Dodge Cummins Diesel Forum - View Single Post

eslfuzzy · 01-02-2008, 09:48 PM

Until today, have only done short trips so I really didn't check my mileage. Today however, I drove the trip back to where I'm working. And the mileage was not so good. I have to tell the whole story so here it goes.

Last night I checked the unit as it was very cold out, it didn't get above 10f yesterday. I found the water in the tank frozen. I had mixed in about a 1 cup of 70% rubbing alcohol in a half gallon of water. most likely way short of what was needed. I thawed out the system with an electric heater and took the tank inside the house to thaw it. I then added about 2 cups of alcohol to the half gallon of water. It had a very strong odor now. I put the tank back into the truck and added a 1/4 tank full of water/alcohol mix to it. The line going into the bottom of the brick was still froze so I kept the heater on it overnight. I also blocked the radiator as it was going below zero over night and so I didn't have the cold air blowing acrossed the unit in the morning during my drive.

This morning I turned the unit on and it was working. I drove 40 miles then checked the unit and found that everything was froze again. So I placed about another cup of alcohol in the water tank and all rest of the alcohol bottle into gallon jug. As I drove the truck outside temp got up to about 15f by the time I stopped to get fuel. The truck got 16.7mpg. The unit still wasn't working and then I tried to drain the condensate tank and refill with fresh water but I found the pump wasnt working. Condensate tank was empty. I figured the pump was burnt up or froze. The electric valve from the tank to the brick was open but no pump. Stopped to eat and hoped that the truck sitting for a bit may help in thawing. After eating. I blew into the tank to force water into the brick and it started to bubble again so I knew it was working. when trying to remove the pump to test if it was froze I broke the nipple off so off to the store I went. After a few more miles I found a store and replaced the pump. When I opened the hood the pump was in two pieces. I must have froze and burnt as the motor still didn't turn by it's self. Oh by the way this is pump number three. With the new pump the unit flowed water but the switch in the condensate tank didn't turn off so it filled it and started to fill the other tank so I disconnected the pump wire. The unit was bubbling so it should have been working. Later I stopped at a rest area a few miles down the road and seen that it was still bubbling. I checked if the switch was working and it was off so I reconnected the pump. the pump did not turn on and the unit was still bubbling so it should have still been working. A few hundred miles later checked again and the unit was still bubbling, so far so good. I had a tail wind on the second tank of fuel and got 17.50mpg. I also had a blanket wrapped around the HHO equipment to keep the wind from blowing on it. I wonder how much alcohol will make it less efficient? I was trying not to put to much in but it cost me more of a head ache by holding back. I will admit though it doesn't have rusy water and gunk that it had the first trip. I should probably do the CLR treatment just to see if there is any improvement. I also need an amp gauge. The test this time seemed inconclusive I think. There was probably more inprovement with the tail wind.

I'm not too sure now???

Fuzz

__________________
2006 Ram 2500, SB, 4X4, Auto, Edge, 5" home made air tube, Magdrive HHO, stock exhaust.

01-02-2008, 09:48 PM	#14 (permalink)
eslfuzzy Newbie Join Date: May 2007 Location: Nebraska Posts: 13 eslfuzzy's Truck Pics	Heres an update Until today, have only done short trips so I really didn't check my mileage. Today however, I drove the trip back to where I'm working. And the mileage was not so good. I have to tell the whole story so here it goes. Last night I checked the unit as it was very cold out, it didn't get above 10f yesterday. I found the water in the tank frozen. I had mixed in about a 1 cup of 70% rubbing alcohol in a half gallon of water. most likely way short of what was needed. I thawed out the system with an electric heater and took the tank inside the house to thaw it. I then added about 2 cups of alcohol to the half gallon of water. It had a very strong odor now. I put the tank back into the truck and added a 1/4 tank full of water/alcohol mix to it. The line going into the bottom of the brick was still froze so I kept the heater on it overnight. I also blocked the radiator as it was going below zero over night and so I didn't have the cold air blowing acrossed the unit in the morning during my drive. This morning I turned the unit on and it was working. I drove 40 miles then checked the unit and found that everything was froze again. So I placed about another cup of alcohol in the water tank and all rest of the alcohol bottle into gallon jug. As I drove the truck outside temp got up to about 15f by the time I stopped to get fuel. The truck got 16.7mpg. The unit still wasn't working and then I tried to drain the condensate tank and refill with fresh water but I found the pump wasnt working. Condensate tank was empty. I figured the pump was burnt up or froze. The electric valve from the tank to the brick was open but no pump. Stopped to eat and hoped that the truck sitting for a bit may help in thawing. After eating. I blew into the tank to force water into the brick and it started to bubble again so I knew it was working. when trying to remove the pump to test if it was froze I broke the nipple off so off to the store I went. After a few more miles I found a store and replaced the pump. When I opened the hood the pump was in two pieces. I must have froze and burnt as the motor still didn't turn by it's self. Oh by the way this is pump number three. With the new pump the unit flowed water but the switch in the condensate tank didn't turn off so it filled it and started to fill the other tank so I disconnected the pump wire. The unit was bubbling so it should have been working. Later I stopped at a rest area a few miles down the road and seen that it was still bubbling. I checked if the switch was working and it was off so I reconnected the pump. the pump did not turn on and the unit was still bubbling so it should have still been working. A few hundred miles later checked again and the unit was still bubbling, so far so good. I had a tail wind on the second tank of fuel and got 17.50mpg. I also had a blanket wrapped around the HHO equipment to keep the wind from blowing on it. I wonder how much alcohol will make it less efficient? I was trying not to put to much in but it cost me more of a head ache by holding back. I will admit though it doesn't have rusy water and gunk that it had the first trip. I should probably do the CLR treatment just to see if there is any improvement. I also need an amp gauge. The test this time seemed inconclusive I think. There was probably more inprovement with the tail wind. I'm not too sure now??? Fuzz __________________ 2006 Ram 2500, SB, 4X4, Auto, Edge, 5" home made air tube, Magdrive HHO, stock exhaust.