Ok, so i try to make a topic about this here, if someone knows how to move my two previous post here, ?
As it seems to be a interest, this may deserve its own thread.
As Andris points out, solar/battery/dc, surplus power is really worth this as a “free” source of clean, hot gas for brazing, as i understand it this method was used in early 1900, for brazing special bits for lathes and mills, where a carbon-free flame was needed, to not affect the special hard metals.
Keep in mind, as all here already know, hydrogen is no magical, free, clean, super fuel, its just a way to carry energy, one can never break down water without putting in more energy than comes out ![]()
So, this is basically electrical brazing. But its easy, fun, and explosive. (I need to fill up some party ballons with this HHO gas, guess if i can scare the sh*t out of my friends)
And to the next: why brazing?
It’s easy to learn, material like brass, and borax as flux is easy obtainable, and many useable materials is out there.
Brazing gives nice, leak-free joints, it’s easy to braze together odd materials, brass-brazing is a really good way to repair cast-iron details, both big and small.
Silver brazing is more expensive, but a super good way to put together stuff, like copper or brass to stainless steel, which is good for example: hvac systems, water systems/filters, stills, food-grade stuff, and like. Gives enormous strong and tight joints pretty easy.
So, if i don’t blow myself up, updates will follow.
A few years ago, my brother Pavel built a small 12V water-gas generator. He wound two separate coils around a ceramic tube, with the turns positioned close to one another… During testing, the results were somewhat similar to those shown in Goran’s photos.
We concluded that using the gas is only feasible if it is drawn directly into an engine. If, however, one wishes to use it with a burner, the gas velocity at the burner nozzle must be sufficiently high—much like with an oxy-acetylene torch. This implies that the gas generator must be capable of producing a sufficiently high pressure, approximately 1.5 bar.
Consequently, the electrolysis of water using direct current must take place within a robust, sealed vessel to achieve this pressure; the power source would then maintain the pressure inside the vessel, regulated by a pressure switch. The piping system must include a check valve and a metal honeycomb structure to cool the gas and suppress any flashback—this component should be located close to the burner nozzle.
This is just my personal opinion. Goran, please be careful—use eye and ear protection…
Thanks Tone, yes, you are totally right, the gas velocity needs to be higher than the flame front speed of oxygen/hydrogen, which is pretty high.
In my case, i used a net, like “Davy’s safety lamp” in my burner, this is’nt sufficient for hydrogen. I need to build in one of these pressed ball structures like air tool mufflers. Or a bronze wool plug, that i read somewhere should work good.
And the second water-lock bubbler needs to be smaller, and have a pressure/explosion relief valve-then im going again ![]()
see if they have a parts list for the jewelry brazing set up just to see how they did it. They are popular because you don’t need the oxy/acetylene tanks inside the house. I suspect everything including the torches are too small for your intended application, but they make them to be inside house studios so they have all the safety features they thought of to not get sued. you don’t have to think of all them.
Thanks Sean, yes i have looked on these parts, and came to the conclusion, their water lock bubbler have a to small explosion relief valve for me to trust it, and the bubbler is often made of stainless or casted aluminum, which i don’t want- because it could become a grenade.
My torch is one of these made for jewelery soldering, but i had to rebuild it for my purpose, the flame arrestor was also glued in place very sloppy, the epoxy glue made it totally tight and i needed to drill it out.
I made me a HHO torch years back.
What you want to do is sandwch together ss plates with 4 holes on top and bottom between rubber seals and plastic endplates. A circulating pump (l used a washing machine pump) is used to drasticly improove gas production and heat management because bubbles on plates reduce the electrode active surface area.
I hooked mine on a old ac welder with 4 big rectifiers to get dc.
Important, you do not want 12v or anythying like that on electrodes. Anyting over 2v is wasted efficiancy so by stacking neutral plates between the electrodes in the sandwich the voltage gets devided, so 2 plates hooked to 12v with 6 neutral ones will produce 2 volts between any 2 plates. A neat trick for good efficiancy.
As for the burner, l bubbled my part of the gas trugh gasoline to make the flame more reducing, skipping this makes the flame neutral and tends to make burn whatever you are working on.
The burner l found is best to be made so that you esentialy make a flashback arrestor with a tiny nozzle in the end. Practicly no volume of gas between the tip and the arrestor. Because it will popp back inevitably. Hipodermic needles work great as burners.