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Spacing of the plates on your cell

Please keep in mind that we are not the foremost experts on Hydrogen gas.
We are just sharing our experience with you.

Plate spacing or gap is the most critical thing in the production of Hydrogen.
you can create Hydrogen with about any kind of metal in water and at a very wide distance between the positive and negative metals in the water.  However the efficiency of the cell is the reason for us covering the topic of plate gap.  Although I mentioned you can create hydrogen with about any kind of metal stainless steel is the most affordable type of metal to use, and 316L is the lowest grade you want to go.

The closer the plates are to each other the less caustic/electrolytes you will have to use.
The power supply plays a large roll in the amount needed, so each system has to be figured case by case.
You can create a great deal of Hydrogen with just pure distilled water.  I know most people will say you can't use pure distilled water but you can.  
I have a cell we made here with the plates spaced at 6 thousands of an inch and it blasts Hydrogen out of it like a volcano.  Unfortunately it is a wet cell and I just don't like wet cells for several reasons.  Those reasons are covered on the types of cells page.
The down side to not using KOH, is corrosion. The stainless steel will oxidize when you run it with plain water.  The end results will be a lack of production because the surface of your plates will become corroded.
We feel it is best to spread the gap a little more and run KOH.

In a practical world we have to do what we have to in order to get by.  Therefore you will need a little bit larger gap in order to control heat and still make good production.  Doing so means the water will need the electrolytes in order to speed up the electrolysis process.
NOTE:  I will continue to address the close gap and heat issue, and I am sure given enough time I will figure it out.
With that said lets talk about spacing.

Smaller, or closer first.

.006 of an inch will work with a large volume of water with a high flow of water passing through the cell, but it will not work in a wet cell design.  It take very little voltage, and amperage can vary depending on the cell size from up to 23 amps at 12 volts on our 2 by 2 inch cell to extremely high amperage like 200 plus depending on the size of and amount of plates used.
A problem with this close of spacing is shorting out the plates and warping of the plates.
As I said above I am working on this issue, but I am not sure it warrants much time since we have cells and power supplies that rip hydrogen. 

1/32 of an inch .0312 is what TLG Hydrogen is using on our dry cells.  This gap works great, it allows for  a natural flow of water trough our cell and does not require a great deal of KOH.  Only about 2 teaspoons per gallon (or less) and that is a very small amount compared to other systems.  But you need to power your cell with our power supply to use small amounts around the 2 teaspoons range.
On straight DC or pulsed DC you would need double that amount at a minimum.  I know of others using pulsed DC that have 8 teaspoons of KOH per gallon..  That is just not good at all.

1/16 of an inch .0625, it works, it allows for a very modest water flow but requires a great deal of KOH.  About 3 teaspoons of KOH per gallon even with our power supply.
On straight 12 volts DC or pulsed DC from your vehicle...  You got a front-end loader?  ;)

So for your gap between your plates you need to be around the1/32"  .0312 of an inch for best results.

References provided on this page are from our finding based around our cell design.
Results may vary depending on material and power source.

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