Posted on 07/08/2008 12:45:19 PM PDT by Red Badger
Greg Raleigh of Elk Mound gets nine miles more per gallon of gas from his 2002 Ford Escort after installing parts that help the engine run on hydrogen.
ELK MOUND - Greg Raleigh is spending less time at the gas pump and saving money thanks to technology and a quart-size canning jar.
Raleigh has installed what is called hydrogen injection technology - or hydrogen on demand - in his 2002 Ford Escort, improving his gas mileage by 29 percent.
The car was getting 31 miles per gallon and now gets 40, Raleigh said.
"I'm saving about $20 a week at current gas prices," he said. "That's $1,000 a year. It will take me about four or five months to get a return on the investment."
Raleigh learned about the technology on the Internet, where he bought the plans and tools. The total cost was about $400.
A quart-size container under the hood is filled with water and a quarter-teaspoon of baking soda, along with some electrical components. Vacuum and electricity from the car engine produce hydrogen and oxygen gas. The gas is sent through the intake manifold.
"The mix of hydrogen gas increases the volatility or explosiveness of the fuel," Raleigh said, noting it is like using a higher-octane fuel. "You're adding energy to enhance that octane value."
An extra computer circuit board makes sure the car's computer understands the exhaust is cleaner than regular gas to ensure mileage increases.
The process also cuts emissions, including soot, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxides, said Raleigh, 43, who is operations manager for Extrusion Dies, a tool and die company in Chippewa Falls.
In Korea these types of systems are being required for large diesel trucks to cut emissions, Raleigh said.
About every four to five days he has to add more water and baking soda, which takes him about a minute.
It took him about 80 hours to understand the system and install it. He also installed one on his father's car, and it took about 12 hours.
"I did it because I have a series of projects I want to do," Raleigh said, noting his goal is to become greener and protect natural resources.
Raleigh in December also installed a wind turbine in his yard to help cut his electrical energy consumption by about 26 percent.
His next project is to encourage convenience stores to provide reusable stainless steel mugs for filtered water and cut the use of disposable plastic bottles.
Jo Hayes, a neighbor of Raleigh's, plans to have him install hydrogen on demand in her 1995 Jeep Cherokee in the next month.
"It will be a way to save gas and a way to save money," she noted. "I am tired of the high gas prices. I think this is really going to help."
She gets about 18 miles per gallon from her Jeep. "Greg figured in eight fills I'll have paid for it," she said.
Installing hydrogen on demand may not be for everyone.
"You can damage your car if you don't know what you are doing," Raleigh said.
The catalytic convertor could melt, and in rare cases the valves could burn out.
The origin of the technology dates to the 1980s, Raleigh said.
In late July and early August, a group called JONAH will hold educational events at Joel's Water Street Auto in Eau Claire to show people the hydrogen on demand in Raleigh's car and explain how to get the plans and parts.
JONAH, which stands for Joining Our Neighbors Advancing Hope, is made up of eight Chippewa Valley churches. One of the group's goals is to discuss environmental issues.
"Our intent is to be educators, not installers," Raleigh said.
Powers can be reached at 715-235-9018 or pamela.powers@ecpc.com.
And he uses cellphones to pop popcorn.
This story is atleast plausable.
There's your source of the mileage increase.
One of our local car dealers is offering this gizmo as an option.
Which is useless unless the engine was designed to take advantage of high-octane fuel, mainly being able to run with a higher compression ratio. If it only has the effect of upping octane, then it would only be useful in that you could run a high-octane engine on regular gas.
And he uses cellphones to pop popcorn.
And you don't?...............
You think they are screwing with the computer’s innards?...........
Mythbusters (and Popular Mechanics) zotted these claims.
and had fun doing it.
IMO, since he paid all that money and stuff, he has changed the way he drives, and 100% of his increased mileage is due to those changed driving habits.
IMO.
Nythbusters busted the hydrogen add-on some time ago. Busted it hard. Here:
http://kwc.org/mythbusters/2006/05/exploding_trousers_great_gas_conspiracy.html
What I don’t understand is why everyone isn’t getting new computer programming if that leads to such a large increase? Something isn’t computing with this HHO stuff. I keep reading about people getting increases in mileage yet everyone here says its impossible from a physics standpoint.
I’m ham-fisted today.
Nythbusters = Mythbusters
FRAUD and complete BS.
This has been debunked so many places I’m not sure where to start. And it always winds up being some backyard mechanic with fantastic claims and ZERO dyno tests to prove any of it. And of course the ‘big oil coverup’ nonsense is not far behind.
If this crap did anything remotely close to what it claimed, even 10% of the claimed improvement it would be standard equipment. Automakers spend billions trying to meet CAFE standards, but something on the Intraweb can do better than all of them put together. What absolute rubbish.
Sounds like he's spoofing the O2 sensor(s). Tricking the computer into leaning out the mixture would yield an mpg increase, but as for the hydrogen foolishness, I ask again - how is that small apparatus going to create that much HHO?
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