Hydrogen Fuel Cell Tests

I've been 'playing around' with hydrogen fuel cells for some months now, whenever time's permitted. These tests have mostly been 'my baby' as Emmanuel has been fully occupied with his courier business.

I've done a lot of researching - one of the biggest reasons being that HHO is highly flammable - so potentially dangerous. As I have my 12 year old daughter usually in the car with me, I wanted to make sure that I knew how this gas behaves, and exactly what the potential dangers are.

Just briefly now, I will say what I have done:

We'd bought the Water4Gas ebook originally but as we did not know anything about water fuel and hydrogen fuel cells, decided to buy the kit from America. In my excitement, I bought the wrong kit! I'd ordered the kit that is for making the energised water to drink for health reasons - not the one for installing in the car. (I'm scientifically minded but not very mechanically minded.) As it wasn't working I lost interest for some time until I spoke with a gentleman who has been making, using and selling kits for the past 4 years in the uk - way before the water fuel ebooks came out.

I visited him, saw them installed in all of his cars and bought 2 for my car. Seeing what he had done with his cars was quite an experience but I will leave that for another day.

I installed them, tried them out ...but no satisfactory results! To be honest, I was feeling that the whole process didn't work at this time; however, I made the following video to know if I had gone wrong installing them. (I knew that the installation was safe but wanted to make sure that all small details were exactly correct for expected increase in mpg.)

I was told the mistake was that I had wired the cells in relay, rather than in parallel. This meant that the cells were only receiving 6 volts each, instead of the necessary 12 volts. By this time I was beginning to think that the system wasn't going to work, was very busy at that time, so did not do any further tests - although I had adjusted the wiring as instructed.

...But several days after altering the electrical wiring I started to watch the petrol gauge needle, because it seemed to be going down much slower than usual. I only do about 10 to 15 miles a day. Over the next few days I kept my eye on it and reached the stage when I was absolutely positive that either I was doing appreciably more miles/gallon or... my petrol gauge had broken! I then made this next video:

The car that I have installed the 2 fuel cells in is an old car and for some time, (way before hydrogen fuel cell installation!) oil has been getting into the carburettor. After making this video I resolved to do some more tests. I also checked the oil and by mistake, filled it up to maximum - which I had not been doing for many months to avoid the oil flooding into the carburettor...

The long and short of it is that I have messed up the 'continuity' of my tests and will have to start from square one again. Frustrating! I will add any future testing and/or results to the blog, as they occur.

If you are interested in following what happens, there is a page for subscribing to a hydrogen fuel cell test results email subscription. If you subscribe you'll only receive an email if there is something further to report.

Top 6 Engine Tuning Books - Reviews & Best Buys

Hi. Here's a few words about the 6 books I have read the past 2 years on how to improve, modify and powertune engines. The authors are David Vizard - 1 book, Des Hamill - 4 books, and Peter Burgess and David Gollan - 1 book.

 About 4 years ago I bought an old ford Capri which little did I know needed a lot of work.  I started working on it without any real knowledge of what I was doing, generally making mistakes and so 'took the long route' to being able to actually drive it.  I never looked for any tech books or info on the internet from people who had been there and done it ...duh! 

It took me about 6 months to get the old beast on the road.

When I started driving it I began getting interested in the performance of my vehicle. Though it did go well with its 2000cc twin choke downdraught weber SOHC pinto engine I wanted more!!

Then a few days later my friend John Gasto told me about a book he had somewhere about tuning and modifying the Ford 2000cc SOHC pinto engine and he said he would lend it to me. That book was David Vizard's "How to modify ford SOHC engines".  (I've linked these titles so you can see more in depth reviews I've written on each one)

I was hooked, this book was giving me all the knowledge I needed to build my self an engine that would go like *:_()(&&^$^$%$@'!! And that was exactly what I wanted. I used to hate reading books, my mind would wonder; but not with David Vizard's books - no Sir. I was hooked, I am hooked.

Then I bought a copy of Des Hammill's "How to powertune Ford SOHC 'pinto' engines" which is great;  then Des Hammill's "How to choose camshafts & time them for maximum power";  followed that with Peter Burgess's & David Gollan's "How to build, modify & powertune cylinder heads" which is superb.
 
Next came another one from Des Hammill "How to build & powertune Weber & Dellorto DCOE, DCO/SP & DHLA carburettors".  And the latest one I bought last month "How to build & powertune distributor type ignition systems" by Des Hammill.

With hand on heart I can tell you that all of the above will give you enourmous value for money.  And you will enjoy them!

Before you go heading off to Amazon to buy them, check here below to see if there are any on ebay, because they will be your best buy, price-wise.

A Word About The Listings Below  The results below will show all books listed for: David Vizard, Des Hammill and Peter Burgess and David Gollan.  They may not be the actual titles that I have used - so you need to check that.  It shows listings in the US by default but by clicking on the arrow of the small box immediately below you now, you can select your own country.  The display is set to show 9 items at a time but has option at the bottom to view as many pages of items as you like...   If it says that there were no items found, it means that there are no books for those authors listed on  ebay at this moment.

Reviews and Best Buys for the ‘TomTom One’ Sat Nav

I bought a ‘TomTom One’ satellite navigation around six months ago and it’s proved itself a great gadget! It’s easy to use, reliable and I can honestly say it’s been worth every penny I paid 10 times over.

I bought mine originally because I started a new business as an express courier service in the UK. It was a must-have for getting the job done.Now 6 months down the line I can say that yes, it’s wonderful how science and technology bring this satellite navigation right into my van and my car… it’s brilliant!

I’ve written a detailed review of the TomTom One, including a video where you can catch up with us using it on a trip to London…

It’s now starting to ‘rub off’ on my family: every time they were driving a route they didn’t know too well they wanted to borrow mine. I lend it to them when I can but I need mine for work. Now, one by one, they’re getting their own.

Satellite navigation’s addictive – once you’ve tried it you don’t want to be without it!  If you're ready to take the plunge you'll find some of the best buys in the listings below. 

A Word About The Listings Below:  It will show listings in the US by default but by clicking on the small box immediately below you can select your own country.  The display is set to show 9 items at a time but has option at the bottom to view as many pages of items as you like...  That's it!
 

If you want to test the waters, so to speak, you can probably find a car or van rental firm near you who will rent out a sat nav by the day.

This is what I did initially. The firm I rented from had Garmin but they are quite a bit more expensive and are no better than the TomTom.

The TomTom One is the least expensive of the sat navs and it truly works like a pro.

I’ve written a detailed review of my TomTom One, including a video where you can catch up with us using it for a trip to London…

Have fun!

This blog, Hotpress, Was Lost Recently…

We feel a bit like the boy above(!) because this 'Hotpress' blog - where you're reading now - was completely lost following a technical mistake . As you can see, we are doing our best to get the blog running again as soon as possible. We apologise for the inconvenience and hope you will come back to visit soon when everything is properly in place.

Thank you for your patience!