Series Cell Stack Plate Preparation and Conditioning 
(c) 2002 - 2007 Bob Boyce 

At no time are the plates to be handled with bare hands. Use clean rubber gloves to handle the plates. 

1. Plate Preparation 

First, you must deeply crosshatch the plates in an X pattern. Sandblasting or using an orbital sander will NOT work the same. This sanding is typically done by hand or on a belt sander using 60 or 80 grit sandpaper. 

Rinse the plates clean of particulate matter. Acids or other cleansing chemicals are never to be used on the plates. The only chemicals that should EVER touch these plates are sodium hydroxide and/or potassium hydroxide. Clean tap water (not city water though due to all the chlorine and other chemicals added) may be used to rinse, but distilled water only is to used for final rinse. 

2. Cell Assembly 

Assemble the plates into the series cell container. Mix up a dilute solution (5% to 10% by weight) of sodium hydroxide in distilled water. Pour this solution into the series cell container until the solution is just covering the plates totally. 

3. Plate Cleansing 

During this stage, we are operating in submerged plate condition, where the liquid level is maintained just over the plates. Applied voltage should be at least 2 volts per cell, but not over 2.5 volts per cell. Run this cell stack at full power for several hours at a time, which can be 4 amps or more. As the cell stack runs, the boiling action will loosen particulate from the pores and surfaces of the metal. Be sure to do this in a well vented area. Shut down and pour this solution into a container. Rinse the cells well with distilled water. Filter the dilute solution through paper towels or coffee filters to remove particulate. Pour the dilute solution back in and repeat this cleansing process. You may have to rinse and repeat many times until the cells stop putting out particulate matter into the solution. Optionally, you can use new solution each time you cleanse, but be forwarned, you can go through a lot of solution just in this cleansing stage. When cleansing is finished (typically 3 days of cleansing), do a final rinse with clean distilled water. 

4. Plate Conditioning 

Using the same concentration of solution as in cleansing, now fill the cell stack with dilute solution up to within 1/2" of the top of the plates. Do not overfill the cells. Apply about 2 volts per cell and allow the unit to run. The cells may overflow, but this is ok for now. As water is consumed, the levels will drop. Once the cells stabilize with the liquid level at the plate tops or just below, monitor current draw. If current draw is fairly stable, continue with this conditioning phase straight for 2 to 3 days, adding distilled water to just replace what is consumed. If the solution turns color or skims over with crud, the cell stack needs more cleansing stages. Do not allow the cells to overfill and overflow at this point. Ater 2 to 3 days of run time, pour out the diluted solution and rinse well with distilled water. 

5. Cell Operation 

Mix up a nearly full strength solution of sodium hydroxide OR potassium hydroxide. 

Mode of operation determines operational voltage and fill level. For straight DC catalytic operation, about 2 volts per cell or less is required, and fill level will be to within 1" of the plate tops. For resonance operation, about 1.5 volts per cell is required, and fill level is only about 50% to make room for the highly reactive gas production volume. 

6. Troubleshooting 

a. Abnormally low current is caused by improper plate preparation or severe contamination. Disassemble the unit and start over again from plate preparation. 

b. Abnormally high current is caused by high leakages between cells. This will require re-building or re-sealing of the cell container. 

c. If current starts higher then drops off, this means that the plates are contaminated. Disassemble the unit and start over again from plate preparation.