Building a 1.5 LPM 18 Amp HHO Generator
Warning HHo is very explosive.
The chemicals used can cause severe burns and blindness.
Make at your own risk.
This page includes two new techniques. One is the use of spiral plates to achieve a large plate area in a small container.
Another technique I used was to use a DC current limited to provide a constant current that does not change with cell temperature. It used 7 headlight bulbs with the 14 filaments wired in parallel to produce a non linear resistor.
About 57 Amps are usually required to produce 1 LPM. This is beyond the drain we wish to place on a car's alternator but fortunately 14 volts are far in excess of the voltage required to produce hho. Thus it is possible to make 4 small units each producing about 1/4 of the total and connect them in series. This reduces the current drain to 14 amps per liter of gas .
General notes: The plates used in HHO production should be clean of both oil and fingerprints. It is suggested that they be well cleaned with both acetone and alcohol to remove stains and rubber gloves be worn when making plates.
CASE
This unit is composed of 4 cells made from 3 inch PVC pipe each 9 inches long. A pipe cap is glued on the bottom and a rubber seal is used on the top. The rubber seal is clamped in place to make a gas tight seal but still allow it to come off in the event of an explosion.
PLATES
I used a 6 inch by 100 inch roll of 316 stainless steel shim stock .007 thick. It was purchased from Macmaster Carr. This roll was cut to eight pieces each 12.5 inches by 6 inches. The pieces were stacked on a plywood form and holes to clear a number 8 screw were drilled to hold the spiral in place. The dimensions required for the holes are all measured from one end. The dimensions ( in inches) are 0, 0.5, 1.77, 3.24, 4.917, 6.783, 8.884, 11.102. The holes are about 3/8 inch from the top and bottom of the plates.
This is shown below.
The two spirals needed were made by curling each of the stainless pieces on a length of 1 inch copper tubing. Then they were held together with 1/16 inch wire welding rod. A drill was used to insure that the holes were all in alignment. Then 8-32 flat head nylon plastic screws and nuts together with 1/4-20 nylon nuts used as spacers were used to assemble the 2 spirals that lie inside each other. Two pieces of 1 inch by 2 inch stainless are used to connect to the copper electrical connectors.
This is all shown below.
HHO FEED-THRU.
A 1/4 inch pipe tap was used to tap a hole for a 1/4 inch pipe fitting that connects to 1/4 inch PVC tubing.
ELECTRICAL CURRENT FEED-THRU.
To make the current feed-thru gas tight 2 1/4 - 20 flat head brass screws were soldered together. Then 2 holes were drilled and countersunk. The taper of the flathead screws made a gas tight seal. It was later found out that brass screws shown in these pictures will destroy HHO production so the screws were replaced with stainless screws also soldered together with flux for soldering stainless steel ( available from McMaster Carr).
SPLASH SHIELD
It was found necessary to protect the gas outlet from the water KOH mixture. I used a length of 1/2 inch PVC pipe that was cut to 3.075 inches long. The ends were rounded with a file and holes drilled into the top and bottom. They are shown here
Then the gas outlet is unscrewed and a C clamp is used to distort the 3 inch tube to insert the tubes as shown here.
POWER SUPPLY
A current regulator was made from 4 headlight bulbs. These had all 8 filaments connected in parallel. They are shown here together with a relay and a current shunt.
The completed box with the transparent cover looks like this the meter reads mili-volts which is from the current shunt to measure current.
The coil leads from the relay were run to a long wire that plugged into the cigarette lighter. The high current leads were made from a cut up 100 foot extension cord. All three leads in the cable were wired in parallel. standard 110 VAC plugs and sockets were used. The final output of the generator is largely affected by temperature. As it is winter the reaction is slowed down to .6 LPM. The next step is to keep the unit warm and install it when the car is leaving the house. Most likely the performance will improve when summer comes. I have measured a doubling of HHO activity for a 60 degree F temperature rise.
Updates May 10, 2010
1) The brass barbed pipe fittings shown in the photo have been replaced with plastic.
2) New PVC containers have been made. Each is now 12 inches tall to reduce foam from getting into the output tube.
3) To fill up the empty volume inside the containers I glued together 2 end caps intended to seal 2 inch PVC pipe. and placed one of these in each container.
4) The screw current feed-thrus shown in the pictures were replaced with one stainless flat head screw and one brass flat head screw. The stainless screws need a special flux to allow them to be soldered. This flux was also obtained from McMaster Carr.
MISC. BITS AND PIECES May 23, 2010
FUSES I used 2 25 amp auto fuses and fuse holders and wired them in parallel to get 50 amps. I was not able to find anything bigger than 25 amp.
WIRE I used an old 100 foot extension. I connected the 3 # 18 leads together for the positive lead, and a second piece with the 3 leads connected together for the ground terminal. My ground came from the battery not from the chassis.
CONNECTORS I used 110 volt connectors as they were cheap and can be reused on other projects
MOUNTING 4 cells were placed in a 5 gallon plastic bucket and held in the trunk of my 97 Saab with shock cord to keep it upright. A smaller piece of shock cord was used to mount each cell in the bucket.
MEASURING MPG My car had a built in MPG meter and all it took was to zero it and zero the odometer to get new readings.
RESULTS best case seems to be from 26 mpg to 32 mpg. When unit is turned off the mileage does not go back to 26 but stays at 28 mpg for a while. Perhaps this is because it is an old car and the engine is being cleaned.
PROBLEMS Last problems were foam in the plastic tubes. I washed the spirals in a automatic dishwasher. The theory being the soap used in a automatic dishwasher is much stronger than used with peoples hands. Have not seen results. Cell heating also may be a problem.
return to previous page
Warning HHo is very explosive.
The chemicals used can cause severe burns and blindness.
Make at your own risk.
This page includes two new techniques. One is the use of spiral plates to achieve a large plate area in a small container.
Another technique I used was to use a DC current limited to provide a constant current that does not change with cell temperature. It used 7 headlight bulbs with the 14 filaments wired in parallel to produce a non linear resistor.
About 57 Amps are usually required to produce 1 LPM. This is beyond the drain we wish to place on a car's alternator but fortunately 14 volts are far in excess of the voltage required to produce hho. Thus it is possible to make 4 small units each producing about 1/4 of the total and connect them in series. This reduces the current drain to 14 amps per liter of gas .
General notes: The plates used in HHO production should be clean of both oil and fingerprints. It is suggested that they be well cleaned with both acetone and alcohol to remove stains and rubber gloves be worn when making plates.
CASE
This unit is composed of 4 cells made from 3 inch PVC pipe each 9 inches long. A pipe cap is glued on the bottom and a rubber seal is used on the top. The rubber seal is clamped in place to make a gas tight seal but still allow it to come off in the event of an explosion.
PLATES
I used a 6 inch by 100 inch roll of 316 stainless steel shim stock .007 thick. It was purchased from Macmaster Carr. This roll was cut to eight pieces each 12.5 inches by 6 inches. The pieces were stacked on a plywood form and holes to clear a number 8 screw were drilled to hold the spiral in place. The dimensions required for the holes are all measured from one end. The dimensions ( in inches) are 0, 0.5, 1.77, 3.24, 4.917, 6.783, 8.884, 11.102. The holes are about 3/8 inch from the top and bottom of the plates.
This is shown below.
The two spirals needed were made by curling each of the stainless pieces on a length of 1 inch copper tubing. Then they were held together with 1/16 inch wire welding rod. A drill was used to insure that the holes were all in alignment. Then 8-32 flat head nylon plastic screws and nuts together with 1/4-20 nylon nuts used as spacers were used to assemble the 2 spirals that lie inside each other. Two pieces of 1 inch by 2 inch stainless are used to connect to the copper electrical connectors.
This is all shown below.
HHO FEED-THRU.
A 1/4 inch pipe tap was used to tap a hole for a 1/4 inch pipe fitting that connects to 1/4 inch PVC tubing.
ELECTRICAL CURRENT FEED-THRU.
To make the current feed-thru gas tight 2 1/4 - 20 flat head brass screws were soldered together. Then 2 holes were drilled and countersunk. The taper of the flathead screws made a gas tight seal. It was later found out that brass screws shown in these pictures will destroy HHO production so the screws were replaced with stainless screws also soldered together with flux for soldering stainless steel ( available from McMaster Carr).
SPLASH SHIELD
It was found necessary to protect the gas outlet from the water KOH mixture. I used a length of 1/2 inch PVC pipe that was cut to 3.075 inches long. The ends were rounded with a file and holes drilled into the top and bottom. They are shown here
Then the gas outlet is unscrewed and a C clamp is used to distort the 3 inch tube to insert the tubes as shown here.
POWER SUPPLY
A current regulator was made from 4 headlight bulbs. These had all 8 filaments connected in parallel. They are shown here together with a relay and a current shunt.
The completed box with the transparent cover looks like this the meter reads mili-volts which is from the current shunt to measure current.
The coil leads from the relay were run to a long wire that plugged into the cigarette lighter. The high current leads were made from a cut up 100 foot extension cord. All three leads in the cable were wired in parallel. standard 110 VAC plugs and sockets were used. The final output of the generator is largely affected by temperature. As it is winter the reaction is slowed down to .6 LPM. The next step is to keep the unit warm and install it when the car is leaving the house. Most likely the performance will improve when summer comes. I have measured a doubling of HHO activity for a 60 degree F temperature rise.
Updates May 10, 2010
1) The brass barbed pipe fittings shown in the photo have been replaced with plastic.
2) New PVC containers have been made. Each is now 12 inches tall to reduce foam from getting into the output tube.
3) To fill up the empty volume inside the containers I glued together 2 end caps intended to seal 2 inch PVC pipe. and placed one of these in each container.
4) The screw current feed-thrus shown in the pictures were replaced with one stainless flat head screw and one brass flat head screw. The stainless screws need a special flux to allow them to be soldered. This flux was also obtained from McMaster Carr.
MISC. BITS AND PIECES May 23, 2010
FUSES I used 2 25 amp auto fuses and fuse holders and wired them in parallel to get 50 amps. I was not able to find anything bigger than 25 amp.
WIRE I used an old 100 foot extension. I connected the 3 # 18 leads together for the positive lead, and a second piece with the 3 leads connected together for the ground terminal. My ground came from the battery not from the chassis.
CONNECTORS I used 110 volt connectors as they were cheap and can be reused on other projects
MOUNTING 4 cells were placed in a 5 gallon plastic bucket and held in the trunk of my 97 Saab with shock cord to keep it upright. A smaller piece of shock cord was used to mount each cell in the bucket.
MEASURING MPG My car had a built in MPG meter and all it took was to zero it and zero the odometer to get new readings.
RESULTS best case seems to be from 26 mpg to 32 mpg. When unit is turned off the mileage does not go back to 26 but stays at 28 mpg for a while. Perhaps this is because it is an old car and the engine is being cleaned.
PROBLEMS Last problems were foam in the plastic tubes. I washed the spirals in a automatic dishwasher. The theory being the soap used in a automatic dishwasher is much stronger than used with peoples hands. Have not seen results. Cell heating also may be a problem.
return to previous page