A Review Of Two Hydrogen Boosters For The Alternative Fuels Field
By James Ott

Looking at these two boosters and trying to give a rational and honest review of their capabilities is a tough chore. Much of the review has to do with the reviewers knowledge and here I am in many ways a novice in this arcane field. But so are many of the people on the web who are searching for good knowledge in the alternate fuels field. Those of us with a little knowledge should pass on to those with no knowledge what we have learned. By educating each other we can move forward and someday achieve energy sufficiency without dependence on fossil fuels and dependence on those who sell us the fuel and are not our friends.

Photo: energeticforum.com

Smacks booster and Water4Gas are the two most common providers of hydrogen generators.. Smacks booster and water4gas differ from each other in three essential ways; external casing, anode and cathode construction and catalyst used. I think that they differ from each other as well with ease of construction and simplicity of design; but this just happens to be my opinion since I am building the water4gas hydrolysis unit.

Beginning with the major difference in the external casing. Smacks booster uses a large 4 inch in diameter PVC pipe with caps at both ends. The top cap can be screwed off allowing the distilled water and catalyst to be added. A further part is added to this booster, a clear plastic tube that allows you to monitor the level of distilled water remaining in the generator. The Water4Gas unit is a (I blush to say it, a quart fruit jar). The benefits for the builder is that he can see inside the jar to judge the reaction without unscrewing the lid. Talk about ease of construction- a quart fruit jar is almost always found in our homes so it is readily available. The lid can be the original metal lid but that requires you to add rubber washers where the terminals and the lid touch to ground the terminal. . Or you can use what is recommended, a plastic lid. . But these also bring some problems in providing a good seal so that the gases do not evaporate to the atmosphere as fast ass you are making them. There are some homemade solutions to sealing these lids by using plastic tops of 2 liter coke bottles. I believe that you score the top of the bottle where the fill mark is and then boil the plastic top of the bottle and it acts like shrink wrap and covers the top of the canister. How you then get it open to fill is another question.. I will be trying that so will let you know.

The second difference between these two boosters is the construction of the terminals. Smacks booster uses a series of stainless steel electrical switch plates set in parallel with rubberized portions surrounding the plates to stop any leakage of electricity. His explanation and guidance is suburb. The plates are first roughed up with 35 grade coarse sandpaper then dimpled with a hammer and a punch to add additional surface for the gas bubbles. You should handle these plates with clean rubber gloves. I am not sure of the cost of these plates but from what I have seen, the stainless steel blank electrical cover plates are around $6-7 dollars apiece over the web. You would need at least 16 plates plus additional ones for spares in case you mess-up one or two . Plus shipping (weight) may increase your bill. The Water4Gas terminals use two different grades of stainless steel wire. The anode uses a 316L stainless steel that can handle the electricity flowing through it without dissolving in the distilled water. The cathode terminal uses a cheaper grade of stainless steel . I purchased mine from Defender, the Marine Store on the web. I had to buy 2 pounds of this wire ( the store requires that your Internet purchase be at least $25 to cover the shipping) . My wire is called stainless locking wire and is around grade 302-304. Since this terminal is not buffeted by the amount of juice flowing through the anode ( normally 12 volts from the car’s battery) you can get away with a lesser grade of stainless steel and thus it is less expensive. For both anode and cathode my cost (wire only) was $40.32 including shipping. Both wires will be twisted and spiraled over pieces of Plexiglas cut and notched according to the Water4Gas instructions.

The third difference is in the catalyst that each uses. Smacks booster used hydroxides rather than the milder sodium bicarbonate. He suggests that you not use the milder catalyst but that you use either sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide. Potassium Hydroxide is also known as caustic potash and sodium hydroxide is known as lye or caustic soda. Potassium hydroxide is available through a website called, SummerBeeMeadow. Com and can be found under the soap making supplies. Sodium Hydroxide is manufactured as Red Devil Lye. Just check the web for that name. Water4Gas uses distilled water like Smacks booster but deviates by using Sodium Bicarbonate or just plain baking soda. Reading some of the forum posts, specially Water4Gas Forum, just a little ( 1/2 teaspoon) goes a long way. I truly believe that Smacks 1.7 Liters per minute of hydrogen gas comes as much from the hydroxides used as from the arrangements of the metal plates. I am not sure what Water4Gas produces in a minute but I think it is somewhat less.

This brings me to the close and my comments about ease of assembly. I like the way the terminals are built in Smacks booster but honestly feel that for me (definitely a non-techie) that Water4Gas is simpler. As far as expense runs, I feel that both boosters are about on a par with each other. Buying one or the other could be done for about $175.00 for a completed Water4Gas Booster by Lang Enterprises in Florida and $220.00 at Smacks website for his. Smack also will sell you the exact kit of supplies for you to build his booster if you wish. For $150. Although I am not technical minded, I am a do-it-your selfer and prefer to build my own, thus the Water4Gas model. That is what I have started to build and will forge ahead on that.

I hope that this discussion gives you some knowledge about and between the different boosters and their complexity or simplicity of building. Thanks for reading and all the best, Jim

The author can be found on his website, http://tapwaterforgas.com
 

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