Where to Find Stainless Steel For HHO Hydrogen Generators & Fuel Cells
HHO Information June 7th, 2008
Another question we’ve been hearing, is where to find stainless steel for your HHO Fuel Cell. There are a lot of places to look, all around us. Aside from the obvious choice of a metal manufacturer, machine shop or a welding supply store, even Costco has stainless cookwear.
Our first HHO hydrogen generator was made out of a stainless steel stock pot. We bought it brand new for $9.99 at a nearby department store. You can’t cut stainless with an acetylene torch, so other methods had to be found. An angle grinder with a zip disk was used to cut two strips out of the pot. They were pretty thin and hard to work with, but the anode did produce hydrogen right off the first try. Note: there were a lot of razor sharp edges and a couple of cuts, so be careful if you try this! Wear safety glasses and gloves if you use any grinding or cutting equipment.
Since then we have been buying plate in 4 foot by 8 foot sheets. Since this isn’t practical for everyone, you can use a variety of kitchen and household items. From platters, to pots, to pitchers, many items are made from 304 stainless.
Speaking of which, some would have you believe that you need to use 316 stainless. We can’t figure out why you would need that, unless you will be running acid or hydrogen sulfide through your HHO fuel cell. 316 has extra hardener and anti corrosive elements to it, which also make it harder to bend and cut. So far, none of the 304 we have used has degraded measurably. 304 will conduct a current just as well as 316, and both are non magnetic.
If yo can’t find stainless steel plate to build your hydrogen generator, we can help you out. We can supply 16 gauge 4″ x 4″ & 4″ x 12″ 304 stainless steel plates, precut and ready to use. The details can be found in the Storefront widget on the right side. Before you buy, look around and see if you can locate what you need locally to save yourself shipping.
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hey
where are you guys located in Canada?
anywhere near Ottawa?
Im really interested in this HHO, hopeing to find people in the area that know alot about it…
thanks guys, keep up the good work
Sorry MistaPrimeMinista, we are in Alberta.
I am curious in these devices. Can any residual water still seep or flow into the engine? I would like to install on in my truck but I am hesitant in doing such as I do not want the engine to corrode or rust.
Hello Jeremy. Water from a hho generator should not rust your engine. We will post a video showing you how to make a quick condensation trap. The amount of water coming from a hho generator is a small percentage of what an engine will ingest while driving in fog, rain or living near the coast.
I am still investigating different ways (materials) to make a HHO generator. But I do know I plan on using 316 ss tubing that you can get at piping and equipment stores for my anode. I use this at work for gas measurement. It is easy to bend, holds it shape, and not to expensive. It will be in the shape of a coil inside the container. I have a book from an auto parts store to help me with wiring and where vacuum lines are ect… it is simular to a chiltons manual. All the auto part chain stores have them. Hope i have helped some to combat the oil companies from stuffing their pockets with our money.
I also had difficulties to find stainless steel wire.. but just for the purpose of experimenting the idea, i just bought stainless steel fishing lines from a marine store .. i bought the biggest diameter i could find in the store.. and it works just fine.. the only problem is , it easily accumulate deposit on the +(ve) side of the coil so i had to clean up the coil about every 2000 miles of usage.
Good Luck guys..
Hi guys. I have build a generator with the pvc pipe and SS plates, 2″x9″, and I am having trouble with the lead wiring getting to hot. I drained all the water and checked for a short by found none. I have switched the wires around and still the same thing. It is like the unit is shorting out. This last time I melted the coating on the lead wire. My case is 4″ PVC pipe about 12″ long. I have a bubbler, a check valve, and a flashback arrestor in place. When I tested the unit off the vehicle, it produced about 2 liters of gas in about 1 minute. Please help and thanks for being out there.
Hello Mr.
Ron Your generator sounds like it puts out good volume but it is probably drawing 20 amps or more. If you are not using 10 guage wire you should. If you are then try not using electrolytes. If you are not using electrolytes then check the spacing on you plates, you might have to tweak one or widen the gap on all of them. Try a gap of 5mm.
I am interested in building a generator and I have a question. Where do you get a flashback arrestor, can you make your own? Also, does it matter how much surface area there is on the Positive charged anode?
Thanks
Pike
One easy place to get stainless that is already cut into usable chunks is in the electrical department of Home Depot, Lowes, etc Get stainless outlet covers. I was also thinking of stainless covers for shower drains and installing them vertically, with all of the holes I was thinking that they would bubble well, but then refill the space with water easily too.
as or a good elctrolyte solution I saw this one which is eas, household stuff and not caustic:
3 tABLESPOONS BAKING SODA
SHOT GLASS WHITE VINEGAR (2OZ)
(CAN DO OVER LIGHT HEAT TO MAKE
IT MIX FASTER)
3 CUPS RAIN WATER, DISTILLED,
SNOW ETC
1 CUP ISOPROPOL RUBBING ALCHOHOL
2 CAPFULLS HYDROGEN PEROXIDE