I Regret to Announce...

...that the good and loyal '97 Honda Civic that has been the transporter of my family, the families of friends and relatives, members of the band and various visitors to our home - is no longer with us. Yesterday morning around 8:30AM EDT I was driving on 23rd street in Long Island City, New York at about 8:30 AM. I stopped a a stop sign at 31st Road and then inched forward craning to see around the van parked to my right on 31st. The street appeared clear. Given my Californian upbringing I also looked to my left to make sure that no one was heading the wrong way on that small one-way street. It was at that moment that a yellow cab traveling some 40 to 50 MPH (in a school zone) tore the front of my car off, and bent the frame. The photo, taken with my cell phone, fairly well shows the aftermath. That black thing that looks like an i-beam in the street is the gadget that would normally trigger the air-bags. Obviously they did not deploy. Still, my seat belt held me snug and safe and I was unhurt, but the car has been declared - "totaled" - and that with like 7/8ths of a tank of gas in it! I wonder where that goes? The cabbie had a bump on the head. He had a fare who simply got out and left the scene. I found three witnesses as to what happened and the insurance companies will work out whatever they need to work out. Thus ends this part of my ongoing experiment, but here are a couple of w4g things worth noting:

1. When the car was hit the motor shut down and when I know that I was unhurt I immediately got out to check on the other driver - forgetting that the Electrolytzers were continuing to churn out HHO. It was not until I had spoken with several people, called 911, and wandered around a bit shook up by the experience that I realizied what I had left undone and went to correct the potential problem - perhaps 7 to 10 minutes from impact. Here's the thing - nothing blew up. So I can now safely say that when an Electrolyzer runs for say 7 minutes the possibility of explosion appears to be nil...
2. Later in the day I went to the lot where the car or what is left of it has been stored - and removed our personal items including the MAP Enhanser and the Electrolyzers and all pertinent parts and found that the mason jars were unscathed. Turns out that these things are really strong - a very good thing to know, right?

My intention is to take the things that I've removed from my car and put them into the car of a neighbor who has expressed interest. I will ask him to keep independent readings of his mileage and I will make it my task to report his findings here. I see this as an opportunity to expand my knowledge by using this technology on another vehicle for the first time.

As for my transportation needs - well my wife and I have decided that what we want is another Honda Civic - but this time we want a Hybrid. (We'll just see if we can get it. I do figure that it's wortha try:-) With w4g we've become used to getting really good mileage, so how could we settle for anything less? I expect that once I feel really secure with my level of expertise I'll install a system in the new car (assuming of course that the computer issues have been solved by then) and we'll see if I can take what is already reported as great mileage in that car and make it even better...

The photo at the bottom here is a photo taken again with my cell phone of what happened to the cab after it hit me: he spun once in the street. My bumper is laying out there and the guy in shorts is standing next to a car the the cab missed in its trajectory before it slammed into the grey car you see pinned between the cab and the telephone pole. Just beyond that is a school. Children were everywhere both on the street and behind the fence. No one was hurt! Miracles never cease... Never.

Buckle up.

I'll see ya soon.

The Importance of Sealing the Electrolyzer

Early on when I first began to work with Water4Gas on my car I realized that I had a leak around the electrode fittings and made sure to seal them off. At the time I spoke with several people on the forum about this, and everyone agreed that it was important that there be no leaks at all. Also it came up that there was a problem for everyone concerning the plastic caps being used on the Electrolyzer. Lots of people were reporting that after they were in use for a little while that they would warp a bit and consequently they would leak. Many solutions were offered; some of them were good - such as gaskets being made to order, and Form-a-Gasket (a paste type product available in auto parts stores).

But if you've been following this blog you will know that, for me, simply knowing something is not always acting upon it right off the bat. Really although without much energy on it I did make sure to seal off the Electrolyzers that I've made for myself and some friends, but had no acceptable way to test those seals until a few days ago. Strangely about a week ago I had tested a couple of O-Ring Seals that appeared to do the trick: the test was simple - I took a cap that had not been drilled out, put water in it and turned it over. If it leaked then that was obviously not the seal I was looking for. I had it narrowed down to two - one of which was a bit thinner but fit the cap exactly, but I decided against it in favor of the thicker version that on first look is ever so slightly big. As it turns out my instincts were correct and that is the perfect seal. You see there was a further test that hadn't occurred to me. Because I've had such motivating successes with my gas mileage
I decided to check out the creation of "New Water" which utilizes an Electrolyzer in a very specific way. The trick there is that the Electrolyzer must be sealed off completely or when you place the output line into the separate jar you will get no bubbles at all! The Electrolyzer in this case is being put under positive pressure with the Aquarium Pump instead of a vacuum as it is used on a car - meaning that a little soap solution will allow you to see leaks. Well I started with a brand new cap that I had personally attached all of the fittings to, and had personally sealed using Goop. I got no bubbles. One of my Electrode fittings had a minor leak (these seem to be a problem area). I fixed it but still got no bubbles. I found a small leak around the edge of that brand new cap. I tightened it. Still nothing. I grabbed the thinner version of the O-Ring and put it in the cap and still had a leak. I traded out the thinner version for what I now call the "Perfect O-Ring" and wha'-do-ya' know?

Bubbles:-)

I immediately went out and placed the Perfect O-Rings in the Electrolyzers on my car.

Sealing is everything. Well let's just say that sealing is as equally important as every other detail, and all of the details are really, really important. Have I made myself clear? You cannot have any leaks.

Placing the Angle Fittings On the Cap

The image on the right is the inside of the cap for the wide mouth jar. Specifically, you're looking at a double vacuum set up where I used lock-washers to hold the angled fittings in place. As you'll see in the video below they're not always easy to put in place, but I found them to be more practical and frankly easier to use than the 1/4 inch nuts as indicated in the book.

UPDATE NOTE: 7:42 PM EDT Aug 10, 2008 - A new friend of mine in Fort Worth just called to tell me that the 1/4 inch lock washer slid right off the elbow! Between us we figured out that the elbow he was using was an irrigation variety purchased from Home Depot. The elbows that I'm using are automotive vacuum fittings and can be found at PepBoys, NAPA and Auto Zone. It's a pretty darned important distinction. Thanks Chris! - j

The video should give you a pretty good idea of how to put the angled fittings into the cap. I've had the question asked quite a few times concerning how this is done, and I finally got it through my head that there was a need for a video. The photo is actually something that I took a couple of weeks ago and has been lost in my computer until now.

It has lately occurred to me that what I take for granted is not necessarily obvious - so I ask in advance for you to be patient. If I've neglected to point out something important just drop me a note or give me a call and I'll see what I can do to fix it properly

NOTE: The O-Ring mentioned in the video is now available.

Very soon I'm going to be making further modifications to my car in the quest for better mileage. Someone early on told me that I should be getting 70MPG on the highway, and I just figured that he was exaggerating - that he was all hot about selling the technology and had become what I call a cheerleader (if you know what I mean), however as you know I'm now getting very close to 40 MPG on the highway - and it was only scant weeks ago that I thought that was impossible. Hey I haven't tried the PVC Enhancer; the Fuel Heater or any gas additives. I've been running with my AC on. I'm not all that careful with my starts and stops, and I sometimes wait for my wife or my kid with the motor running and the AC on at the same time! Get it? I have room to grow and new things to explore. However the AC stays on. I like to be cool:-)

My current w4g set up is as follows:

Two (Single Vacuum Line Style) Electrolyzers connected in series

• No line to the Air intake
• No Vacuum Line Check Valves - (with four feet of vacuum line going to the manifold)
  
• 1 1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda in each
• Each Tower has 1/4 inch notching - (accepting longer wire for more surface area)
  
• Positive Side wire - 60 inches - quadruple twisted 316 L
• Negative side wire - 60 inches - double twisted 316L

MAP Enhancer

• Pots set at approximately 10 on a scale that runs to 60

Oxygen Sensor

• Formerly had a spacer on it which gave some benefit when no other enhancements were in place
  
• IMPORTANT: Has now been disconnected from the system. - It was found to be in conflict with the MAP Enhancer.
  

Later,

j