Tested Builds a Hydrogen Converter

This week, Adam challenges Will and Norm with the task of building a hydrogen converter--a simple electrolysis rig that can split water into oxygen and hydrogen. It's a science experiment to demonstrate one way of harnessing hydrogen gas with basic chemistry!

Special thanks to John Duncan for supervising the shop during our build!

Shot and edited by Joey Fameli

Tested is:

Music by Jinglepunks

Thanks for watching!

#AdamSavage #Hydrogen

[alecapristrudel]

"Volts of power and watts of energy" - I died a little on the inside

[Tneltn]

Wow, this is shockingly full of miss information. "22 Volts of power, 100 watts of energy." "The more voltage you run through, the faster that process happens." Nope... Nope... SMH

[ChristmasEve]

Did you guys realize the major flaw with this design yet? I know this is 4 years old. Your electrodes were too far apart. Surface area is only one part of the equation. The other important factor you need to consider (in order to get the cell to draw more amps) is the distance between the anode and cathode. And a high voltage / low current solar panel isn't the answer. You want to get the plates SO close that it only takes a couple volts to split water and will pull MANY amps at that voltage. Those 100 watt solar panels would work but it you would need a buck converter which uses MPPT technology to lower the voltage and boost the current. Theoretically, at peak power and (to keep things simple, let's just say) a 100% efficient buck converter bringing your 22 V from that 100 watt panel down to 2 volts, you could make 1 liter of hydrogen in less than 3 minutes. So you could get your 15 liters in only 40 minutes from that 100 watt panel. In reality, with losses, say an hour or so.

[atiseru]

They are completly wrong. You produce the most hydrogen and oxygen when the voltage is low and the amps are high, thats why it doesnt work

[GrumpDog]

It's weird they had so little success with this.. We had a science teacher build one of these in class once, and it was no where near as complicated of a build.. Plus he had a circuit to up the voltage, dono why these guys didn't do that, 22 volts is pathetic. And when our teacher turned his on, the water was practically boiling!
He filled a whole balloon by the end of the class.. Then, tossing safety to the wind, he took us outside, tied a flammable string to the balloon, and lit it.. A few seconds later, every window in the surrounding block was shattered, and our ears were ringing.. Of course, he got in a ton of trouble for that, but it was the coolest science experiment I ever witnessed in school.. heh

[SGTRandyB]

I made one of these in my living room years ago, and produced a steady flame; with small plastic spacers and large steel washers. I used ac current but a variable dc amp multi plug selector. 12 dc amps in my mason jar produced enough steady hydrogen to burn.

[sebastianmonjo]

the trick is AMPERES not voltage, this video was made to fail on purpose, i hate this kind of "shows"

[MichaelMSchofield]

SMH Power is Watts not Voltage (voltage is potential difference), this is basic stuff here... They start with saying the process is done by running current(Amps) through the water but then they have 100 Watts 22 Volt solar panel which is just under 5 Amps of current compared to a car battery's 500 or more amps. Not to mention having a higher voltage actually gives you a lower current rating (ohms law) but hey lets F up the experiment in the name of clean energy. There is so much wrong with this I'm just scraping the surface.

[lindsayfog]

"we tried almost nothing but it just wouldn't work "

[titter]

That bag is probably leaking hydrogen like a sieve. Hydrogen is the smallest atom in the world, and it leaks trough most things. So a thin plastic bag is not the way to collect it. Use some sort of solid tank and a bubbler. And the tubing is probably leaking a little to so use som copper pipes to leak as little as possible.

[johnking]

Now I remember why I stopped watching MythBusters.
The episode that ended them...
Hydrogen powered car.
Now this.

[joelventura]

Way to (once again) create an incredibly poorly designed/underpowered strawman to knock down. You guys make it look easy!

[pauldjacobs]

Gee

Problem one, you poured in an electrolyte after filling with water and did not mix it.

Problem two, the electrolysis current had too far to travel around the tube. It would have been better in a single tube with a partition in the middle.

The King of Random unit worked perfectly because there was not an Olympic Swimming Pool distance between the Positive and the Negative

[ABitOfTheUniverse]

I see now, after finishing the video, why there are so many dislikes.

[DrGibs]

Those plates need to be much much closer together... Like a spacing of 2 to 3mm works best. And you need to add an electrolyte like sodium bicarbonate.

[OSrBurns]

This project can be improved! The gap between the cathode and the anode creates a big resistance, I think that the poles need to be more close to each other.

[RonnieSixx]

Why do you guys keep debunking this?
It's been proven to work.
Are you purposely doing it wrong?

[frostypotatos]

9:19 lol you can see the anger in Adam the moment they say, we used clean energy to do it, and he realized they failed it on purpose.

[SuperFredAZ]

this produces, 22 V.(not 22 V of power), and 100 W of power. You run current through the water, not voltage.

[EricHabib]

I like the quick build idea and it looks cool.

Just a quick safety note, although the typical logic when working with bases (KOH) is to add acid to neutralize it, it is much safer to just rinse with lots of cold water.

Acid-base reactions generate a lot of heat, so the last thing you want when you are getting a base burn is to add more heat (that will burn you even worse).