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.
Does it Work?
For me I got 10 to 15% better gas millage from 30 MPG to 35MPG on a 97 Saab, Problem was it
Slowly deteriorated with time giving less and less HHO gas.
This page includes two new techniques. One is the use of a spiral plates to achieve a large plate area in a small container.
Another technique we use is to use a DC current limiter to provide a constant current that does not change with cell temperature. It uses 4 headlight bulbs with the 8 filaments wired in parallel to produce a non linear resistor.
About 57 Amps are usually required to produce 1 LPM. his 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 57 /4 or 14 amps per litter of gas .
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.
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 8 headlight bulbs. These had all 16 filaments connected in parallel. They are shown here,
The completed box with the transparent cover looks like this the meter reads militants which is equal to the current in amps.
Now for installing. I used 2 lengths of 3 conductor wire with all 3 wires in parallel and 110 colt connectors as they were cheap.
Here are the 2 wires on the battery. the positive one goes through a 40 amp circuit breaker. One wire goes to the screw. The second
is soldered to a nickle. The nickle is then cut flat with a hack saw and inserted in the connector blades of the circuit breaker.
The 2 wires go to the trunk,
Where they go through the box to the four cells:
The crate prevents tipping over. A copper tube then runs back to the air cleaner:
PS vehicle is a 97 Saab 900.
RETURN
Warning HHO is very explosive.
The chemicals used can cause severe burns and blindness.
Make at your own risk.
Does it Work?
For me I got 10 to 15% better gas millage from 30 MPG to 35MPG on a 97 Saab, Problem was it
Slowly deteriorated with time giving less and less HHO gas.
This is ( to me ) a major problem.
MAY 2013 UPDATE
Since this was posted I have been working with water vapor injection.
Presently I am using a ultrasonic humidifier powered by a 400 watt 12 volt to 110 vac converter to
generate water vapor and injecting it behind the air filter on my 97 Saab. It really seems to work with my mileage going from
30 mpg to 35 mpg. Perhaps I am missing something but this is the approach I would suggest.
Also installing a humidifier is a lot easier than the plates and solutions needed for HHO.
In my case the generator is in the trunk and a 1 inch PVC pipe runs under the car to the engine compartment.
OCTOBER 2019 UPDATE
I ran across a article on generating HHO and it said it was important to use
distilled water to prevent deposits on the plates.
I wish I had done that back when i was doing this experiment.
It seems to be worth the effort.
MAY 2013 UPDATE
Since this was posted I have been working with water vapor injection.
Presently I am using a ultrasonic humidifier powered by a 400 watt 12 volt to 110 vac converter to
generate water vapor and injecting it behind the air filter on my 97 Saab. It really seems to work with my mileage going from
30 mpg to 35 mpg. Perhaps I am missing something but this is the approach I would suggest.
Also installing a humidifier is a lot easier than the plates and solutions needed for HHO.
In my case the generator is in the trunk and a 1 inch PVC pipe runs under the car to the engine compartment.
OCTOBER 2019 UPDATE
I ran across a article on generating HHO and it said it was important to use
distilled water to prevent deposits on the plates.
I wish I had done that back when i was doing this experiment.
It seems to be worth the effort.
This page includes two new techniques. One is the use of a spiral plates to achieve a large plate area in a small container.
Another technique we use is to use a DC current limiter to provide a constant current that does not change with cell temperature. It uses 4 headlight bulbs with the 8 filaments wired in parallel to produce a non linear resistor.
About 57 Amps are usually required to produce 1 LPM. his 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 57 /4 or 14 amps per litter of gas .
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.
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 8 headlight bulbs. These had all 16 filaments connected in parallel. They are shown here,
The completed box with the transparent cover looks like this the meter reads militants which is equal to the current in amps.
Now for installing. I used 2 lengths of 3 conductor wire with all 3 wires in parallel and 110 colt connectors as they were cheap.
Here are the 2 wires on the battery. the positive one goes through a 40 amp circuit breaker. One wire goes to the screw. The second
is soldered to a nickle. The nickle is then cut flat with a hack saw and inserted in the connector blades of the circuit breaker.
The 2 wires go to the trunk,
Where they go through the box to the four cells:
The crate prevents tipping over. A copper tube then runs back to the air cleaner:
PS vehicle is a 97 Saab 900.
RETURN