Water level

[LarryW]

I havent read it anywhere but I believe the water level is a great factor in safety.  The more water there is the the gen. the less hydroxy is stored in there.  Less bang in a worse case scenerio.  I've been filling it right up to the top and letting it spill out into the bubbler.  Make sure the bubbler is full too.  But make sure it wont pump the water into the outlet line in bumpy conditions.  Also I try to keep all connections underwater.  If a connection fails, if its underwater it wont spark.  

[Bob]

Very good Points Larry ! thank you !
...
Bob.......

[candyman55]

Excellent point Larry,

 I had an explosion in my big tube generator about a week back. It had sprung a leak cause I didn't want to glue the lid on permanet. So while I had it apart I decided to clean the cells in acid and reassemble. After I put the cells back in I figured I may as well give it a try before button up. The generator was not completely full leaving a very small part of the #10 ss wire exposed (normally they would be under 1-1/2" of water) with the lid just sitting on the container. Everything went fine for a few minutes the amps were good (about 60) but I wanted it to start cold at about 75, like it did before the rebuild.  So I mixed another 1/2 Pound of KOH and was in the process of funneling it into the generator when it Happened . It was the wire on the positive feed terminal, I could tell cause of the black soot on the plexiglass.

Since it bent up all fo the ss wiring I decided to remove all of the wires on the terminal connections and weld all of them solid. It's turning out to be a lot of work but will be much safer in case the water level does get to low.

By the way guys that is why I haven't posted anthing about the big generator yet. ITS IN THE SHOP

One more note since I am on the subject, since I have a clear container I can see the electralyte as I am adding it to the generator, when you add electralyte (KOH and water premixed) It immediatly goes straight to the bottom of the container and lays there until agitated into the rest of the mix. If you add color to it and pour into a clear container you can see the layers of each pour.

[hydrotinkerer]

I noticed the same thing on my dry cell with Naoh. I mix it in a cup with some water and then pour it in the reservoir it goes right to the bottom. It is the first thing pulled into my dry cell. My amps spike high then level off after about 2-3min. I'm no chemist but I think that has something to do with specific gravity of the concentrated mix.