Plate Material for HHO Generator

[AHI]

I would stay away from copper, it will corrode in no time at all. This might sound strange, but if you are constructing a tower in a plastic cylinder, I would suggest you fit a stainless steel lid as this is generally where the connections leave the unit. If the internal connections are not immersed in the electrolyte a lot of heat will be generated even from quite low amps. You only need about 1.5 volts to produce HHO, so if you have an input of 13.8 volts - 1.5 volts = 12.3 volts at 15 amps you have 184.5 excess watts. That heat will be concentrated in the area of connection that is not immersed. Wire can become red hot. You could have an internal explosion. Acrylic will become pliable or melt at that temperature, you'll have a gas leak. Hot glue will melt. Only use bolt on connections, spade connectors can be loose and create more heat by arcing. Don't use spark plug caps on threaded bolts, they will arc. Use a high heat resistant grommet backed up by a penny washer on both sides of the connection. The area provided by the S/S lid acts as a heat sink for the grommets and will help to keep things cool. The tower for a wire bound electrode needs to be made of thick acrylic or polycarbonate material. If you use thin material the tower will twist and the electrodes become loose, possibly shorting out.

AHI

[Louis L. Borja]

Use stainless steel since they last longer and are cleaner. Since they are less in conducting electricity, use MORE plates. Copper makes the water dirty. The material that endures longer is better.

[TomK]

I am interested to know the expected life of the unit based on mileage or hours with stainless plates. I have a water ionizer from Enagic that has platinum coated titanium plates. Would this type of plate be an overkill?

[wilkes71]

My son-in-law made 10 units and found that bead blasting the stainless steal plates increased the surface area and made them more efficient.