My concern is their are all these (fragile) glass jars in peoples hot and shaky engine bays making a flammable (possibly explosive) gas. If the jar has a leak the escaping gas could catch fire and set fire to the car . I think it needs to be a safer system.

I don't doubt that it produces extra fuel to be used as a supplement to the petrol which I think is what Simon is planing on doing, not using it as a solo fueling system. It may very easily add that extra 5-10 km/L, I'd be appreciative of that .

With the argument that "the battery Powers the hydrogen production, the hydrogen HELPS powers the engine which drives the alternator which recharges the battery", the alternator produces more power than the battery needs so if the hydrogen uses some of the battery power the alternator can still recharge the battery with enough power.

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Respect mine and I'll respect yours.

I would say explosive gas rather than flammable, as you have it at the right mix to explode as well. It is like storing fuel mixture in a jar under your bonnet, if it had ignition it would explode. Although having said that, you probably wouldn't have too much under there, so its probably not too bad. As long as you take reasonable precautions it would be ok anyway.

Your alt doesn't produce more power than your battery requires at all times either. The voltage regulator turns the alternator output on or off, so normally it is just freely spinning, its only when you start drawing power off the outputs that the magnetic fields are charged ant there is resistance to it spinning. If you were to continue charging your battery continuously, you would evaporate all the electrolyte out of the battery.


Turbos do create more power than they use, making a car more efficient, but they also consume more fuel, so for example a 1L n/a engine may produce 20hp for 10L fuel per 100km, whereas a 1L turbo may produce 30hp for 13L fuel per 100km. So the turbo is more efficient for the power it is producing and so would be more efficient than a n/a engine that produces equivalent power.

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Before you judge someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you judge them, you are a mile away and you have their shoes.

Some old permanent magnet alternators did what you say, and had to throw away the extra power, using a zener diode in a big heatsink. However Mini alternators are regulated, and only produce what is required. As electrical load increases the alternator works harder to meet the extra load. If there's no load the alternator spins easily, as the load increases it gets harder to turn, using up petrol to turn it. While the alternator is capable of charging the battery and making hydrogen simultaneously, it can't do it without putting extra load on the engine.

Tim

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1951 Morris Commercial J Type Van
1955 BSA C11G
1961 Morris Mini Traveller
1969 Triumph TR6R
1977 Leyland Moke Californian

Well explained . This is also why when jump starting cars, the idle speed of the car that is running drops off when they are connected. What you are doing is making the alternator produce power to charge the flat battery, which is putting load on the engine and lowering the idle speed.

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Before you judge someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you judge them, you are a mile away and you have their shoes.

It sounds very dangerous having a container under a bonnet that could give off hydrogen gas.
Better ban lead/acid batteries then.

better ban eating curries in the car

This thread has made me wonder how they are going with this innovation...

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One should never skimp on the zip ties.

Ok now I understand the alternator workings better, thanks.
Speedy I preferred the MkII version with the turbo

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Respect mine and I'll respect yours.