electrolisis machine

[trae08]

anyone have any plans or a working machine they wouldn't mind sharing? i've made a simple one with a 9 volt battery an salt an a graphite rod. but i am looking for one a li'l more complicated that will yield more gas (hydrogen gas)

[sgort87]

You're gonna need to get stainless steel 316 for electrodes. Graphite will combine with the oxygen and produce CO2 and make your gas collection SUCK.

I'd suggest using PVC to house your collection and reaction containers. You can easily mount things with PVC.

[iknowmy3tables]

what about the electricity a 9 volt will take a long time, don't you need someting like a capacitor or stun gun

[sgort87]

A common 12 volt transformer will work. Just be sure you cool it well.

[singularity]

if you plan on separating the o2 and H gas you should use a "U" design, place one electrode on each side of the U. the O2 gas should collect on positive side (because its slightly more electrons then protons) and the H gas should collect on the negative terminal (case its has a slightly positive charge). for the power supply if you plan on going big time on this project i suggest you buy a computer PSU that is SLI certified because it should have at least 30 Amps on the 12v rail (more current=faster gas collection) but that will cost you around $80. if you just want it to work grab one of the cheap adjustable power supplys from radio shack (or go to your dump and salvage a crappy psu from a computer)well good luck on your project

[shud_b_rite]

Im no expert but i can give you a few tips.

Voltage doesnt matter much, as long as the resistance in the water isnt too high (distance the electrodes are apart) then 1.5v is enough. The amount of current determines how much gas you are producing.

Another thing, surface area. Plate electrodes will work well because there is lots of surface area for the gas to form on.

[shud_b_rite]

Another thing that will help is an electrolyte, such as salt (NaCl). This will lower the resistance of the water but note that it will form oxygen AND chlorine (on the positive electrode) and pure hydrogen (on the negative).

[sgort87]

Voltage makes ALL the difference. Did we forget Ohm's Law? The higher the voltage, the higher the current through a fixed resistance. The more voltage you have available, the faster it goes.

Of course, you also need to be sure your transformer can handle a god current.

[imjustpk]

dude are you guys using oxygen and hydrogen in spud guns?

[shud_b_rite]

Ahh yes I did forget ohms law. I was just thinking what I read in a book that 1.5volts is enough to split the water apart, and 1.5volts is how much electrical energy is produced when combining hydrogen and oxygen together again.

So yeah, what sgort87 said, more volts = more current = more gas

[sgort87]

dude are you guys using oxygen and hydrogen in spud guns?

Well, nobody said that yet. I'll let discussion of that happen if I see that he has a suitable chamber for it.

[jrrdw]

I thought these machines were for hair removel. What the heck are you guys talking about?

[paaiyan]

Yea you might want to keep an eye on what gas you're producing. Guy in my chem class decided he'd try that little experiment and about knocked himself out with the chlorine. You better be able to vent it away.

[cannon freak]

Don't use salt as an electrolyte, it creates to much chlorine gas and that stuffs pretty dangerous. I would suggest sodium hydroxide, you can obtain it from your local hardware store.

Also the lower the voltage and the higher the current make a much more efficient machine, to much voltage and you lose massive amounts of energy in the form of heat.

The distance between electrodes is also very important, the closer they are the more hydrogen will be produced, and as stated above stainless steel plates are the best thin to use because of the surface area and excellent corrosion resistance.



Cannon Freak.

[Recruit]

Did some one do this I remeber send hims plans to make lye as a added conductor but there is like a 5 page topic on this.