I have found that working on a test cell is fun, but I also wanted to see some practical results. So I built this booster to put in a car so that I could quickly make modifications to it and try it out. The good part is that is works, it is easily taken apart, changed in whatever way and put back in. The other part is that it is cheaply made and won't last long, but since it is made just for testing that is not really a bad thing.
The basic idea came from Smack's booster and then modified. The container comes from K-Mart and is called a "lock n lock", it has a rubber gasket in the lid and has 4 latching flaps to securely hold the lid on. The lid has (2) 1/4" holes for bolts for electric connections and then a hole for the gas connections. The container is 11" tall. I hold it in the car with zip ties, which makes it easy to take out. K-mart has other sizes that I use for Meyer's tube type cells and IH type series cells.
Any stainless plates will work, but I'm using the ss blanking plate for electrical work boxes from Lowes or Home Depot ($1.63 each) just because it's convenient. The 1/4" plastic rod, I get from Grainger's $1.22 for 2 foot. The straps are from Lowes and are a ss BBQ grill tong $3.00. You need to drill holes for the connections so a good drill bit is necessary and is more fun than trying to drill with the cheap bits. The plates are spaced with a nylon washer.
The configuration in the pictures is two gangs of plates one on top of the other with edges touching. The whole thing is then coated with "window weld" (NAPA $15.00).
The idea of this booster is that if I get an idea, I can quickly slap it together and try it out. My car gets 27mpg, with this I got 36mpg, one of my units got 41. I'm trying for 50. We will see. If you have any ideas for me to try, post it; I will try it out and report back. Or make your own and post your results. Hopefully this thread can be a place where we can all share our dumb mistakes and our elegant successes.
Here are some pics:
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x171/mryikes/2007_0728bobbod0003.jpg
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x171/mryikes/2007_0728bobbod0002.jpg
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x171/mryikes/2007_0728bobbod0001.jpg
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x171/mryikes/2007_0715sparkplug0003.jpg
Hi Yikes,
Nice!!! You are a regular "Thomas Edison"! I like it.
Cheap, disposable, easy to alter. How is the seal? Are there any leaks around the lid?
KOOL, man! Glad that thar urethane is holding up!
Good luck with the performance enhancement.
Turtle
Sweet Cell ! "yikes
Hey did you change timing at all? from 28 to 41mpg is really impressive. :o
Details?
What volts, amps you running? Engine mods? What car/motor. Size and configuration of the plates?
Thanks.
Paul
RR, the lid holds really well, no leaks.
atfab, 12v, about 10 amp (haven't installed the amp meter yet), no mods other than I moved the battery to the front trunk, 1600 mr2, and I already gave the other info, thanks.
Today I played with a neon transformer. There is more to learn about this I think.
I also put a capacitor in a small ss bowl, connected one leg to positive and put negative to the bowl and added water up to the second leg. just to see what would happen....nothing happened other than the hands on the clock turned. I like doing silly things like this from time to time. Like this, today I found that I had killed the mosfet in the vic (lawton's) so I looked in a parts bin, found a chip that had 3 legs like a mosfet, said WTH, and soldered it on,,,,it didn't work but it was fun just to try. I'm only getting mV out of the #3 leg on the second 555 chip, tried another but no help. Mouser, Mouser where are you when I need you.
On the booster, the H gas tube is 1 1/4" (yeah , no restriction), but I wasn't happy with the vacuum, so I ground off the following edge of the connector at the throttle body,,hey, how about that it worked. One success out of 10 or 15, good enough for me.
Nice cell yikes...But...There is one thing that you should take note of...With long tall electrodes, when the gas is coming up it pushes the water away from the electrodes as it rises...Great loss is efficiency.
Keep up the good work...
kyle
Quote from: yikes on July 28, 2007, 08:11:13 PM
I have found that working on a test cell is fun, but I also wanted to see some practical results. So I built this booster to put in a car so that I could quickly make modifications to it and try it out. The good part is that is works, it is easily taken apart, changed in whatever way and put back in. The other part is that it is cheaply made and won't last long, but since it is made just for testing that is not really a bad thing.
The basic idea came from Smack's booster and then modified. The container comes from K-Mart and is called a "lock n lock", it has a rubber gasket in the lid and has 4 latching flaps to securely hold the lid on. The lid has (2) 1/4" holes for bolts for electric connections and then a hole for the gas connections. The container is 11" tall. I hold it in the car with zip ties, which makes it easy to take out. K-mart has other sizes that I use for Meyer's tube type cells and IH type series cells.
Any stainless plates will work, but I'm using the ss blanking plate for electrical work boxes from Lowes or Home Depot ($1.63 each) just because it's convenient. The 1/4" plastic rod, I get from Grainger's $1.22 for 2 foot. The straps are from Lowes and are a ss BBQ grill tong $3.00. You need to drill holes for the connections so a good drill bit is necessary and is more fun than trying to drill with the cheap bits. The plates are spaced with a nylon washer.
The configuration in the pictures is two gangs of plates one on top of the other with edges touching. The whole thing is then coated with "window weld" (NAPA $15.00).
The idea of this booster is that if I get an idea, I can quickly slap it together and try it out. My car gets 27mpg, with this I got 36mpg, one of my units got 41. I'm trying for 50. We will see. If you have any ideas for me to try, post it; I will try it out and report back. Or make your own and post your results. Hopefully this thread can be a place where we can all share our dumb mistakes and our elegant successes.
Here are some pics:
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x171/mryikes/2007_0728bobbod0003.jpg
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x171/mryikes/2007_0728bobbod0002.jpg
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x171/mryikes/2007_0728bobbod0001.jpg
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x171/mryikes/2007_0715sparkplug0003.jpg
Point taken and appreciated, Kyle.
But I also feel that one of the negatives of our cells is our inability to utilize the H as it is released; the H hits the surface tension and turns back down into the solution. I am heading for a narrow top so that vacuum can have more of an effect to help efficiency. It's all a learning process.
yikes,
Thanks for the info, I just started getting parts together to experment on my old Camry wagon, 2.5 liter. I also just found this site a few days ago.
Great stuff here! will post as the build and testing advance. I have too many hobbies already so don't hold your breath.
Paul
Ok, be safe.
Just did a series of tests to learn about the effects of a magnet during electrolysis. A magnet does have an effect on oxygen.
Conditions: small ss bowl (condiment cup (walmart $2)), magnet in bowl, spring water with dawn soap to cover magnet, magnet outside bowl, 12v negative on bowl, 12v positive in water. When placed so that magnets attract each other, bubbles form toward outside magnet. When magnets repulse each other, bubbles form away from outside magnet.
magnets are attracted
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x171/mryikes/2007_0801magnettest0001.jpg
magnets are repulsed, I should have dumped water and started again, but you can still see the effect
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x171/mryikes/2007_0801magnettest0002.jpg
outside magnet removed, immediately left bubble group formed
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x171/mryikes/2007_0801magnettest0003.jpg
showing crap formed from using common steel for electrode
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x171/mryikes/2007_0801magnettest0004.jpg
using a bunch of magnets, just for fun, but effects the same
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x171/mryikes/2007_0801magnettest0005.jpg
There are other ways of confirming this, but this is just how I did it. I welcome your critique.
Bob
Magnets, Magnets ever where . Where did you get them?
Dale
Quote from: yikes on July 29, 2007, 11:52:38 PM
Point taken and appreciated, Kyle.
But I also feel that one of the negatives of our cells is our inability to utilize the H as it is released; the H hits the surface tension and turns back down into the solution. I am heading for a narrow top so that vacuum can have more of an effect to help efficiency. It's all a learning process.
you could set up a system where water is drawn off somewhere near the top of the cell and pump it back into the cell using a small pump like a winshield washer pump. I plan on using that myself when I get started working on my own cell.
Got busy today and put a booster on the lawn mower. I put a bubbler on it but cannot keep water in it. The water gets sucked into the mower by the vacuum. The carb had a cleanout plug in the manifold which was a great size so I drilled a 1/16th hole in it and put the bubbler line over it. With as much vacuum as there is, the line certainly won't fall off. I still need to play with the timing, but it runs as good as ever. Not sure what to do about the vacuum though. I want as much as I can get in the booster, but I do want a bubbler or flashback protection of some kind on this. I have learned that I can trust my car not to backfire, but this old mower has points and an old voltage regulater that are way past trusting.
The booster has just 6 plates. I wanted an energetic action in there. Later I can add more. I did not seal them. Just popped it in.
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x171/mryikes/mower/2007_0807mowerbooster0003.jpg
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x171/mryikes/mower/2007_0807mowerbooster0002.jpg
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x171/mryikes/mower/2007_0807mowerbooster0004.jpg
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x171/mryikes/mower/2007_0807mowerbooster0001.jpg
@yikes
Have you though about changing the timing? you may have to change the timing of the engine to get it to fire just after TDC. That's what I have been reading here and on other sites on the net.
Quote from: yikes on August 07, 2007, 06:30:41 PM
I still need to play with the timing, but it runs as good as ever.
Umm, yea, I thought about it.
But to change the timing to atdc, I need to make lots more H than I am now. These are just baby steps, soon we can run.
Took the mower booster apart to clean it out. Wasn't too bad, I was surprised. Took the cells apart, added another washer (nylon) to separate the cells more, total now 6 mm and added two more plates. Then I wanted to seal it up, but I also want to be able to change things around in the next couple of days. The answer: duct tape. Yep, I found a weather resistant duct tape and carefully? taped the cell. Ran it for an hour and it held up, so I put it back together and put it on the mower, fired it up and let it run for another hour. In a couple of days I'll take it apart and report on how the tape held up. Hey, it's quick, easy, cheap and of course the best part,,,I get to use more DUCT TAPE.
My next electrolyte canister will look exactly like this, only white and taller. How are you sealing the threads of the cleanout cap? Is that where you wrapped the duct tape?
Hi Zero, great flow measuring bottle you developed. After seeing the video I immediately ran to the store for a liter bottle. I have seen no better device. Good work.
At this stage, I'm not too concerned about the leakage at the threads. I once tried to stop it with vaseline (don't do that). Vaseline coated everything inside and it took a long time to clean it all out. Goop could do it and then scraped off when you needed to take it apart. There are lots of other ways also. But for now, I need to be able to take it apart often to change things so I don't bother with sealing.
Question: Why is yours going to be taller? Are you planning on long plates? Like in my car booster? Just curious.
About the duct tape. No I wrapped the plates with the tape. I'll take it apart today and get a picture for you. I want to make some more changes anyway.
I enjoy watching your video, but at 28k it takes forever to download, ha.
28K??? Yikes!
Here's the new plate cavity uunder construction
http://www.overunity.com/index.php/topic,2822.msg43459.html#msg43459
I'll have some finished pics in a day or two. Same configuration as the experimental S-cell, 1/2 the plate spacing, neutral plates 2"x6.5", electrodes 2"x7.5".
When gluing it together I smeared a thin layer of goop on the open sides of the positive electrodes to insulate it from leakage around the outside of the cell. Yesterday I had it in tap water for plate preconditioning. Cranked up the DC to get about 100mA and let it sit for a while. When I pulled the cell from the tank I found spots on the coated plates that evidentally were not thick enough, burned through and had begun bubbling under the goop, eating it away from the plates. So, last night I cut two more acrylic strips to cap off the ends of the cell and glued it up. But I'm still concerned about the goop I put in the grooves for the edges of the plates. Is that going to get eaten alive also? Is there an easy way to insulate sections of a plate that won't get eaten alive?
Hey guys the duct tape worked and held together, kept the water between the cells and did not allow leakage. It of course is not a permanent solution, just where you want to try something without ruining your plates or taking 24 hours to cure. I had mine running in a see through container with the top edges of the plates above water level. I had no bubbles go in the water, which means they were all going out of solution. Yea.
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x171/mryikes/mower/2007_0810mowerbooster12plate0005.jpg
http.jpg
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x171/mryikes/mower/2007_0810mowerbooster12plate0001.jpg
this one shows the first wrap on the edges of the plates. The next wraps go around horizontally to seal the end plates and hold the first wrap tightly to the edges.
http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x171/mryikes/mower/2007_0810mowerbooster12plate0006.jpg