Welding with Hydroxy

[Chris]

[Bob Boyce]

[bhaas]

[BEMET]

[adam666]

[eco]

[Bob Boyce]

[Loster]

[dkmacmillan]

I was thinking about trying to build a torch as my first real project. The setup will be an upright handtruck, something not dissimilar to an oxyacetylene rig, with a battery charger sitting on the bottom, then a U type electrolyzer mounted above it with two bubblers beside it. On the bubblers mount standard oxyacetylene hoses with torch which would be hung on a garden hose mount at the top when not in use. I'm pretty sure this setup would work fine exept I'm not sure about the torch tips holding up to the heat of hydrogen burning. This type of welding isn't as strong as electric arch welding. Should be fine for electrolyzer cells though. can anyone think of a good pressure relief system?

[AntDavison]

i have seen a man do strange things to bricks with his hydrox welder. he had a yard long elctrolysiser in a 6-8" diameter pvc pipe, looking a little like an aceteleyene bottle setup. Go to a cheap kitchenware shop and buy a hundred cheap stainless bowls (i saw some two days ago retailing for us$1.33each, punch out their bottoms, turn them upside down and stack a very millimeters apart, attach to mains voltage 220v at either end of the stack, thru a rectifier, triacs/controlling electronics and smoothing/voltage doubling capacitors or 110v for the america's.
his setup drew about 700w of power, and he never had to buy aceletyene again, bubbling thru a hydrocarbon (like as discussed bubbling thru water) will produce a low temperature coloured flame, this goes to one side of the torch and is used when starting and stopping the flame. The component of the hydrox gas not bubbled thru hydrocarbon fluid goes to the other side of the torch and can be dialled in for high temperature flames .. good for cutting, welding bolts to bricks, etc

[Chris]

[Chris]

[dkmacmillan]

I've never welded with hydroxy but since it's not arc welding you shouldn't need a helmet. A good set of oxy acetylene glasses are only about $20.00

[nakros]

Chris and others:

-Has anyone managed to create a welder with a larger tip than a hypodermic needle?

-Chris, you mentioned that you were planning on experimenting further with using hydroxy for welding -- Did you ever get a chance?

-Chris, with the pictures you have posted (pages 1-4 or so, and again on pages 20ish of your "Electrolysis Project"), how much gas would you estimate you were producing to sustain that flame?

Welding is my first goal for my little electrolyser, and see what the quality of the welds are like with hydroxy compared to oxyacetylene. I have read that hydroxy welding really oxidizes the weld, causing it to become quite brittle. This information came from where someone claiming to have been welding for 40 years tested out a Browns Gas Welder.

gives some more information about welding with Brown's Gas, such as volumes required for various sized torch tips.

Once my wife's new dresser and kitchen island are done and out of the workshop (few weeks), I'm definitely going to be trying to get more gas out of my electrolysers, and see if I can sustain a reasonably sized flame.

Thanks,

Greg;