| Before you purchase an Electrolyzer/ HHO
Generator, it is very important to think about "where you
have room to install it. Perhaps you have bought a TV and tried to take it home in your car? Well it looked like
it would fit! Now what do I do? Sound familiar? Do not blame the Seller for
something you overlooked. The installation, in general, consists of finding a place to put the
generator; finding a place to put a bubbler; routing hoses from
the generator/bubbler to the engine's air way; installing necessary wiring
and electronics (safety switch, fuse/circuit breaker, power relay, etc.).
The first thing you should do is make a good visual inspection. Look for
a place to install the Generator and possibly a Bubbler. It is a good idea
to measure the locations.
- Do you have room in the engine compartment?
- Do you have room in the trunk?
- Do you need to mount it outside of the vehicle?
- Never install it inside the passenger compartment; the gases are not
poisonous, they are explosive. If a leak develops and gets ignited, it
most likely will not blow you up, but the noise will be hard on your ear
drums. It could cause you to loose control of the vehicle.
Things to avoid:
- Moving parts
- Hot spots and hot parts
- Locations that are subject to flying objects; rocks, sticks, road
hazards, speed bumps, etc..
- Do not block access to dip sticks, and other parts that receive
frequent maintenance.
Things to consider:
- Distance from the battery to the generator/cell and back to the
battery. The longer your wires
are, the thicker they need to be.
- Distance from the air inlet to the generator/cell. The length of the
tubes will affect back pressure.
- The longer your tubes and hoses are, the more HHO they store.
- Hot and Cold weather
- Will you be able to check and add water - when needed?
- Will the location keep you from checking your engine fluids; oil,
transmission, water?
- Will you need to replace the air filter box with a smaller filter - in
order to have enough room for a cell?
Safety equipment:
- Circuit Breaker or Fuse
- High Current Relay between the battery and the Generator/Cell
- Go-No-Go Safety Switch/Sensor - to activate the Relay that powers the
Generator/Cell.
- On-Off Switch - mounted on the Dashboard - to deactivate the Relay.
It is a good idea to have a lighted switch.
- Ammeter (measures the DC current being used by the Generator/Cell
- PWM (Pulse Width Modulator) - to control HHO gas production (Optional)
- Flashback Arrestor
- Safety Goggles (use when mixing and pouring electrolyte water)
Does all of this sound complicated? Well really, it is not. The Generator
contains some stainless steel plates submerged in water. When DC voltage is
added to those plates, bubbles start coming out of the water. Those are
hydrogen and oxygen bubbles. The generator will produce the bubbles as long
as voltage is applied to the submerged plates and it will stop producing
when the voltage is removed. Your goal is to control the generator and to do
so safely.
I can hear some of you saying "All you need is an On-Off Switch and two
pieces of wire". Well, yes, that would let you connect the generator to the
battery and turn it on and off. But there are a lot of "What if's" to
consider. Keep in mind, "A safe trip is no accident".
What if you forget to turn the generator off? I don't care how smart you
are, eventually this will happen. We all make mistakes. When you least
expect it, the "Stupid Stick" will strike you. That is why I
recommend a back-up plan; a Go-No-Go Switch. It's purpose is to allow the generator to operate
"only" when
the motor is running. If the motor stalls, or you turn it off, the generator
will automatically turn off. If you turn on the ignition - to listen to the
radio - and do not start the motor, the generator will not be able to turn on.
"That"
is what it takes to keep the "Stupid Stick" from striking.
What if I need to turn the generator off while the engine is running?
That is why you need an On-Off Switch located on your dashboard. This switch
connects to your Go-No-Go switch.
What if my On-Off Switch gets too hot? Your generator draws a lot of
electrical current (amperage) from the alternator. Amperage causes heat; so
your electrical parts need to be able to handle it. That is why all of your
electrical parts have an Amp Rating; even On-Off switches. Most switches
have a low amperage rating. We don't want to take chances of having a fire
inside the passenger compartment, so we will keep all of our high current in
the engine compartment. To accomplish this, we will use a High Current
Relay. The relay will work like your ignition switch. It will turn it on and
off with our switches. When it is turned on, it will connect the generator
to our battery. When it is turned off, the generator will be disconnected
from the battery. Do you see safety coming into the operation of the
generator now?
What if my metal plates get shorted? If that were to happen, the
generator would draw too much amperage from the battery. It would cause our
On-Off Relay to over heat and possible catch on fire; which could cause
toxic fumes. So we need to protect the Relay with a Circuit Breaker or with
a Fuse. Their job is to turn the generator off if amperage gets too high.
Now we have a well protected hydrogen generator system:
- It only works when the engine is running.
- We can turn it on and off from the drivers seat.
- It is protected from electrical overloads.
The following diagrams show how to wire an HHO Generator/Cell. The
Ammeter is not required, but I suggest you install one. It is important to
know how much electrical current the system is using. Also, the Vacuum
switch is not necessary, but it provides a back-up protection (as explained
above). |
Enhancements:
- Amp Meter - An ammeter is a tool you are
going to need. It is used to measure the amount of electrical current the
Generator water is drawing. The amount of Electrolytes you add to your
water determines the amperage; and the heating of the water increases that
amperage. So get yourself a meter. Either install one, or carry a
clamp meter in your glove compartment.
- PWM (Pulse Width Modulator) - A PWM
changes straight DC voltage to Pulses of DC voltage. Instead of having a
constant 13.5 volts DC applied to the generator, the PWM puts the voltage
there and takes it away thousands of times a second. In other words, the
generator is turning on and off - so fast - that it seems to be constantly
on. This process interrupts the electron flow to the generator; which in
turn reduces the heat caused by electron flow. That is the main benefit of
a PWM but not the only one. The PWM can also be used to control the amount
of amperage the cell is allowed to have.
- Flash Arrestor - The purpose of a Flash
Arrestor is to stop an engine backfire from igniting the HHO vapors being
produced inside the Hydrogen Generator. HHO is an explosive mixture of
hydrogen and oxygen vapors. A good flash arrestor consists of three
chambers; an input, an output, and a center chamber. The center chamber
consists of a porous material that restricts the flow of the vapors. It's
purpose is to allow the vapors to pass through it but yet slow down an
explosive reaction.
Fine Bronze wool has been used by many experimenters. They stuff it into a
small tube and pack it very tight. It works; but eventually the pours
get stopped up with your electrolyte and guess what --- the HHO vapors
can't get through it.
Cigarette Filters - work better than Bronze wool. Stuff 3 or 4 into a
tight fitting tube. They will stop a flashback but again, as with the
Bronze wool, eventually they will stop up because of your electrolyte.
One Way Valves - They will not do squat to stop a flashback traveling
3,500 feet per second.
Three Chambered Arrestors - these use a porous substance, such as sand, to
filter out or restrict the HHO vapor flow. Eventually the porous material
gets stopped up with your electrolyte.
All three types of arrestors work. But again, they are each subject to
failure.
Last but not least, some people think a Bubbler is a flash arrestor. Well,
yes, it could be an arrestor if the generator does not produce much HHO.
You see, the bubbles travel through the water. A flashback can travel from
bubble to bubble. The more HHO you make, the more likely the bubbler is to
pass a flashback. I have seen this happen many times.
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