spiral design

[gatorman]

i took 2 peices of 4"x50" and rolled then together, with plastic zip ties as spacers. when i hook directly to a 12v. battery it produces bubbles but the connection post get so hot it melts the pvc pipe around the connection bolts.
what type of switch can i use to reduce amps. or should i redesign the unit and make square plates?
thanks.

[c02cutter]

What and how much electrolyte? I know I have played with this in deionized water alone and it pulled 5 amps at 13.5v with no electrolye. My coil was 3" tall, using 24" long strips of 22g 304.

[BoyntonStu]

Guys, slow down.

When you make a single cell and you put it across 13.8 Volts, all voltage producing current over ~2 Volts is not electrolyzing.

Instead, this superfluous voltage and current is heating your electrolyte.

Solution?

Either add 5 or 6 cells in series to divide the voltage by the number of cells, or reduce the feed voltage to ~2 Volts per single cell.

Your idea of winding a big area spiral cell is excellent if you connect it to ~2 Volts PER cell.

This is the project that I am working on, thanks to Eric.

I hope that this helps.

BoyntonStu

[gatorman]

thanks guys for the info.
i used about 1 tablespoon of baking soda per2 gallon of water.

[c02cutter]

I knew that Stu, but dropped one into electrlyte to see what happens. Was just explaining what I found to happen with a single coil cell. Did find that if I dropped into electrolyte that I have been using for the smack style cells that it pulls more than my bench top supply can do... oops a fuse...lol

[BoyntonStu]

thanks guys for the info.
i used about 1 tablespoon of baking soda per2 gallon of water.

Please do NOT use Baking Soda.

It is hazardous, dirty, and not useful for Hydroxy.

Buy some NaOH drain cleaner at Lowes for $7.

Or even better go to Ebay and buy 2 pounds of KOH for about $15.

You are producing hexavalent chromium with Baking Soda and that stuff is dangerous.

Again, do NOT use Baking Soda for Hydroxy.

Bake with it.


BoyntonStu

[timetowinarace]

i took 2 peices of 4"x50" and rolled then together, with plastic zip ties as spacers. when i hook directly to a 12v. battery it produces bubbles but the connection post get so hot it melts the pvc pipe around the connection bolts.
what type of switch can i use to reduce amps. or should i redesign the unit and make square plates?
thanks.

If your connections are getting hot, there are two possibilities.

1. As you suspect, there are too many amps. fix this by using distilled water and adding a little bit of your catalist at a time untill you've reached your desired amps.

2. Too thin of wire or bad/loose connections. Poor connections cause heat. Fix this by using large gauge wire and making good, strong, clean connections. This is my guess if your using a fuse.

While your cell is likely to over heat after some time, this is not your immediate problem. Cell overheating comes from the water being heated and will not heat connections/wire to the extent that your seeing. The water would boil first. This is a voltage problem.

Check your connections.