why not ac?

[sm0kin]

why can't you use ac voltage for electrolysis? why does it have to be converted to dc?

[dennis13030]

Ac is ok to use. Most everyone here wants to use the HHO is a vehicle so they go with a 12V DC power source.

Bob Boyce used an inverter(12VDC to 120VAC) in his vehicle with good results.

[sm0kin]

ok so do you think it would work if i wired in a dimmer switch(electronic) to my cell and just plugged it in?

[dennis13030]

ok so do you think it would work if i wired in a dimmer switch(electronic) to my cell and just plugged it in?

I've seen a 9V battery used for a power source. I've seen 120VAC used for a power source. They all work. Its just a matter of how well.

The applied voltage, the current draw, the operating temperature and the gas production define the "Operating Point" of an electrolyzer. One of the common goals when designing an electrolyzer is making it energy efficient.

The recommended plate-to-plate voltage is about 1.5V to 2.5V AC or DC.

So lets say that you want the plate-to-plate voltage to be 2.0V but your source of power is 6V. To do this you would have to setup your anode, cathode and neutral plates like this.

+NN-

-----------------------------------------------------------------

So lets say that you want the plate-to-plate voltage to be 2.0V but your source of power is 12V. To do this you would have to setup your anode, cathode and neutral plates like this.

+NNNNN-

So the number of neutral plates depends on the source voltage and what you want the plate-to-plate voltage to be.

[sm0kin]

ok so basically if i wanted to use 120vac i would need some 61 plates +N(x59)-

or for actual purposes i could do +NNNNN- +NNNNN- +NNNNN- +NNNNN- +NNNNN- +NNNNN- +NNNNN- +NNNNN- +NNNNN- +NNNNN- +NNNNN- +NNNNN-
and so on and wire them in series.
in the above example there are 5 neutrals and the +&-
you divide your voltage by 6 because 5 Ns and 1 additional for the +-

[overtaker]

The ac has to be converted back to dc before connecting to the booster.

[sm0kin]

ok. so why convert it back? What happens if you feed it ac?

[overtaker]

Have you ever taken a bath with a hairdryer? I think some convert to ac to increase volts and then switch back to dc. at that higher voltage. Please don't ever try with ac or we will all be thinking big oil sent someone to visit you!

[sm0kin]

ok so basically 2 many volts and it'll arc across and zapp.

[Johnh]

It isnt only the question of to many volts (which is actually safe enough in a properly designed cell ) AC at 50 or 60 Hz does not produce much if any gas because the electrolysis reaction is reversible and as such the hydrogen and oxygen on the plates recombine to water when the polarity changes and our common frequency is just about the right rate to completely cancel out the reaction.
As I understand it Bob Boyce did not use AC but 110 volt DC will check it out when time and repost here if I am wrong
John.
Just on the voltage thing If you want to use these voltages why not use a plasma generator?
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...rts/JHCFR5.jpg
John