New to HHO, lots of questions

[WJB]

I've been reading about HHO for a while and have read from all the people that say it does work and all the people that say it doesn't. So after a friend ordered a couple kits and gave me one I guess I'll just try it for myself and see if I can get any results. But I have some concerns...

First, I have a 01 Dodge turbo diesel. I'm concerned about the HHO building up in the intercooler. I saw a video on youtube where a guy in a VW diesel blew his intercooler because he left the HHO on before the engine was started. When it fired he blew stuff up. I don't want to blow stuff up. :) I'm thinking of just putting the hho output tube inside the airbox pre turbo.

Second, the hho cell that I have is probably pretty primitive compared to some out there and won't be as efficient. But will this work as a starter system just to test for any gains at all? If I see any mileage improvement then at least I know the gas production and extra fuel is outweighing the energy used to create it. Below is a pic.

Also, I've heard the more baking soda , or whatever you use for the electrolysis, the more amps you draw and more hho you produce. Too much will blow fuses, get too hot, etc and too little won't produce enough gas. Is there a safe starter formula I could use like 1 tsp of baking soda to 1 qt distilled water? Should I use vinegar instead, or something else?

My plan is to have it hooked up on a switch and just turn it on when hwy driving and turn it off a mile or so before I stop to make sure all the hho is cleared out of the system. Later I'll hook it up to a boost switch that will only turn the hho generator on at 2-3 lbs of boost.

I'll probably have more questions and any help is appreciated. Thanks.

http://www.belletc.net/misc/hho.jpg

[daveczrn]

I've been reading about HHO for a while and have read from all the people that say it does work and all the people that say it doesn't. So after a friend ordered a couple kits and gave me one I guess I'll just try it for myself and see if I can get any results. But I have some concerns...

First, I have a 01 Dodge turbo diesel. I'm concerned about the HHO building up in the intercooler. I saw a video on youtube where a guy in a VW diesel blew his intercooler because he left the HHO on before the engine was started. When it fired he blew stuff up. I don't want to blow stuff up. :) I'm thinking of just putting the hho output tube inside the airbox pre turbo.

Yes that is why we hook up a relay to the ignition switch. By doing this the generator will not be making HHO without the ignition being on. This will greatly reduce the chance of a backfire.

Second, the hho cell that I have is probably pretty primitive compared to some out there and won't be as efficient. But will this work as a starter system just to test for any gains at all? If I see any mileage improvement then at least I know the gas production and extra fuel is outweighing the energy used to create it. Below is a pic.

I'm not sure if you will see a real benifit from this design. You need more surface area for the HHO to be produced. Wire works but not as well as a plate would.

Also, I've heard the more baking soda , or whatever you use for the electrolysis, the more amps you draw and more hho you produce. Too much will blow fuses, get too hot, etc and too little won't produce enough gas. Is there a safe starter formula I could use like 1 tsp of baking soda to 1 qt distilled water? Should I use vinegar instead, or something else?

baking soda turns the plates/wire black and causes them to not work as well anymore. Unfortunatly no one on the board has come up with a way for a non toxic way of producing HHO that i know of.

My plan is to have it hooked up on a switch and just turn it on when hwy driving and turn it off a mile or so before I stop to make sure all the hho is cleared out of the system. Later I'll hook it up to a boost switch that will only turn the hho generator on at 2-3 lbs of boost.

I'll probably have more questions and any help is appreciated. Thanks.


I have thought about a staged system when i will only use one cell for driving around town but use 2-4 cells for highway driving. Maybe something you would want to think about.

[timetowinarace]

The guy with the VW blew his intercooler because he cycled his glowplugs twice while hho was present in the system. The glowglugs ignited th hho. I have a unit on an '06 dodge diesel w/no problems. It has a switch to turn it off so it does not run if the heater grid comes on during cold days. It also will not run with the ignition key off.

watch for heat in your cell, that seems to be the only major issue I see with it. The output shouldn't be very high but could provide some mileage gains. Try it.

You will have to measure amps to find out the best electrolyte consentration percentages for your cell. What you use isn't criticle.

[WJB]

The guy with the VW blew his intercooler because he cycled his glowplugs twice while hho was present in the system. The glowglugs ignited th hho. I have a unit on an '06 dodge diesel w/no problems. It has a switch to turn it off so it does not run if the heater grid comes on during cold days. It also will not run with the ignition key off.

watch for heat in your cell, that seems to be the only major issue I see with it. The output shouldn't be very high but could provide some mileage gains. Try it.

You will have to measure amps to find out the best electrolyte consentration percentages for your cell. What you use isn't criticle.

Ok, thanks. I guess the ratio of baking soda to water determines the amp draw and heat produced right? How much should I start with?

Also, what kind of amp meter should I use and do you hook it up inline with the positive? Or positive and negative? Not sure..

[WJB]

Ok, thanks. I guess the ratio of baking soda to water determines the amp draw and heat produced right? How much should I start with?

Also, what kind of amp meter should I use and do you hook it up inline with the positive? Or positive and negative? Not sure..

Anyone?      

[Stratous]

Ok, thanks. I guess the ratio of baking soda to water determines the amp draw and heat produced right? How much should I start with?

Also, what kind of amp meter should I use and do you hook it up inline with the positive? Or positive and negative? Not sure..


If you get an old style ammeter, you will hook it inline with the positive power feed. The + sign on the meter comes from the battery, the - sign goes to the device. There are inductive gauges, but they are pretty expensive. The advantages to inductive are as follows. Easily hooked up, dont have to run large gauge wire into cab, easier to mount.
Old style are much cheaper, but are only hard to hook up because of the large gauge wire that must be used if you plan on pulling much juice.

Baking soda is not my thing, so I cant really help there. Most people use a tablespoon or so for a large mason jar I believe.

[timetowinarace]

The analog amp gauge I put in my truck came from carquest. 0-60 amps. I saw one at harbor freight, 0-50 amps, for four bucks so I bought it for future use. They are getting hard to find.

[WJB]

The analog amp gauge I put in my truck came from carquest. 0-60 amps. I saw one at harbor freight, 0-50 amps, for four bucks so I bought it for future use. They are getting hard to find.

Thanks, I have a harbor freight right around the corner that I'll check.

Also, do I need a bubbler? This jar design has two outlets, a small pressure safety vent and a small tube that goes from the bottom of the jar to an adjustable vent on the top and they call that the bubbler. I thought the purpose of the separate bubbler was to prevent ignited gas from getting back to the cell? What's a bubbler doing in the cell itself?

Interesting stuff. I can't wait to get familiar enough to make my own cell with plates.

BTW, my 01 5.9L diesel is getting 21-23mpg hwy right now without any HHO. I've put 4" turbo back exhaust (with a factory sized muffler and resonator), Edge EZ programmer on level 2 and a few aerodynamic mods. This is a quad cab long bed with a ladder rack and hi-side tool boxes so I'm pretty happy with the mileage so far... but would love to see 30+ (who wouldn't)