Originally Posted by
myoldyourgold
It would be a real advantage to be able to see exactly what is happening inside the reactor. Since we are not able to do that we have to use what we see on each plate when we take a unit apart. You can learn a lot once you have learned what each variation of color and marking on the plates mean.
I have seen no reports or evidence that a vacuum has any advantage but just the opposite. Pressure on the other hand has proven to keep the bubbles small thus allowing for more bubbles, less hot spots, no large bubbles blocking the flow, and a few other things. The problem with pressure over 3 to 4 pounds requires a lot more safety devises but does work. To avoid all of this the simple and easy solution is to media blast the plates. This keeps the bubble small and so no extra pressure is necessary. You only have to work out the proper flow/pressure to assist the bubbles on their journey. Here is where plate design is important. Insulate all your ports with Weld-on 16.
With out the use of an expensive pump (which has some disadvantages) there is a few things you can do. The most critical to me is the size of the input/balance port on the plate. All I can tell you is that to big does not work. Pressure increases when the ports are smaller. It is like putting your finger over the end of a garden hose to shoot the water farther. The balance between the exit port and the in put port is extremely important. I can only tell you to experiment by using Weldon 16 to close down the input port(s) until you find the sweet spot. I know it's a lot of work but because position and size of the both ports are all over the place it is hard to give you a rule to follow.
To summarize stay away from vacuum, media blast you plates, size your input ports smaller than the exit ports, experiment to find the sweet spot as far as input port size goes buy using Weldon 16 to make it smaller. When you have it right you will have more HHO per amp and no more heat or possibly a little less.