you know you can test the arrestor on a propane blow torch. at least if the design failed, the blow torch attachment wont let the flame into the tank. rubber hose between the torch and arrestor?.?.
the fine bronze wool will let a flash through! use the medium or coarse pack it hard with a dowel rod.. 3 pads will fill a 3x 1/2 inch pipe. problem with this design is after a few months the thing gets clogged up and hho will not flow through!!! DOH!
I know its been a year now.. but where can you buy bronzes wool. I tried Everywhere and NO one has a clue as of where to get it. I tried Wal-mart,Home depot,Menards,Lowes,Ace hardware,boating places,Pauls,radioshack,ect. Please help me out and to find a store that sales it. Thanks..
I saw one built out of copper beebes. A small length of 3/4 PVC was filled with copper beebes until the 1/4 inch fitting tightened down against them. Worked great!
The problem with this arrestor is that it is way too small and could heat up. Goto my ebay item 250259467598 or search for "Hydrogen Fuel Cell Back Flash Arrestor Valve" mine has been tested and works perfectly for any cell or output.
That sure would have been handy to have the other day when 2 friends and I first experimented with making HHO. We made a 2 wallplate unit in a glass jar full of water. Gee, look at the bubbles! Well....we had to see if it WAS HHO, so, one guy lit it. BANG! Glass jar exploded! Could have been a bad accident but no one hurt and I have never laughed so hard in my life! BE CAREFUL and have fun with science!
NEVER use glass. Plastic is bad enough of it frags. I have a nylon blanket around mine with cable ties, just to contain the chards of plastic if it goes, similar to a transmission blanket used on Pro Stock racers. Could use Kevlar but none handy and too expensive when I can easily get sheet metal around it cheaper if it was necessary. Those that make acrylic tanks make sure to band or brace the corners to prevent seam splits.
actually it has 0 to do with heat. from the torch tip back is room temp. doesnt matter what the tube is made of either. fine bronze wool was my contribute to the hho'ers. I bought it because its fine and the flame cant get through it like reg stainless stl.
You dont have to pack it tight either. I brought it to youtube only using about 3" loosely packed inside rubber hose. No ends no screen. it is the screen. Think of it as a bed sheet. lets gas through but not solid. check some of my old vids. you'll see where bronze wool arrestors started.
And btw. cigarette filters work just as well. they'll get soggy but have the same basic principles as the wool. not a thing to do with heat or plasma but flame needs big holes to go through. a hypodermic needle cant be flashed through.
All you need is a bronze bead fuel filter the old Rochester carbs used. Autozone sells them as do others. Fit it inside an appropriate sized tube and you can even pack bronze wool behind it if you wish. Mine has gone through numerous tests where I was deliberately trying to make it fail with a high flow cell. A saturated cell design where an oversized bubbler that is also a gravity feed filler for the cell is also an excellent bubbler inside 3" PVC or ABS with a test plug as a cap.
The screen needs to be very fine bronze. Old fashioned miner's methane detectors, prior to the electronic sniffers, were a kerosene lamp with the flame in a sealed cavity with vents made of super fine bronze screen. Gas could enter and flash to show them methane was present but the methane outside the lamp could not flash. Way better than using canaries to tell when methane was present.
Hi Pochintwin, neat and practical. Good work. You know, I've always wondered why we should packed the wool that tight. I would like to understand the real principle of it. Is the restriction is the only factor that prevent from flashback or is it the randomness of the flow between the fibers? Anybody have this answer? (If this as to be experimented, please be careful!) Thanks.
My Understanding is that it works by cooling down the combustion process. The old fire triangle. you have to have 3 things to have fire. 1. Fuel (hydrogen) 2. Oxidizer (Oxygen)
and 3. Heat or (Spark or Plasma). Remove one of these Items a no combustion. The Bronze Wool does a good job cooling the fire because of the significant surface area, and the limited amount of space left after packing it into the small space.
Its a ratio of energy and the ability to soak up the heat. That's why I chose the brass tube over the plastic housing. Aluminum housing would work even better. But might have a problem over time from corrosion from the water exposure.
What might work really well is if you coated the inside of the tube with a solder flux and solder
stuffed the bronze wool, and then reheated the tube so the strands of the wool were attached to the inside of the tube. This would help conduct the heat to the tubing mass. A more rapid heat transfer capability.
You probably would have to clean out any residual flux from the device to prevent any problems with flux ignition. This could be done by running alcohol or a flux remover through it after soldering it. The Idea is to adhere some of the tiny wool hairs to the body. This would also help defeat any blow by near the walls.
Thank you very much for your explanations. It make good sense to me. You know, I've asked this question mostly because I've dismantled a mini pen torch and there was this little round piece of copper with a tiny hole in the center (about .005") and that was the only thing that causes restriction. Now I agree that there is no oxidizer in the butane fuel but I thought... Keep up your interesting work.
This is pretty cool.
AlgisKemezys 6 months ago
what is a flashback arrestor?
ZeoWorks 9 months ago
you know you can test the arrestor on a propane blow torch. at least if the design failed, the blow torch attachment wont let the flame into the tank. rubber hose between the torch and arrestor?.?.
bikr1975 2 years ago
OK, thanks
abcHaylinxyz 3 years ago
Can you use steel wool
abcHaylinxyz 3 years ago
No the Steel Wool Will Burn up- It is generally too fine and rusts when exposed to the lye. not a good idea.
AllgoodAutomation 3 years ago
the fine bronze wool will let a flash through! use the medium or coarse pack it hard with a dowel rod.. 3 pads will fill a 3x 1/2 inch pipe. problem with this design is after a few months the thing gets clogged up and hho will not flow through!!! DOH!
advancedhydrogen 3 years ago
For Those who Didnt know where to Buy it!
Bronze Wool
Ace HardWare
ACE# 18915
MFR# 123100
Price $7.99
Name Brand: Homax (Fine)type
1(800)985-6017 or 1(212)400-7488
drewmaster74 3 years ago
I know its been a year now.. but where can you buy bronzes wool. I tried Everywhere and NO one has a clue as of where to get it. I tried Wal-mart,Home depot,Menards,Lowes,Ace hardware,boating places,Pauls,radioshack,ect. Please help me out and to find a store that sales it. Thanks..
drewmaster74 3 years ago
Ace Hardware - 4.99 for a 3 pack.
kevlauenterprises 3 years ago
Thanks :)
drewmaster74 3 years ago
abochons
dylanthorner 3 years ago
I saw one built out of copper beebes. A small length of 3/4 PVC was filled with copper beebes until the 1/4 inch fitting tightened down against them. Worked great!
brouex43 3 years ago
Just so you all know, DO NOT USE Steel wool!! It will catch on fire and will turn into pretty much a sparker!
Mekill60 3 years ago
The problem with this arrestor is that it is way too small and could heat up. Goto my ebay item 250259467598 or search for "Hydrogen Fuel Cell Back Flash Arrestor Valve" mine has been tested and works perfectly for any cell or output.
amillionemails 3 years ago
If you dont want to make this yourself, goto my ebay item 250259467598
amillionemails 3 years ago
Nice video. Is there a reason why aluminum or copper wool should not be used instead of brass wool?
Copper has the best thermo conductivity and copper wool can be purchased at briwax-online. com/GMTCopper. html
Aluminum wool also has a higher thermo conductivity than brass wool.
engineeringtoolbox. com/thermal-conductivity-d_429. html
Page eight of fire. tc. faa. gov/pdf/TN05-37. pdf describes flammability of metal wools.
0U8123MTA3 3 years ago
Where did you buy the fittings?
Tropicous 3 years ago
That sure would have been handy to have the other day when 2 friends and I first experimented with making HHO. We made a 2 wallplate unit in a glass jar full of water. Gee, look at the bubbles! Well....we had to see if it WAS HHO, so, one guy lit it. BANG! Glass jar exploded! Could have been a bad accident but no one hurt and I have never laughed so hard in my life! BE CAREFUL and have fun with science!
ihavebeenawakened 4 years ago
NEVER use glass. Plastic is bad enough of it frags. I have a nylon blanket around mine with cable ties, just to contain the chards of plastic if it goes, similar to a transmission blanket used on Pro Stock racers. Could use Kevlar but none handy and too expensive when I can easily get sheet metal around it cheaper if it was necessary. Those that make acrylic tanks make sure to band or brace the corners to prevent seam splits.
rhblakeman 3 years ago
actually it has 0 to do with heat. from the torch tip back is room temp. doesnt matter what the tube is made of either. fine bronze wool was my contribute to the hho'ers. I bought it because its fine and the flame cant get through it like reg stainless stl.
strapped9 4 years ago
You dont have to pack it tight either. I brought it to youtube only using about 3" loosely packed inside rubber hose. No ends no screen. it is the screen. Think of it as a bed sheet. lets gas through but not solid. check some of my old vids. you'll see where bronze wool arrestors started.
strapped9 4 years ago
And btw. cigarette filters work just as well. they'll get soggy but have the same basic principles as the wool. not a thing to do with heat or plasma but flame needs big holes to go through. a hypodermic needle cant be flashed through.
strapped9 4 years ago
All you need is a bronze bead fuel filter the old Rochester carbs used. Autozone sells them as do others. Fit it inside an appropriate sized tube and you can even pack bronze wool behind it if you wish. Mine has gone through numerous tests where I was deliberately trying to make it fail with a high flow cell. A saturated cell design where an oversized bubbler that is also a gravity feed filler for the cell is also an excellent bubbler inside 3" PVC or ABS with a test plug as a cap.
rhblakeman 3 years ago
The screen needs to be very fine bronze. Old fashioned miner's methane detectors, prior to the electronic sniffers, were a kerosene lamp with the flame in a sealed cavity with vents made of super fine bronze screen. Gas could enter and flash to show them methane was present but the methane outside the lamp could not flash. Way better than using canaries to tell when methane was present.
rhblakeman 3 years ago
Great job AGA! Keep it up:)
rc9340 4 years ago
Oups! I'm sorry AGA about mistaking your nick.
gibs7 4 years ago
No Problem!
AllgoodAutomation 4 years ago
Hi Pochintwin, neat and practical. Good work. You know, I've always wondered why we should packed the wool that tight. I would like to understand the real principle of it. Is the restriction is the only factor that prevent from flashback or is it the randomness of the flow between the fibers? Anybody have this answer? (If this as to be experimented, please be careful!) Thanks.
gibs7 4 years ago
My Understanding is that it works by cooling down the combustion process. The old fire triangle. you have to have 3 things to have fire. 1. Fuel (hydrogen) 2. Oxidizer (Oxygen)
and 3. Heat or (Spark or Plasma). Remove one of these Items a no combustion. The Bronze Wool does a good job cooling the fire because of the significant surface area, and the limited amount of space left after packing it into the small space.
AllgoodAutomation 4 years ago
Its a ratio of energy and the ability to soak up the heat. That's why I chose the brass tube over the plastic housing. Aluminum housing would work even better. But might have a problem over time from corrosion from the water exposure.
AllgoodAutomation 4 years ago
What might work really well is if you coated the inside of the tube with a solder flux and solder
stuffed the bronze wool, and then reheated the tube so the strands of the wool were attached to the inside of the tube. This would help conduct the heat to the tubing mass. A more rapid heat transfer capability.
AllgoodAutomation 4 years ago
You probably would have to clean out any residual flux from the device to prevent any problems with flux ignition. This could be done by running alcohol or a flux remover through it after soldering it. The Idea is to adhere some of the tiny wool hairs to the body. This would also help defeat any blow by near the walls.
AllgoodAutomation 4 years ago
Thank you very much for your explanations. It make good sense to me. You know, I've asked this question mostly because I've dismantled a mini pen torch and there was this little round piece of copper with a tiny hole in the center (about .005") and that was the only thing that causes restriction. Now I agree that there is no oxidizer in the butane fuel but I thought... Keep up your interesting work.
gibs7 4 years ago