New student, HHO generator issues...

[sho14u]

Hey guys, new to the forum. I have signed up cuz I have been building these things for about 6 months now and I am stuck. My latest design is a 3 cell configuration (3 different units). In each unit I am using stainless steel wire with equal windings as you can see in the picture. I am using distilled water and Roebic drain cleaner (100% sodium hydroxide) as my solution. My problem is that I may not be wiring the unit correctly. When in use the unit draws less than 10 amps and seems to work well. The only problem is that the unit gets so hot that it actually melts the mounts for the wire and the acrylic base inside. I thought maybe it was a fluke so I built an identicle unit today and it did the same thing after about 10 miles. I notice that a lot of you are talking more about the wiring rather than the electrodes. I did the Home Depot stainless wall plate thing and it got so hot that I couldn't run it for more than about 10 minutes at a 20 amp load. I know you may be asking if my electrodes are touching, no the are not. I have taken great effort to make the electrodes isolated and insulated. I know I am missing something here, probably the wiring I would assume. I have also built a unit out of stainless shim stock at a .060 thickness plate with the same results with heat and meltdown. Please help.. I wanna get better gas mileage, but more importantly I want to prove that the average village idiot can make something that the automobile manufacters fail to integrate into their cars. Oops... Did I say that out loud? :D

[Painless]

I'm wondering if it is just the mounts getting hot as opposed to the whole electrode system? Can you give more information as to what you have used here?

It might be worth running the system for a while then pulling one apart and comparing the heat of the wire spirals to the mounts. Some bad connections here may be the issue. It might also be prudent to fit some rubber grommets to isolate the mounts from the plastic.

[sho14u]

Not sure what you mean by mounts. The mounts that the electrode mounts to the case? It seems that the wire or conductor that is not in the solution gets way hot to the point that it melts the ABS and also the acrylic on the lower half. Do you think I have the system wired correct or is there a better way?

[Jaxom]

Is that 10A for each of the three units, or 10A for all three together? Also what size is the SS wire? The wire may be too thin to handle the current.

[redneckgearhead34]

I agree with Jaxom. Check the gauge of the ss. I have built some cell very similair to yours. I used KOH though as my electrolyte. I had problems when there was too much KOH and my acrylic towers melted. I have to say that these water4gas designes are worthless. I would switch to something else.

[sho14u]

I am using .030 SS 316L wire. The total draw from all three units combined is between 9 and 10 amps cold.

[sho14u]

Well I use this method because the plate method created way too much heat and draw on my system, round 20amps. Would love to use the plate method as it produces more gas as there is more surface area than wire.

[scrode]

Plates are the better way, more surface area = more production. It sounds like your pushing to many volts through the wires causing them to heat up. on my first gen (using plates +n-n+) the connecting bolts would get to hot. then I put more neutrals in and changed the configuration -nnnnn+ and it changed everything. no more heat. having the plates utilizing all the volts.

That being said the only thing I can think of is using more and thicker wire to stop the voltage bottleneck is all I can think of for your design. hopefully some else can explain the wire probs better:D

I'm to slow at typing Jaxom and redneck beat me to it:cool:

[sho14u]

So based on your design, you only have two plates active? One positive, one negative with 5 neutral plates in between?

[scrode]

yup :cool: they are about 3"X6" plates spaced at 1/16" not sure what grade.

[sho14u]

Here are some pics of another unit I built using the wire design. I made it way too complicated and it was impossible to adjust. Oh and it had a meltdown too... Can you tell that I used that beginner crap in the nice orange box that yer mama keeps in the fridge?

[Jaxom]

.030" is a pretty thin wire, and 316L isn't the most conductive metal in the world....you're probably just over-drawing the wire. Either go to a thicker wire or use 4 coils in each cell (2+ and 2-.)

You'd still be better off with a plate cell, in my opinion.

[redneckgearhead34]

i just got an idea. Maybe you could try a neutral wire.

[sho14u]

I think I will go back to the plate design. For those of you that are looking for good plate to use in the thickness you want, try going to a heavy equipment shop or supplier. I was able to get two different thicknesses of SS at a 316 grade. Ask for shim stock. It is about 6 inches wide by about 6 feet long. I have a shear press at home to cut these into the sizes that I need. I am starting to think that using neutral plates is the way to go. Why is this? Is it because you use less draw on the system? Also, anyone have any comments on my electrolyzer? I am using Roebic drain cleaner (100% sodium hydroxide) as my solution in granule form that I got from Home Depot. Seems to work great, clean and produces a great amount of gas.

[Smith03Jetta]

I think some of your heat problems come from how you've got your system wired. If you run your cells in series I think you could reduce your heat. It appears that you have your 3 cells wired up parallel.

Connect the positive wire to the positive post of the first cell.
Connect the negative post of the first cell to the positive of the second cell.
Connect the negative post of the second cell to the positive of the third cell.
Connect the negative post of the third cell to the engine ground.

This should help you reduce your amp draw and reduce your heat.

Now for some tips that will help you actually make some HHO. Throw the whole system away and start over again with a plate design. Build one like mine and sit back and forget about it. Mine has consistent amp draw, consistent output, low temperature operation. No problems whatsoever. I'll be pulling it apart for inspection this weekend. I expect no problems. I've been running the one in my Jetta now for months...

[sho14u]

Thanks for all your info. I am going to go back to the plate and use your design. Can you send me some pics of your design? Or do you have some in here?

[countryboy18]

well you can build one hell of a setup with the spiral gen that is amazing. what do you do for a living to have a shear press in you garage? well good luck on the plates. i thing most of us started with a spiral cell and just moved on from that. i am thing of making a spiral cell with a neutral wires. just for kicks.

[sho14u]

Well I actually do outside sales in the salon industry which affords me the ability to tinker in my shop. I dont have a big shear press, just a notcher that does 6 inch cuts at a max thickness of 16 guage, thats on soft metals, so about 18 to 20 guage max on SS. I have built tons of things that most people wouldnt tackle including a 120 gallon saltwater reef tank from scratch. So I know how to bond and build acrylic boxes and such. I am going to build an acrylic unit for my next generator so I can see whats happening. I will keep ya posted and post pics as I go. You have any pics of your current unit?

[countryboy18]

thanks look forward to see what you create!