this test improves my gas mileage noticeably.
I have put 47 miles on this tank of gas so far. Some of the time I used my AC. I've noticed that on the Interstate, it's more efficient to roll up the windows and use the AC. If you drive around 70mph with the windows down, it produces enough drag to reduce your mileage. Nothing really to report except as the device runs, it gets warmer. I'm not sure what the temp is...
I noticed that as it gets warmer, the machine makes more bubbles. As it makes more bubbles, they tend to foam slightly. This forces water out the top of the bubbler and into the line. I stopped at Home Depot and purchased at TEE and a valve. I put the tee in to drain off excess water into a reservoir to later pour back into the generator. I also need to figure out why it's getting so hot. The 25 amp fuse did not blow so i'll drop to a 20 amp fuse on my next 30 miles run this afternoon.
It's possible that I used too much baking soda. I'll get another gallon of water this afternoon and reduce the amount of soda. This should help, maybe???
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