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I have never built a SMACKS Cell... I was just referencing what I have seen a dozen or so times in various threads throughout this forum. It appears that the SMACKS Cell is pretty particular about spacing. Seems everyone wants to evenly space the plates as in the Series cells or in the Low Voltage Cell... but infact, they have a different spacing scheme. Also, as so many have pointed out, both the classic series and SMACKS cells work best when wrapped somehow to prevent current leakage and excessive heating.
Also, I did not mean that it could not be converted to a "LVC" only that if you have it setup as a SMACKS it might have holes drilled in a pattern that might not lend itself readily to the LVC layouts.
LVC layouts probably come in a variety of designs, but I think they basically fall into two main categories which I will describe for you without pictures since I do not have any. #1 All plates are exactly alike nice rectangle with a hole drilled at one end and another drilled slightly past dead center of the plate and then every other plate is rotated 180 degrees on the offcenter hole leaving a hole at each end and one in the center. The hole in the center is for your NYLON bolt with spacers and the end holes will be used as your cathode bus and your anode bus. #2 would be a slight variation on this where the plate array is all cut the same except that on one side or the other, you have an elongated piece that sticks out... then every other plate is flipped over leaving the bus holes both on the same end of the array so that your terminal screws are pretty close together. This example is probably the most frequently used in the plate arrays which are seen connected via SS straps to the lids of peoples containers or in the more safe designs to the bottom of poeple containers.
SO... given the above, in general, the plate arrangements necessary and spacings necessary for the LVC, it is generally not practical to use the SS wall plates endorsed with the SMACKS cell... BUT that is not to say that an enterprising person could not do it to prove me wrong.
FOR EXAMPLE... IF you wanted to make a 10 plate array with wall plates, you could take 5 of them and cut the right bottom corner off from about 1 inch from the bottom to about the middle of the bottom of the plate and do the same thing to the other 5 plates on the bottom left corner. Then alternate the plates and this will give you the necessary space for the cathode and annode bus terminal screws. Then go the to top "screw hole" in the plate and drill it out to support the size of NYLON threaded bolt that you have to set and maintain your spacing on the other end of the array. Then you could either cut up an extra plate to make your SS straps to connect your array to either top or bottom of container OR you could simply use really long bus screws and go straight through the wall of the container. The really important thing IS that the bus must get good electrical connection to each plate in the cathode array and annode array. These do not function well as in the case of NEUTRAL FLOATERS in the SMACKS design.
SeaMonkey... does that about cover it for the SMACKS and a retrofit from SMACKS to LVC? From the plate array perspective anyway....
FlashBang!
Statistics: Posted by FlashBang — Sat Jul 05, 2008 2:55 am
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I read you posts and in the last one you mention that the smacks design do not lend themselves so well to common cathode/anode design. I reconfigured my wall plates to a straight series design with seven plates and it did not produce very well at all at a given current. Is it due to the thin wallplates?
Tom
Statistics: Posted by a3holerman — Sat Jul 05, 2008 1:21 am
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I'd certainly encourage all to try first the Series Plate Array such as Smack's to get familiar with its peculiarities.
Then follow that with the Low Voltage Cell array to observe the radical differences when driven at 2 Volts to 4 Volts or so, at high current.
Then one would be in the best position possible to make the choice.
Statistics: Posted by SeaMonkey — Fri Jul 04, 2008 8:53 pm
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In another post, (exactly which one escapes me at the moment) you said that the "LOW VOLTAGE CELL" was the most efficient design and required no heat shrinking or "wrapping" to reduce current leakage (responsible for overheating electrolyte).
I am confused why you would not recommend converting thier cell to that particular type first as a means to dealing with heating issues. I mean, in most cases, where the SMACKS Booster is not built EXACTLY to spec, the person asking the question is going to have to reconstruct thier cell anyway. BUT is suppose if they have built it with wall plates, those do not convert so well to common cathode and common annode design, especialy if they have already been drilled for SMACKS.
It seems that perhaps I have just answered my own question. IF that is the case with this person's cell, the by all means, follow SeaMonkey's suggestion for proper spacing and also the suggestion of shrink wrapping your plate array to reduce current leakage and reduce heat.
BUT if you can redesign your plate array, perhaps a LOW VOLTAGE CELL design would be more to your liking.
FlashBang!
Statistics: Posted by FlashBang — Fri Jul 04, 2008 2:47 am
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i don't have a link and, to be honest, don't know if it'd be legal or not to post one anyway.
i had gone looking for a solution to Smacks Booster heat problems and came across a test Smack did and posted on youtube. it seems he's found a way to reduce the heat the cell produces and in turn, increase the time the cell can run.
i have an imitation Smacks Cell i built but, it's scaled down to a 3" piece of pvc and i have a slightly different plate arrangement of +nnnn-nnnn+ . what Smack was doing in his test was insulating the plate arrangement around the outside using heat shrink and just leaving the top and bottom opened. he ran numerous tests and what i gathered from the data he had written down it did cut down on 'some' gas production but, the heat was considerably less. i have since done this using electrical tape and can now run for hours and hours with no heat problems at all. my booster was getting hot and pulling a large amount of current during the heat of the day when it was in the mid 90's everyday. i had no problems in the morning when it was cool. i even setup my electrolyte hot and adjusted the draw that way and still had problems during the day. since adding the insulation around the plates the problem is gone!
i hope this helps someone and if it's already posted elsewhere......my apologies. just happened to come across this thread in search of another answer....and now i don't remember what i was looking for.
Statistics: Posted by jack987 — Wed Jul 02, 2008 3:45 am
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did you try that one?
Statistics: Posted by huck — Wed Jun 18, 2008 8:49 pm
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