Plates or coils??

[Donny]

Hi all.

I am new to the site and would like to ask what preferences there are for those who build their own HHO systems.

You tube is full of ideas about this but you rarely hear end results of the tests. I generally use stainless steel wire in my tests, quite cheap and easy to get hold of in huge quantities as mig welding wire, just watch your eyes as it is very springy.

I am now considering tests with squashed coils to see what sort of production I get compared to the amps required.

Has anyone else done their own tests and what did you find worked?

[RustyLugNut]

It all really boils down to surface area and flux ( amperes per unit area ).

I have used welding wire, rods and plates. Efficiency wise, they all perform the same when compared to the Faraday standard in a cell. There are no magical configurations. It is all just packaging.

The rule of thumb is to use about one amp per square centimeter of 316L SS. I use 304 and 308 SS because I can get scraps from the shop for free. But, I must reduce the amperes to about 0.5 amps/cm and even less or plating will occur at a substantial rate.

Just take the diameter of your wire, calculate your circumference, and multiply by your wire length. This gives you the area of your electrodes and the current it should handle.

[Donny]

Hi rustylugnut.

Diameter is .8mm so should be 2.5mm circumference.
length is 2 feet ( 609.6mm )

so, is it 1524 area, correct??

[RustyLugNut]

Yes, that is close enough. Now just convert it to square centimeters.

[Donny]

This cant be right,, 23225.76

[RustyLugNut]

No it's not. Since there are 100 square mm in a square cm , just move the decimal over to the left two places and you would get your answer ( the same as dividing by 100 ).

[Donny]

oh yeah, huh, been a long day bud...

so obviously with that rule of thumb, it will draw way too much current.

also at 6" length instead of 2 foot would give 14.51 cm 2

[RustyLugNut]

oh yeah, huh, been a long day bud...

so obviously with that rule of thumb, it will draw way too much current.

also at 6" length instead of 2 foot would give 14.51 cm 2

It is better to have more surface area than your running current would require so as to have the lowest possible amperes per unit area. This increases you electrode life dramatically. And, the current draw is not controlled by the surface area as such, though it is a limiting parameter. Driving voltage, electrolyte concentration and temperature will dictate greatly your current draw.

[Donny]

Thanks for your help, best thing I can do is build this one as the 6" lengths coiled and see what the current draw is.

[RustyLugNut]

That is a good plan. You can add or subtract length much more easily with wire than messing with plates. Just jump in and start doing. Nothing beats learning by doing.