Chasing the HHO outputs:

After preparing the HHO control unit and finishing the assembly of our HHO cell, we decided to make a LCD screen to get some outputs from the system.  The figures that we interested to know are data like PWM duty cycle and frequency (so that we can test different PWM configuration during the same test run, maybe even to run program for self finding the best frequency),the current load of the system, the throttle status and additional data that might pop up in the future. Moreover we added 8 buttons for control possibility of the HHO cell so that we can change work modes and adjust the cell’s work during testing and without reprogramming.

For that purpose we got a 4 lines x 20 letters LCD and prepared a nice case for it.

The ingredients of our HHO screen:

1. LCD screen 4x20. Quantity: 1.
2. buttons for system control. Quantity: 8.
3. black sunglasses case. Quantity: 1.

All the buttons are normally open. The screen connects to the HHO control unit using printer cable, screen uses 8 + 3 pins to receive signal from the unit.

After a very week or so of experimenting, we got the desired results from the screen (Screen data are fictional only for experiment):

Take a look at the guts of this baby:

Next mission is to place the screen in the passenger compartment and use it to find the best work point for our HHO cell. Meanwhile we consider to connect our HHO control unit to the ODB-2 port of the car and use it to receive vital data from the car’s computer like fuel consumption, RPM and so on. With an ODB-2 connection we will be able to use all the data that presented using Scangauge II for effectiveness calculations. To do this we will need to program an interface to ODB-2, Lot of work but for now it seems inevitable…:]

Last week we ended the building of our long-planned new full hydrogen on demand cell. This baby planed to be highly efficient and to use the maximum space possible of the water filter. Our target with this HHO cell was to produce high amount of HHO without overheating the tubes, the water and the electric wires.

The details:

1 Standard 10” water filter housing. (we just love that item :] )

18 couples of : stainless steel tubes, inner tube (ID 6, OD 8) , outer tube (ID 10, OD 12 mm). Between the tubes there is plastic place holders, we used plastic clips with the right thickness (1 mm). On top of each tube  stainless steel electrical connection was welded to connect the tubes to electricity. After connecting the wires, all connections was isolated to prevent unwanted leakage current. From plans to real life:

The SSL tubes was the most expansive parts because we wanted high grade stainless steel according to the 316L standard. Tubes was cut to dimension of our choice (160 mm). 

The PVC plates was cut using hacksaw from a bigger plates and drilled using desk-drill with the help of printed 1:1 version of the holes location can be found here:  Base Drilling A4(PDF)

2 PVC plates for holding the tube couples in place, 3 threaded metal rods for stability between the PVC plates.

The 3 threaded rods connects the Tubing-home to the upper base. The upper base has two more rods, each one use both as electrical connection and as holder to tubing of this assembly. All inner tubes connected to one rod and all outer tube connected to the other. Might look just like this:

The final step is to connect the upper base to the cup of filter housing. this can easily be done by drilling two holes in the cup and attaching the cell’s body using the two upper rods.

The final result make us smile after all the hard work: a massive HHO generator. Take a look:

The next step is to find most effective point of this cell and to determine if one HHO cell is enough to drive car or maybe there is need for three or six or maybe ten cells to keep up with the pace needed to fuel a car only on HHO.

The main function of the control unit is to provide the necessary PWM and other needed inputs to the HHO generator. This will allow us to test many different PWM configurations, leaving the electronic components unchanged. Changes to the PWM will be taken directly from program changes. In other words, PWN is controlled directly by a program.

The heart of the control unit is a programmable microcontroller which provide low current PWN signal. The duty cycle and frequency of the PWM signal is determined by the code that was programmed into the microcontroller. Later, a transistor is used to amplify the signal to the proper working current (which is limited only by car’s battery).

The system sketch looks pretty much like this:

All you need to do to change PWM values is to make minor changes in the program. In the future we will use to microcontroller to display important data to LCD screen during the work of the cell.

Part required for the HHO control unit:

1)Microcontroller – this a microprocessor system which contains program memory, parallel and serial input/output, timers and interrupts – all integrated into single chip that can be bought for as little as two dollars. To harness a microcontroller to our HHO mission basic digital logic understanding is required, plus C language knowledge is an advantage. It is possible to program a microcontroller both with assembly and C, but C is much straight forward option because it is easy to learn and remains the same even with different microcontrollers.

If you are new to microcontrollers you have nothing to worry, you can quickly close this gap because microcontrollers designed for easy learning and implementation. Plenty of learning material is available over the net and you can even read this fantastic book about microcontrollers for quick start:

Advanced PIC Microcontroller Projects in C: From USB to RTOS with the PIC 18F Series

This book helped me to become from total newbie to someone that can program his own microcontroller :]

The microcontroller of our choice is Microchip PIC18F8520 , info can be found here. It is cheap and is more than enough for our needs.

2)Mosfet Transistor - is a device used to amplify or switch electronic signals. It is used in the HHO control unit to amplify the PWM signal from the microcontroller using electric power from the battery. In this case the mosfet should be capable to work under load of at least  50 A x 12 V Continuously and at any given moment.

Data sheet of my current Mosfet transistor:

http://www.megachip.ru/pdf/VISH_IR/FB180SA10.pdf

3) Set of connectors – needed to connect this HHO unit to the outer world.

4) Good metal box – can be any good looking box with enough space for components.

In future we will add to this control unit many important HHO features and the best part: no hardware changes will be required only C code supplemental.

1. EFIE – In future this control unit will use as an EFIE device and will constantly find the appropriate air/fuel mixture need for HHO device.
2. LCD screen – We plan to add a screen to receive valuable data output from the HHO device and/or the car work parameters.

Note: This device is not a must for running HHO system in the car but it will greatly help us to find the most economic and the most efficient regime. You can wait for our results and just implement them in you device without complications. stay tuned for updates…

Final result:

As you can see, we lunched this excellent blogging platform – Blogengine.net. Now all news from our research will be posted in the comfort of this stylish blog :]

Check out the project page to receive status update of the Full hydrogen on demand project.

Little Taste form project: