Hydrogen Generator

[earlybird1900]

Excellent design! Although you advise on the use of a PVC T my space considerations in my vehicle have led me to look for a smaller container as a wide mouth Mason jar. Originally I was only able to get 4 assembled plates through the barely 3 1/2 inch mouth. What I did was once I had those in I simply assembled the remaining 2 inside the jar with the help of a tiny socket tool. Also I had to place both screws in the same direction, but other than that the design is virtually the same.

[novachevyguy]

you have some really trashy water in your house.. straight water shouldn't produce much anything..

[raybone3]

@novachevyguy

It's just regular municipal water. It contains trace minerals, chlorine, sodium flouride, etc.

This was only for testing purposes. I recommend that you use distilled water with a little baking soda (as an electrolyte).

My newer model of this is much smaller (about 1/5 the size) and produces perhaps 4x as much gas.

[raybone3]

This is an older model of the electolyzer. I have since simplified it greatly with about 3 times the output.

I couldn't give you an exact percentage of oxygen to make the hydrogen burn, but I do know that complete combustion of most flamable materials occurs between 18-21% oxygen. Anything lower than this will achieve incomplete combustion and there is the danger of carbon monoxide being created.

How did you manage to seperate the two gasses?

And what do you do with your oxygen?

[nathan7tube]

@raybone3 Electrolysis makes it in the perfect ratio for burning. Electrolysis does 2 H2O -> 2 H2 + O2. Burning does 2 H2 + O2 -> H2O - the same reaction but in reverse. You put in a crapload of energy in in the first one, and that's released in the second one. And if you don't bubble it properly, explosively.

[nathan7tube]

@raybone3 Electrolysis makes it in the perfect ratio for burning. Electrolysis does 2 H2O -> 2 H2 + O2. Burning does 2 H2 + O2 -> H2O - the same reaction but in reverse. You put in a crapload of energy in in the first one, and that's released in the second one. And if you don't bubble it properly, explosively. There is no danger of carbon monoxide being created at all - there is no carbon involved! Unless you do nuclear fusion, it's completely impossible. Defeats the rules of redox reactions.

[PhantomMaster101]

DO THIS IN A SHED! you do not want a build-up of highly combustable gas in the house or it may look bad when you say "Natural gas leak" to the authorities.

[PhantomMaster101]

I suggest that you use RO water you can buy from the front sidewalk of a drug store or buy a unit on E-Bay with a storage tank. Or if you want go in and purchase distilled water in the Drug Store, probably a worthless buck and a half. Then you have no residue from impurities.

I also suggest 1/4 20 Stainless steel or thread-all for the electrodes and between 2 gauge and double aught copper wire with crimped silver plated terminals.

[Adithep6]

How do you charge the battery from the generator ? please reply

[MMadmike]

Built one of these today. Half gallon of tap water and half teaspoon of baking soda. Under 15 amps and it pours off the plates. Water turns brown though. Need distilled water. Thanks for the info. Just need a bubbler now

[MMadmike]

One comment. I would keep the leads under water to keep them cool. I heard stories that they heat up and may cause a spark. I used all stainless for my leads and kept them under water. Easier to put the cap on and off.

[Idahofuel]

Let me ask...Are you producing Hydrogen or a Hydrogen Oxygen mixture? You could determine this by filling up a latex balloon and seeing if it floats. In the video you said H & O but yout title is Hydrogen only.

[raybone3]

Sorry for the confusion. This generator produces HHO gas which is a highly combustible mixture of Hydrogen and oxygen.

I would like to find a way to seperate the hydrogen from the oxygen to reduce the risk of "flashback", but I haven't found a practical solution to that yet.

Thanks for the comment.

[Squirrelleaf]

wait, isnt hho just h2o, water vapor? wouldnt this make h2 gas?

[nathan7tube]

@raybone3 You can use two containers connected underwater by a short lenght of PVC pipe. It's best if the electrodes are slightly above the PVC pipe connecting the two. However, you need to keep the pressure in the oxygen side too if you want the hydrogen to have pressure. A salt bridge would fix this but is harder.

[67Cowboy]

So you are just doing this with a regular battery charger ? Also on the plates, every other one is Anode and then the ones in between those are cathode (ie. one set touches top bolt and others touch the bottom bolt) ???!

[raybone3]

Sorry for the delay. Yes, i am using a battery charger. You can hook it up to a 12v car battery and it produces even more.

watch your amperage and be sure you do not overload your wires. If they start getting hot, you are overloading them. Use bigger wire or lower your amperage.

Yes, the plates alternate between anode and cathode.

[SmartScarecrow]

watch your internal conections for deterioration ... the mixed metal content often causes problems in this type cell configuration ... the copper wire and connections can quickly corrode ... have seen this cause spark inside container ... many use stainless steel straps to connect up to the outside to avoid this problem ...

efficiency will improve if you seal up the edges so electricity is forced to pass from plate to plate instead of doing an end run ...