Month: May 2018

The MoT test is set for a major shake up on the 20^th of May this year, its largest and most significant in quite some time. From this date, MoT test faults will be classified as Minor, Major and Dangerous – with both Major and Dangerous faults being an automatic fail. Cars with Minor faults will still pass the test – as cars with advisories did previously – and these will be documented both on the vehicle’s MoT certificate and online record.

The second of these major changes – and perhaps the one that will affect the average motorist the most – is that diesel vehicles will now have to meet strict new rules to pass their MoT. As of 20^th of May, any vehicle fitted with a diesel particulate filter (DPF) that emits ‘visible smoke of any color’ will automatically fail the MoT. Diesel vehicles without a DPF (generally manufactured prior to 2006) will not be subject to the same emissions test.

Furthermore, MoT testers will now be instructed to inspect the DPFs themselves. If a car has a DPF that has been ‘clearly cut and re-welded’ then the tester must refuse to test it, unless the vehicle’s owner can ‘prove it was done for legitimate reasons such as filter cleaning’. This is different to the out-going rules that stipulated that a car would only be rejected from the test if the DPF was clearly missing. After May 20^th, if a car has had its DPF removed for performance or any other reasonthen its owner could be subjected to a £1000 fine or more.

Over the last decade many motorists have purchased a diesel vehicle fitted with a DPF, unaware of the potential problems that can occur if the DPF is not able to function correctly, for example if the motorist does a lot of stop-start driving and only uses the vehicle for short journeys thus not giving the DPF system a chance to regenerate as intended. This can lead to a drop invehicle performance, economy and ultimately, reliability too.

The more you look into the CC-16 the better it gets!

In the world of hydrogen-based engine cleaning, there are certain catch words that should make you think twice about a product. Increasingly ‘dry cell’ is just such a term.  A dry cell hydrogen generator kit can be picked up online for around £200 and run off a 12v supply. These generators are generally used as fuel additive generators within the engine. Because of their small size and low voltage, they fit well under the hood and run off the battery. Needless to say as a solution for engine carbon cleaning they are ineffective, unreliable and have been known to cause damage to some engines. It is wise to remember how highly combustible HHO gas is and the importance of safeguards to make sure the gas is only being burnt where you want it to be burnt and not filling up your workshop. Flow regulation is a key factor in safely burning HHO in the engine. Too much gas being sent into the combustion chambers can cause temperatures of 3300, hot enough to risk piercing a piston head or warping valves. Not enough gas and you could be waiting a few days to clean one engine.

Photo 1. Dry Cell inside the box

Photo 2. Dry Cell kit 200GPB

Photo 3. Dry Cell after 1 year in use

Still, there are some companies out there who have been buying up just such kits, putting them in a metal box and charging upwards of £1000 for their product. We find it a great shame that such progressive technology is being treated in this way with possibly catastrophic results. If you are looking to embrace HHO cleaning in your workshop it is wise to get as many details as you can about the contents of the machine you are about to invest in.

This is not to say that all dry cell generators are a bad thing. They are a solid alternative to traditional wet cell generators. First, though, let’s clear up a few points – ‘Dry’ cells still require a reservoir of water to function so ‘dry’ is a little misleading. The anode and cathode elements are not fully submerged but are set up as a series of alternating plates separated by a none conductive material (usually neoprene) and the water is fed through holes in each plate. The water is then cycled back into the reservoir carrying the gas with it which escapes through the top of the reservoir.

Not submerging the entire anode/ cathode in the water tank (as an electrolytic tank cell does) is done to increase efficiency in the belief that much of the electric current would pass through the edge of the plate and be wasted in terms of HHO production. This is not particularly true. In fact, wet cells charge the water around them turning the cell into a capacitor or power reservoir. The extra voltage therein is used to boost HHO generation and gives the user more flexibility to control the excess power and amount of HHO produced at any given time. This is very useful when producing HHO for cleaning engines of varying sizes but not so much for producing a set amount as a fuel additive. So we can conclude that a dry cell may be the best option under the hood of your car but the electrolytic tank is the best and most flexible solution for HHO engine cleaning.

The smaller units running from 12v would struggle to produce enough current (generally running just under 1KW) to split the volume of water needed to produce the gasses required to efficiently clean an engine. Under normal conditions (1 atmosphere of pressure and 1 mole per liter of H+ ions) you need 1.23v to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Since Power = Current x Voltage we can get the current by dividing power by voltage. 1000W / 1.23V = 813amps. Running for one hour (813amps x 3600seconds) we get 2.93 million coulombs of charge. One mole of electrons has a charge of 96,500 coulombs. If we divide the machine’s charge by the charge of the electrons this gives us around 30 moles of electrons flowing per hour. For a water molecule to split 2 electrons have to flow meaning 30 moles of electrons would split 15 moles of water into 15 moles of hydrogen and 7.5 moles of oxygen equating to 350 liters of hydrogen and 175 liters of oxygen. With this amount of HHO being produced it would take upwards of 2 hours to clean a 2-liter engine.

The CC16 runs at 4KW, therefore, producing 4 times as much HHO giving it the ability to clean a 2-liter engine in just half an hour. With 9 electrolytic tank cells, each individually monitored and controlled by the onboard PCU, the current is kept constant as is the flow rate of the machine. Even if a cell stops working for any reason this would be picked up automatically and power would be redistributed to the other cells. This is impossible to achieve with current dry cell technology; with a single cell when it breaks down it will completely stop working.

The CC16 can be programmed to produce the required amount of HHO defined by entering the engine displacement at the start of the service. Even if one of the cells, where to stop working more power, would be displaced to the other cells maintaining a constant production of HHO at the required level. The dry cell machines have a single constant flow without the option to regulate volume. In most cases, this is a mere trickle of gas but some cases have been found to produce far too much in a single draw leading to engine damage.

The CC16 features a charge activated shutdown connected to the vehicle’s battery. This safeguard monitors the different charge coming from the battery when the engine is running or stopped. Should the engine stop running during the clean the HHO would not combust in the engine. The CC16 would notice and stop producing HHO gas which could escape and cause a hazard. Other safety features like flashback valves, water level, and heat monitors have been incorporated into the CC16, during our development of the machine, but are seldom seen on the dry cell units which scarcely even feature a PCU.

We are confident in saying that that the CC16 is the best HHO cleaning solution in the world when compared in terms of efficiency, safety, longevity, and ease of use.