In a series cell electrolyzer, current flows from the end plate, through the water cell to the next plate, then through the next water cell, and so on until it reaches the other side, which is a grounded plate. if the water level was above the plates or there was leakage around the plates, then the current would bypass the plate(s), traveling through the water and reduce the number of actual cells in the electrolyzer.
So if I had an electrolyzer with 8 plates with water in between them, then I would have 7 cells in my series electrolyzer. if the water level was raised above the top of the plates, then the electricity would take the path of least resistance and go straight from one end plate to the other, resulting in just one cell.
with Chris' design, he forces the plates to be either positive or negative by welding all the positive plates together and all the negative plates together. so there is no way for the water to "short" it out.
it's the alternating of positive and negative plates that results in the breakdown of the water molecule. in the series cell design, the end plates are the only plates with either a positive or negative charge applied. In Chris' design, all the plates have either a positive or negative charge applied.
the benefit of the series cell design is it is much more compact. you can have 7 cells (the optimum number) in a very small space. The disadvantage is you can't have any leakage and you have to make sure to maintain the highest water level possible without shorting a cell out (overfilling the cell). it's not the best design for a car (unless you have a way to stabalize the unit). It's also more difficult to build correctly. Chris' design was done with ease of buildability (is that a word?) and toughness in mind...it was designed to be used in a car. the disadvantage (don't take it personally Chris
) is that each container is only one cell and you would need 7 containers to have 7 cells...not as compact.
7 cells is the optimum number for a 12 volt system. 12 volts divided 7 cells is 1.7 volts per cell, which is very close to Faraday's theoretical limit of 1.2 (the minimum amount of volts required for electrolysis to occur). thus it is very efficient.