washer AKA "Randy" cell

[Bob]

YWOUCH ! man that smarts ! way too much for that !
I saw a piece of shim stock in the metal rack in a local hardware store "AFTER" i got some from Randy
for about $15.00 I think it was, it was a tad thick but would work ok.
...it was something like 15x18" SS of some sort and about 0.015" thick if I remember right...
cant realy remember the pictulars on it but if you look in the metal sheet rack in the hardware stores you should find some .
...
Bob.......

[Justin Frye]

thanks a million hydrotinker. i usually use fastenal but was getting things for my job at bolt and tool cuz that is where they sent me so i went ahead a priced a few things while i was there. i cant believe the difference is that much.  thanks a lot man.






-justin

[geezer]

for my first randy cells i cut up the lid on a $8.00pot i found at the local dollar store. it miked at .013 didnt cut or drill to bad . side note. those step drills from harber freight do agood job on stainles for me go slow use cutting fluid.

[Bob]

After I got home from our town run this morning I desided to unwind and make a Randy cell sense I bought the 50 washers last week,... figured it was about time to get to it! <GRIN>
...
I used the method I have in the past of putting the 11  2"x1/2" fender washers washers on a 1/2" bolt and then added my previous "Patern" washer to the stack... so all I had to do was lign up the drill
bit and punch out the holes...
I did 3 stacks of 11 for a total of 33 plates, then buffed/ground where nessarry, the burrs off the washers and made sure each washer was burr free... these washers were  a bit ROUGHER than the last batch I did and I had to grind off some rough edges on the punched sides but other than that it was un-eventfull...I got all 33 drilled in about 30min. and only had to sharpen the 3/8" drill bit once
as I fed it a bit fast and burned the cutting edge of the drill and it stopped cutting completely.
the 1/4" drill bit held up fine ,I suppose because I used less pressure on the smaller drill bit.
....I used allot of cutting oil in the proccess and all the washer/plates were oily when done.
...
I only had 2 4"x1/4" stainless steel lag bolts left , so I desided to make a cell and see what it looked like... I cut some 1/16" do-nuts from the blue vinal gas-line I had laying there and already had a bunch of nilon insulators made up and waiting on a bolt.
...
Starting off is a pain..because only one bolt is half way solid the one with the shim on it POS plate first... so after I got it secured I put it in the vice to hold it, and then slid a plexyglass
washer I made with the hole saw weeks before , over the 2nd bolt(NEG post)and up to the ss nut next to the head of the bolt... then I incerted the 2nd bolt into the 3/8" hole, added the 1/16" thick gasline do-nut as a insulator for the bolt and then carefully clamped both bolt heads in the vice togather at once , to hold it.  then I added the nilon insulators (one per side) and then added the next washer/plate, this plate goes on in the oppisit direction of the plate before it so the 1/4" hole was on the right the shimstock was added  thredded all the way down and tightened by hand as usual, added another Do-nut to the other side andthen added the 2 nilon washer/insulators over both sides, then reverseing the next washer to the first washers orentation continued to lay the washer/plates on till all 11 plates were on, sense the last washer needs no shimstock, just the SS nut I put it on and on the do-nut side I put another plexyglass washer a small washer to back up the plexyglass and then the SS nut and began to tighten the nuts down about 2 turn per side till both sides were good and snug and I could feel the bolt flexing... time to stop !...
they  compressed very well and have a nice even consistancy in spaceing, but unfortionately the holes I drilled were not centered in the width of the washer and that makes the stager be off a bit
looks kind'a funny, but I know it will work anyway ! <GRIN>
I'll test it tomorrow with the VTOM and see if I assembled it correctly, I think I did but you never know, I have a 3:1 ratio of assembly mistakes... out of 4 good ones I'll get one screw up ! HAHAHHA
so its alwayse good to double check and make darn sure its correct before you try to use it!
...
makeing the shims and Nilon washer/insulators ahead of time made the assembly go much easier.
...I probly have 100 nilon washer/insulators made up now and it sure beats having to stop what I was doing to make them and then proceed again.
...
when I was done assemblying the cell I ground off the stuff that hung over the out side edge of the bolt area, and then buffed it clean and made sure no stuff was inbetween the plates at those places.
...because I drilled the holes closer to the edge than I have previously there was more stuff hainging over the edge, and the plates didn't altenerate quite as well as they should have, their probly off by 1/16" in vertial alignment...but should work ok... I recomend anyone drilling the washers take extra care and center the 1/4" hole and 3/8" hole in the width of the washers metal
...I thought it might be better to have the holes closer to the edge and this is not so, so learn from my mistakes !
...
although I have some Nilon insulators protrudeing into the center hole of the washer/plates I am not going to remove it as there is realy no way to make sure nothing is inbetween the plates there.
so that can stay....
Randy doesn't seam to have this problem because his washer/insulators are smaller as is his shimstock he trimms them very carefully... I leave my shimstock vurtually squares with a hole in the middle...and this over hangs the washer... not the best, but it is much faster in assembly!
...
I'm fairly certain the blue vinal gasline I used to make the Do-nut "O-rings" is non conductive
but if I have any truble in the test and running of the cell that is where I will look first!
I could not find my vinal gasline.... OH...its behind the seat of the truck DUH ! I'll stop looking for it now ! HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHA
...
hope that helps explain how to put a Randy cell togather, Randy does it better , no doubt about that but thats how I did it this time <GRIN>
...
Bob.......

[randy]

when I assemble them and come to the point where I need the shimstock I install the shimstock washer on the bolt that needs one first, then I put on a insulator and the "O" ring "or whatever your using" then install the insulator and shimstock on the other bolt, that way I don't mess up, yeah drilling the holes in the center on each side of the center hole makes the stack come out very even, took me a while to figure out how to make the stack even like that, the first attempt I didn't pay any attention to which way the washers were oriented, when I tightened it down I had random spacing, that's when I realized they weren't truly flat, I took some plastigauge and clamped a washer between some flat plate and measured it to figure out the thickness of the materials needed, hey it worked.

[Bob]

Hummm I havn't even messed with orienting the punched side up so that explains minor variations!
....
when their all stacked on the bolt for drilling they look good and flat to me ! HAHAHAHHAHA
...
anyway...yah I have 3 cells or will have 3 cells that will be ronchy looking because of the non centered holes , but I'll be sure to put them in a non see through pipe ! HAHAHAHAHAHA
....
Bob....

[Bob]

Here is a Pic and directions of What not to do so you won't make the same mistake I did...
I now have 22 more washers waiting to be built into 2 more cells that will be as ugly as this one...
I won't make the same mistake again I don't think ! <GRIN>
...
Bob.....

[Bob]

Also, if you want to keep the cell as Neet as as effecient as possable make your "shim-stock nuts"
and Nilon Insulators no bigger in diamator than the with of the metal in the large washer,
this will stop having "OVER-HAINGING" nilon washers and shim-stock, but will take much more time to get them all the proper size...  its better to have your Shim-stock a bit smaller than the Nilon Insulators
so the nilon insulators completely cover the shim-stock when assembled...
...  Although this means very small Nilon washers and even smaller shimstock the neetness is beyond compaire after assemblyand it does not cover up more plate area than nessarry , unlike my cells.
...
I am fairly certain this is why Randy achieved .5 LPM more with his cells than I did, because of my Sloppy assembly, so take the time and do it right and you'll have a cell you can be proud of for years to come !
...
Remember after punching the hole in the nilon folder meterial and roughing out the washer shape with sizzors, you can slide a stack on a 1/4" bolt and trim all of the washers at once with a wire wheel.
the wire wheel acts like a grinder to the soft Nilon so don't stay in one place, anf you can trim the nilon disks to a perfect circle and desired size...(ware Eye Protection!)
I havn't tried the same method with the shim stock but probly will soon, as it speeds up the work 1000 fold... the only problem is you don't want any rough edges on the shimstock to face the nilon insulators, so buffing them after grinding will be a must.
although a smaller bolt than 1/4" will be needed, probly 5/32 or so... all the shim stock blanks stacked on the bolt should be allowed to spin... keep your fingers clear as they are Razorblades!
...
I am not sure this will work with the shimstock but I think it can be utilized, as I know it works great with the nilon insulators !
...
Hope that helps
Bob.......

[charley]

A 3/8" or 1/2" hole punch works pretty good to punch out insulators.  You can punch out a bunch of discs really quick and then us a regular hole cutter to cut a 1/4 hole in the center.

[Bob]

Howdy Charley ! good to see ya made it here ! Welcome, sorry for takeing so long to activate your account ! OOOPS !
...
where do you get a 3/8 or 1/2" hole punch ?
Harbo freight Tools maybe
...
think I'ed like a 3/4"  better myself those small disks are hard to play with ! HAHAHHAHA
....
Bob......

[randy]

whadya got Bob, a handfull of thumbs?

[charley]

Actually I got really lucky.  I've got a friend that used to manufacture equipment for planters until he sold his business last year and he's been letting me use his shop. It's got a computer controlled plasma cutter, shear, lathe etc. so you can build about anything you want.  He had a hole punch set so I'll find out where he got it.  I'm sure you could get ahold of one at NAPA or anyplace that sells tools though.

[Bob]

Randy:
 Nah.... just need new glasses ! the Puppy chewed up my only pair and useing them now is kind'a dificult.... I finally got the wire frames strightened... but the lendzes are all screwed up and I can't see S--- with them ! HAHAHAHAHHAHAHA
...
Bob........

[Justin Frye]

well ive been testing my mileage on my beater car before i try to install any hydroxy unit.  i ran all highway miles and ran 170 miles on 4 gallons so thats 40 mpg. im running the other half of the tank back and forth to work so i can see what kind of mileage i get for city. im eager to get a randy cell or two in there to see what the increase will be. this is a 1.3 litre fuel injected 4 cylinder in little iddy biddy car aka THE EGG.  haha





-justin

[randy]

should get close to double with two washer cells with that squirell driven motor. be sure and get that O2 sensor backed up.