CAUTION With Your Electro

[Sam Roberts]

I was so happy  :) this morning for I removed the last piece of my stove from the electro solution. So I said to myself "self" now would be a good time to clean the stainless by reversing the poliarity of the charger cables. I did and was going to use a old pitted cast iron pot as the sacrificial piece. (Reverse as in negative to the stainless and positive to the pot). My charger is about 4 feet from my barrel and when I stooped over and turned it on (12V and about 25amp) B-O-O-M!!! No damage, it sounded aout like a 12ga and I'm thankful that I was watching the charger instead of the barrel. I feel that the foam that forms when you're doing a piece has hydrogen in the bubbles and I somehow got a spark. The next piece I do, I'm going to scoop off some foam and see what happens when you fire it up. I'll let you know.

So what can I say except for "Be Careful"!

[mississippi_slim]

i am so happy...i aint the only one now..i was sitting down..about eye level with the clamp when i took it off while the charger was still running..lol  i had to wash the foaming rust off the over hang of the house..if someone was standing over it and was looking down..onion head look..maybe lose thier eyes..now i never even look down at the barrel untell the charger is off..but in a erlier post someone warns that it can explode..

[Sam Roberts]

Sam, if that would've happened to me I wouldn't have been able to tell anyone about it, I'd be dead from a heart attack.  That would be quite a fright having that boom that close behind you.   ;D  

Glad to hear you're okay, now go change your pants.   ;D

You know I was going to add that part about having to change my pants, but I was going to take a shower anyway, so I just threw them in the washer as I walked by.  ;) ;)

[Chris Stairs]

I don't have an electro setup, but charging a battery in a vehicle also releases hydrogen.

  I used to have a 68 GMC. Left the battery on the charger overnight with the hood down, in the garage. When I raised the hood, and unhooked the charger, it made a spark. That was a big bulbous hood, and had trapped a lot of hydrogen. Big bang for sure. Worst part was it blew the caps off of the battery, and splashed the acid all over. Had a few red blotches on my face from it. Lucky I was wearing glasses. :-[

[livens]

Thanks for the heads-up Sam! Ive been running mine in my basement all week (big top secret project  8-) ), and have had some sparks when I first start up my charger... Fortunatly my setup doesnt produce much foam, and I keep what little there is cleaned off pretty good.

Also that foam... 2/3's of it is hydrogen, 1/3 is oxygen. The hydrogen comes off of the negative electrode (your iron being cleaned), and the oxygen from the positive side. So that H2/O2 mix probably gave your BOOM more UOOMPH.

And after hearing about this exploding hydro-oxy-foam I dont think Ill be able to resist... Im going to collect all my foam from now on and throw a match on it :) (outside on the patio of course).

PS. Didnt myth-busters create a 20ft tall column of hydrogen foam in a bucket and light if on fire once? I think Adam just filled a 5-gallon bucket with soapy water and stuck a hose connected to a hydrogen tank in it, and a nozzle on the end to produce small bubbles...

[C. Perry Rapier]

Sam, if that would've happened to me I wouldn't have been able to tell anyone about it, I'd be dead from a heart attack.  That would be quite a fright having that boom that close behind you.   ;D  

Glad to hear you're okay, now go change your pants.   ;D

 ;D ;D ;D ;DRon, you're killin me here. There ain't NO DOUBT about it. I'da bin lucky to save my shoes.

[Hud]

Sam, that would have scared the hell out of me and turned me into altar boy!!!  Wow.  Now we know for certain electro units produce enough hydrogen to ignite.  Good thing you weren't staring into the tank!  Your eyes could have been damaged.  Who was it that posted a pic of the Hindenburg exploding in one of these threads?  Guess he was right on.  

[Jesse and Kim Dunfee]

Jeremy,
  That is fun. and the tiny bubbles..................................Oh neven mind

[Ed Allspaugh]

Glad to hear no one was injured. Interesting thread and the first I have heard of someone actually igniting the Hydrogen. I have messed with several set ups over the years, and as a general rule I turn the charger off before playing with the connections. However there are times I'll move the connections around to make better contact without turning charger off. It creates sparks every time but I have never had it ignite.
  Had a set up in a 5 gal. bucket one time and you could see the vapors coming from the electrolyte. Same set up I did the demo with at the  Tennessee convention.Before the convention I took a small plastic trash bag placed over it and duct taped the heck out of it to trap the Hydrogen. Thought it would be neat to fill it and shoot it with a flaming arrow or something way out back. Ran it for hours, to my surprise the thing did not fill up. With this new info I'll have to try this experiment again in the spring with a smaller bag. Maybe I should direct my attention more to the foam being produced. Come on Spring time my curiosity is up now. My set up is outside so no electro when the snow blows, lye tub only.

[Daniel McDowell]

We used dishwashing liquid  in chem class to catch the hydrogen. The bubbles were a lot tuffer and you could pick  them up with a large straining spoon. Then stack the bubbles in a bowl, styrofoam cup ect pass a kitchen match over them and boom